jhac Nonetheless, Aurora doesn't need any Google services or apps, and any apps you install through it will as well as long as they don't need it either. If they do it just won't launch or work properly, but you'll have the same problem whether you use Aurora Store or APKMirror since the apps should be the same.
Whether to factor reset, you're probably fine. APKMirror seems to be trustworthy (it's history, management and funding is very clear and known) as far as I can tell, but if you want to play it safe and be sure -- then yes, backup your stuff and reset.
And me believing Aurora Store to be more trustworthy is based on what I've read here on the forum as well as the Privacy Guides forum and website. There are a lot of good threads here to read. We live and learn :)