6

**DISCLAIMER: THIS CHAPTER MENTIONS R**E IN A STORY TELLING CAPACITY. If this is a trigger for you please skip this chapter.**

 

After they had finished their mean, Arden handed Aurora a glass of red wine. They made their way over to the spacious lounge that Arden had on the other side of the studio. 

Arden had to stop himself from grabbing Aurora and placing her close to him. He knew that it was not appreciated, at least at this time. Aurora was a sophisticated woman with a little boy. She was not some young girl from high school who would just be happy for his attention. 

"Will you tell me more about your family?" Aurora said before taking a sip of her wine. 

"What is it you would like to know?" Arden returned with his own question. 

"Why are you not closer to them? Distance wise I mean. At least from what you have said, they live further up into the mountains." 

"They do. Unfortunately, I do not have the best relationship with my stepmother." 

"I'm sorry. I didn’t realize your father remarried." Aurora said. Arden gently shook his head back and forth.

"It is not your fault. I did leave it out conveniently, didn’t I? I do not want you to think ill of me but ever since my father remarried, he has not been the same man that I grew up with. I was not able to stay and see what he was becoming around her." There Arden was able to tell her without really telling her. It was the jist anyway.

"That is still sad, and I am sorry to hear it. To lose one parent and then lose your relationship with the other." Aurora thought for a moment. 

"To change the topic to something happier, has your son decided on what he is going to be for Halloween this year?" Arden decided the best way to brighten her mood would be to talk about her son. As expected, her eyes lit up and a smile appeared. 

"He has decided on a ninja. He saw one in a movie and decided it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. Since they that is what he wanted to be, and it has not changed once." She chuckled remembering the day he had decided on it. 

"He sounds great." Arden smiled at her. He loved to see her smile and laugh. It completely transformed her face. It made her even more beautiful if that was even possible. 

"He really is." Aurora sighed as she thought about the man that had fathered him. He had been the complete opposite. "I am thankful every day that Eli is a sweet and caring child." Aurora had not meant to say the last out loud. She wasn’t sure why but being around Arden made her want to open to him. Tell him things that normally she would keep inside.

"Was there doubt that he would not be?" Arden asked curiously by her words.

"Let's just say that the man who fathered him, was anything but caring or sweet." Aurora took another sip of her wine. She knew that Arden would be curious. Who wouldn’t, especially seeing as it was their second date. 

"Would you be open to talking about it?" Arden did not want to press Aurora in case it was a sensitive topic for her. Any time she had spoken of Eli's birth father, there never seemed to be any love lost.

Aurora took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "When I was in high school, I was anything but the person I am now. I know shocking. I was carefree and spirited. I loved to be around people all the time. I met Cameron at a party one night. It was the senior bonfire. I had just turned 18 and was excited to be able to call myself an adult. When Cameron and I first met, I fell head over heels immediately. He was a charmer, that was clear. But I was young and dumb and didn’t realize it was all an act. Then one day, he changed." 

Aurora stopped for a moment. She had not allowed herself to think this far back in a long time. Arden had moved closer to her but wasn’t touching her. She appreciated that. She wasn’t sure how she would handle being touched in that moment.

"I couldn’t seem to do anything right. He had a terrible temper and more often than not, he would take it out on me physically as well as verbally. Think of any name you could call a woman and I more than likely have heard it. He always made sure to bruise me where it wasn’t visible to others. He had many friends on the football team. Even if I had told anyone what he was doing, i doubt anyone would have believed me. Even my own friends thought he walked on water."

Again, Aurora took a deep breath. Now for the final admission. "One night we were coming home from a party. Cameron had noticed me talking to one of his friends. Which of course had been innocent. We had mainly talked about Cameron, but he did not believe me. Instead, he pulled over on a farm road, and beat me until I had blood running from my noise, and I am almost that I had a concussion. Then he r***d me. He left me on that road for dead. However, he didn’t realize that one of the farmers had witnessed the whole thing. He helped me to his small cabin and called my mother to come get me. He had also called the cops while he was at it. They showed up around the same time. Of course, it went to trial, my mother was not going to let me forget about it. When the trial was almost over was when I realized I was pregnant." 

Aurora remembers the day as if it was yesterday. She sat in her bathroom on the toilet and stared down at a small stick that she had picked up from the drugstore on the corner. There was one hard line and another faint one right next to it. Aurora had gone through many emotions that day already. They were to hear the verdict. She had decided to keep it a secret until after the court hearing. 

"Was he found guilty?" Arden's voice had changed. Aurora only slightly noticed. She was too wrapped up in her memories to take too much notice. 

"He was. He had one week to check in for his arraignment. During that week Cameron had drunk more than a fish with his buddies and at the end of the week, he wrapped his car around a pole. No one knows if it was drunk driving or done on purpose." Aurora's voice was distant and cold. Arden could not blame her. The man sounded like a monster.

"Anyways, I ended up telling my mother about the baby. Not once did it ever cross my mind not to have Eli. I knew that I would raise him right and he would be nothing like Cameron. My mother helped me to get a job and from there I worked my way up to what I am now." 

Arden figured out why the barrier was up after hearing Aurora's story. She had guarded herself heavily from ever being hurt again. Not that he could blame her in the least. Arden had to hold his fists together so tightly that blood was drawn several times. If Cameron was not already dead, Arden would have made sure of it after hearing what he did to Aurora. 

She hadn’t seemed to notice how close he came to shifting. Thor had been chomping at the bit with every word. Arden had told him to back down. That they could not chance scaring her away. Especially not now that she had just opened up to Arden. It would close her off from him forever. 

"You are a very strong woman, Aurora." Arden finally said. He could not help the pride that he felt for her. Having gone through that and still deicide to raise a child on your own. 

"Thank you. You know, we have been around each other a few times now, you can call me Rory if you'd like." Arden put his hand to his chest and smiled. 

"It would be a honor." He spoke. Aurora rolled her eyes and threw the pillow that sat next to her in his direction. She was lucky that he had fast reactions, he almost lost a handle on his glass of wine.