***Trigger Warning***
This book has dark themes including talks of Sexual Assault and Murder.
Please watch for triggers, your mental health is more important than this book.
The guys in this story are assholes, and you will want to throat punch them but they will grovel eventually. But Aurora is a Badass Female Main Character. Even at a young age. You will either love this book or hate it.
Aurora
Age 11
"But daddy I don't want to go to the Gravin house." My older sister, Kara, whines. I agreed silently from behind her, but she had made me swear that I wouldn't say why. I'm only eleven to her twelve, but she had told me her secret. My heart hurts for what we are hiding from our daddy. But Mr. Wolfe is daddy's best friend and Kara’s worst nightmare. Kara said we couldn't say anything.
Kara sat in the front in an oversized hoodie hiding the big bump only myself and our housekeeper, Lena knew about. It scares me that Kara won't say anything to daddy. She is getting so big. And from what I've read she'll be having the baby soon. I’m terrified that I’m going to have to deliver the baby myself at this rate. I know she’s scared because he hurt her, but daddy needs to know. For her sake and the baby. She refused to go to an actual doctor so there wasn’t any care other than the housekeeper encouraging her to take special vitamins.
Dad is gone a lot, so he never hears her screaming at night from the nightmares she has opened up to me about. I don’t think I could ever let a guy near me after all that she has told me he did to her.
"Baby, we are almost there. Nothing is going to happen. You and Aurora will play with the boys and then we will head home in time for our movie night. I promise." Daddy says laughing, knocking me out of my thoughts.
"The boys are mean to me." I say from the back seat.
"The boys aren't mean." Daddy replies laughing.
"Yes, they are daddy. They make fun of me and won't play with me. They only like Kara." I say, huffing, exaggerating the minor irritation I actually felt. I honestly don't care if the three Wolfe boys never paid attention to me. It meant I could spend more time reading Harry Potter or the Mortal Instruments. Things worthy of my time. Boys aren't worthy. Especially if they do things like Mr. Wolfe did to Kara. No. Just no. I shudder at just the thought. No one will ever be allowed to do to me what was done to Kara. I had started carrying a pocketknife I found in daddy’s office to make sure no one would catch me unprotected. I know it wasn’t her fault that he attacked her, but that doesn’t stop me from not wanting to be a victim like her. She didn’t ask for a man to hurt her and doesn’t deserve to be blamed, but this world is fucked up and always blames the women instead of the guys.
"Daddy, do you think we could get ice cream after?" Kara asked from the front seat.
Our dad smiled and nodded as he drove the car up the mountain road to the Gravin house. I never understood why it was called Gravin when the people who lived there were the Wolfe's, daddy said it doesn't matter. And to keep my nose out of it. He also says I'm too smart for my own good. I don't take that as a bad thing though. I'm eleven and already in the same grade as my sister. The teachers want to skip me ahead again, but daddy said no. Which is ridiculous, because I’m bored in the classes, I’m in now. Nothing intrigues me, and my mind is always on the college books I’ve been reading at home that I borrowed from the library.
Daddy pulls outside of the big house, puts the car and parks as he waves at the three boys playing in the field and tells us to go play while he goes inside. I ignore the request and the boys as Kara makes her way over to them. I sit on the front porch and pull out my newest book and get lost in the pages. I know no one noticed me curl into the corner of the porch, they never do. Being invisible has become useful when I’m so much smaller than everyone else.
I heard daddy arguing inside. Something about initiating the boys, they are too young or something. That doing this now would hurt the Gravin. Doesn't make sense. I close my book and see another man I don't recognize talking to daddy. I turn away and pull my book back out. I hear Mr. Wolfe come outside and I watch quietly from my corner, unseen. My book was left open on my lap.
"Boys come here." He says loud enough for them to hear. I watch as Kara walks to the boys swing set. I know why she won't come near him now. He broke her. My favorite person changed seven months ago because of this monster. No one pays attention to me sitting there. It's like I'm invisible. Just the way I like it.
The three walk up to their dad and focus on them. They aren't really blood brothers, but from what daddy said Mr. Wolfe adopted them as babies. Well other than Knight. Knight is Mr. Wolfe's biological son. Knight has the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen and at thirteen he was tall and lanky with dirty blonde hair that hung in his eyes. Lucian was beside him; he had these hazel brown eyes that studied everything around him, shaggy brown hair that needed a cut, he was tanner and bulkier, he wasn't short but wasn't tall like Knight either. Then there was Nash. He was honestly the cutest of them all to me. Bright green eyes and red hair that was cut close to his head because he hates the natural curl from what he told Kara. He was easily as tall as Knight but was kinder. Some days.
"We have your job." I heard Mr. Wolfe say and I focused on him. I hated him. Even before I knew what he did to Kara, he made me uncomfortable but knowing what he did. I wanted to kill him. I held my breath and pulled my phone from my pocket that daddy had just got me this morning. I hit the camera button and turned video mode on and discreetly as I could start recording.
"What do we need to do?" Knight asked, his arms crossed over his thin chest.
"Take Mr. Anderson's car to the garage. Cut the brake line. Then put it back in that spot."
Lucian spoke up, "I can do it without moving it."
Mr. Wolfe grinned as Nash asked, "You making them stay for a while? Don’t want them to leave?"
"Sure son, you know I'd never hurt him or Kara."
They didn't remember or realize I was there. I wanted to run to daddy and tell him but last time Kara and I had run inside Mr. Wolfe had grabbed Kara and hurt her again.
"Make sure to cut the brakes, now. I'm going to call Mr. Anderson down. Bring Kara inside soon. Did you see if he brought the other one with him?"
"No sir," Nash answers, "we’ll ask Kara and look for her."
"Do that." Mr. Anderson walks away as Knight turns to his brothers.
"I don't like this." He says to them. "He said he's going to keep them here." Nash says and I try to not scoff he sounds so naive even to my ears.Mr. Wolfe was trying to hurt us, and I had proof."It's our initiation." Lucian says leaning against the porches post. "You know that means someone dies. Three lives taken for three to get in.""But I don't want to hurt Kara." Nash whispers. My heart softens toward him. He’s the only one who is fighting against the order."You think I do?" Knight asks, "You know what he did to her after I told him I wanted to date her someday. That was seven months ago. She's not the same. She hides about as well as that sister of hers does. He showed us the video of what he did to her." I glared, he's the reason that his father raped Kara and there’s video evidence. If I can get the video, we can give it to the police. We can get him sent to jail. Daddy’s a lawyer he’d help. I glare over my phone at Knight. He's the reason Kara is going to be a mom by he
"No! We can't leave,” I say struggling to get up. "Please, Daddy, we can't leave, they did something to the car. Don't drive the car. Please just call a taxi. We can't take this car, daddy we can't. They did something, I have proof. I recorded everything on my phone!" “Rora, you’ve hit your head, you're okay baby girl I’ll get us to the hospital.”Lucian’s face had gone white at the sound that I had had proof they had done something to the car. His brown eyes wide as he stared at me. Seeing me for the first time. I know more than what they thought I did. I ignored him and focused on my dad "Please Daddy please we can't. I promise I am okay. Do not drive this car! You can't drive this car! We have to take something else. They did something to the brakes please Daddy don't do this. " I know I am screaming. But it can't be helped. If we take off, we won't survive. I have to keep us from leaving. I raise up from the seat and try to open the door, but the child proof lock has been engage
6 Weeks LaterAge 12 I wake up slowly. My eyes hurt from the blinding lights above me. I can’t scream out because there's something blocking my mouth. I flail around and get pushed back down by things I can only feel not see before I am pushed back under into the darkness.I dream of the accident over and over again, and I know that I’m alone in this world now. My daddy is gone. My sister and her unborn baby are gone. I wouldn’t be alone every time I woke up if I wasn’t. My heart aches and tears flow freely down my face, but no one comes into the room in the moments over the last however many days before I pass out again and again. I wake again and there is someone by my bed and I turn my head, a beautiful nurse with blood red hair is fiddling with my IV bag. She looks over at me and smiles. “Ah, sleeping beauty is finally awake.” She smiles and calls a doctor in as she takes my blood pressure and other vitals. I can’t say anything, there is a tub
“Aurora.” Lena’s tearful voice answers. I hold back the sob threatening to overtake me., “Lena, I need you and Jaxon immediately. I know dad put you as our God parents should anything happen to him.” “Yes.” she says softly, “what do you need? Aurora I’m so sorry, Kera, the baby.” she sobs. “Lena, give the phone to Jaxon.” I say having to force harshness into my voice. I can’t break now. I hear her sobbing as she hands the phone to her husband. “Rora, we will come get you.” “It’s not just me, I need you to talk to the police for me. I need you to also get guardianship of Kara’s baby. But you can’t let it be leaked that there were any survivors. Jaxon, someone tried to kill us all. If they find out I’m alive they’ll come back for me. Before you as questions, I have proof. Just hurry.” “Rora?” He says, “Do we need to implement the plan your father told you and Kara about last year?” I had honestly forgott
KnightAge 12 It took six weeks before we finally got the news we had been waiting for. We were officially Gravins. I still couldn’t believe my father had us cut their brakes. I can’t get over Uncle Mitchell hitting Kara’s sister over the back of the head and forcing her into the car. I thought when she had woken up and started telling her father she had proof of what we had done that he would listen, but he didn’t. I could see the anger and fear in her eyes. I had never actually noticed her until that moment. We had always been so focused on Kara that her sister, the bookworm, wasn’t even a blimp on our radar. We were thirteen and becoming men. But seeing her bright green eyes filled with fear and anger. She knew she was going to die. Yet, it wasn’t until today that she finally let go and succumbed to her injuries. At least that's what the obituary was stating from the website on my phone. I was hoping that dad's contact at the hospital would confi
Dad comes to the doorway and grins, "No you took four. Kara Anderson was pregnant. You helped rid the world of my bastard child." He announces this with a huge smile on his face as I immediately feel sick. Nash grabs my trash can and throws up as Lucian and I run for my attached bathroom. He throws up in the sink as I throw up in the toilet. We unknowingly killed a baby.It's more than just him making us kill a family that we knew. We are now the reason an innocent child never had any chance to live all because my father raped her and didn't want to own up to what he did. I knew it was more than just getting rid of the victims, it was more than the argument between dad and Mr. Anderson. After throwing up I made my way back into my room all three of us couldn't look at each other I definitely can’t look my brothers in the eye what have we done the guilt was already clawing through my body like a poison I don't think we were ever going to get over what we dead all the become something
LucianAge 18 There's something different in the air. It's more than just the eagerness that seems to waif off of all the freshman coming into the college. I lean back against my car and casually look around, but I don't see anyone new. But I can feel it. My alpha tensing under my skin, as if preparing for something. The feeling of someone watching me closely. I take a drag from a cigarette and slowly release the smoke into the air as I casually look around. I don’t know who the fuck thinks they can intimidate me, but I refuse to let them see its working. I haven't had this feeling since that day six years ago when Karas sister called me out for cutting the brake lines to their car before her father drove off. My brothers leaned against the car with their arms crossed across their chests. "Do you feel it too?" I ask casually.Nash nods as Knight answers, "someone is watching us." I hear the crowd murmur as a Black Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat pulls into the lot. My body
Aurora The hard part was over, I was in. Granville Prep College. Only for the richest in the country. I was dressed in disguise because I didn’t want to risk the men from my past to recognize me. My omega was whimpering in my mind. But since the surgery my sense of smell had gone. I didn’t understand what she was saying. Yeah, my body may have changed in the last six years, but my eyes have not, and neither has my height. My heart was stuck in my throat the entire time they followed behind me and my closest friend Lexi to the Deans office. The secretary hands us our matching schedules as she eyes me suspiciously.“You’ll need to straighten that tie and get pants that fit better than that if you want to fit into this college.” She snarls.&nb