Aurora
Nightmares of the woman’s screams haunt my sleep. I can’t help but toss and turn in bed, having to put everything back in its place from where the royal warriors tore through my stuff. They ransacked the house, too, yelling for my mother to confess on my whereabouts, and she wears the fresh bruises on her neck to show how rough they had been.
It’s been long known that royals are superior. I’ve even heard rumors that they steal young females from the commoner hospital wards, forcing them to be slaves until they are useful for the salacious and sinful royals to abuse them in other ways.
There aren’t many of us left in my pack, but my alpha has managed to convince the royal warriors that there aren’t any unmated females in his pack and if there were, he would gladly hand them over.
I wonder if Alpha Gunther had taken a beating for lying to the royal pack warriors, knowing that they had found my room and somehow found another female later on, taking her right there in the middle of town from what my father told me. They assaulted her body and didn’t care who saw it. Sometimes, I think it kicks their sexual pleasure up more, knowing they can have any female, at any time, without being objected.
My father had been with the Alpha of our pack when they came into our borderlines, skipping over the pleasantries with Alpha Gunther and going straight for kicking down doors and sniffing out young, unmated females.
I’ve always feared that I will find my mate, and I’ll still be taken away, but my parents have always told me the royals don’t like commoners that are mated. That’s why my mom has been safe all these years. They tell me about how they want them young, unable to understand what is happening to them as they are used and abused. They want them naïve and uncombative.
I finally feel brave enough to get out of bed and get dressed, pulling my long hair behind me and tying it up off my neck. There’s a plastic bag taped to my window, hiding a small crack that was created when a piece of my furniture was hauled into the wall nearby, cracking it slightly and letting the humidity off the mountains slide down into the valley before slithering in through my bedroom window.
Aurora, my best friend Ann reaches out, her voice frail.
My heart leaps at hearing her alive. It’s all I can hope for after a raid of royal warriors. Ann, oh moon goddess, I can’t believe you’re okay! You are okay, right?
Yeah, she hums into my head. Paul and Row were with me when the royals came through, she adds, mentioning our other closest friends, both of them unmated and thankfully just as brave to help Ann as Luke had helped me last night. They were able to mask my scent. We hid in the cellar until they left the pack. What about you, are you okay?
I’m fine, I hum, wishing that were true but honestly, I’m still petrified of what happened yesterday. Where are the guys? Have you heard from them since yesterday?
There’s a moment in the link where I feel our connection faulter, like static, hearing her hesitate and mull over her words. Aurora, I need to tell you something, she sighs, something so sobering and chilling about her tone. Meet me outside. I’m already in front of your house.
My brow furrows and I walk to my window first, peering through the plastic cover to see three silhouettes’ downstairs, meandering outside near my front porch. I slip on some shoes and race down the steps, passing my parents in the kitchen.
My father coos to my mother, trying to soother her still, after I faintly could here her crying all night over the encounter with the royals. I give them both a small wave, hating the sight of my parents so distraught, but it’s something I’ve had to grow accustomed too, just like every other time I’ve managed to slip away from the royals.
I meet my friend’s downstairs, all but Luke, and their expressions are all stoic and similar.
Paul is the oldest of them all, standing taller and skinnier than the rest, his eyes a deep brown color while his hair matches almost perfectly, combed back and wet like it’s fresh from a shower. He offers a light grin, his pale cheeks splattered with a variety of freckles.
Ann is the next in age, almost twenty herself, her and Paul the ones that shifted first in our friend group. They like to tussle, which is a sight to see, Ann only five-foot three, shorter than me by a few inches, but built with enough spunk to fuel a royal wolf. She has curly red hair, fluffy when she tries to brush it out, and when I look to her, she doesn’t smile like Paul.
Neither does Row, the youngest of us all but still somehow the strongest. He holds his arms in front of his broad chest, his bold shoulders perked up at the sight of me, his algae eyes looking away from my gaze as his dark chocolate hair wavers in the wind.
Something still and calm travels through us all as I face my friends and they face me.
“What’s going on, Ann?” I ask, referring to her worried tone in the link just moments ago. “Is everything okay?”
She pauses, exchanging looks with the others before returning her light eyes to my own. “Aurora, have you spoke to Luke this morning?”
My heart flickers at the mention of his name. It’s his twentieth birthday, the most important of his life, and he could very well find his mate today and if I have an ounce of luck, it will be me.
“No,” I reply, looking to the house next door, wondering if we are going over there to meet with him on his birthday and then maybe finding out that he and I are fated to one another as mates.
“Aurora,” Paul says, his voice rough and deep in tenor. “We ran into Luke this morning. He had a wild look in his eyes, and he wreaked of hormones,” he grumbles, unable to meet my gaze now.
“He said he could smell his mate,” Row chimes in.
My heart flutters, wondering why he hasn’t come by my house.
That’s when it hits me.
“His mate is Mary, from the quiltmaker’s family in town,” Ann mumbles.
I flinch, feeling like she had screamed the news into my head directly. I hold my arms to my sides, trying to stich myself together but the pieces beg to be set loose and scatter. My knees knock, wondering if they are mistaken, maybe they didn’t see it right, and this is all a big miscommunication before they finally admit that Luke is my mate, and they were wrong.
They have to be wrong!
I threaten to fall over, Row forcing himself before me, his thick arms wrapped around my back and keeping me pinned to his body. He holds me still, even as I shiver, and I finally release the tears into his shirt that have been threatening to fall since Ann said the sinful words, she had spoken to me. Maybe she is still wrong—maybe it’s a mistake.
Just then, I look over Row’s shoulder, catching the sight like it’s meant to be perfectly set up in my view, and I see the busy paths of our town, our pack, trying to reconcile and move on from the horrid events of yesterday. Two wolves, however, seem unphased by the sting of fear we all felt and instead they sport gleeful, cheery grins.
Luke leans down, his lips crashing into Mary’s, the sight of him kissing another female utterly ripping my soul out of my chest and stomping it into the dirt until it no longer beats.
“Breathe,” Paul reminds me, my choking cries starting to echo into my own mind. He moves behind me, his hand resting on my shoulder and if it weren’t for Row’s embrace, I would threaten to fall to the ground right here and never stand again.
“It’s going to be okay,” Ann hums, her light voice equal parts assurance and grief. “It’s been a rough two days, guys. I think we need to find something to cheer us all up.”
“Killing a royal or two would be a good start,” Paul grumbles behind me.
Row keeps his arms strung around my shoulders, making sure I stay upright during my incapacitating sobs. “I agree but maybe we should try something more realistic, and less deadly.”
“How about we grab some drinks from the casino?” Ann says while shrugging.
I bury my face into Row’s shoulder, still wound-up from the sight of Luke kissing another female. I should have never even imagined the reality of him finding his mate and it not being me. I should have been that girl, taking his lips against mine and letting him hold me like he has in the past; holding me like he’d never release me again.
“Alcohol sounds amazing,” I blurt, my voice muffled into Row’s sleeve.
Everyone pauses, seemingly to take a count of who wants to go and who is against the idea.
“I have some muting potion I cooked up last week,” Paul exhales, breaking the silence. “We can take some of that to keep the bartenders from knowing we are underage. “It doesn’t last very long but we should be able to sneak a few shots in before anyone notices.”
“I just got paid, too,” Row mentions, breathing hot exhales into my hair.
He works most of his days at his parent’s butcher shop downtown and goes on frequent hunting trips to stock their market shop with a fresh variety of meats. He hums a noise that radiates through my ear, firmly pressed to his chest still, unsure if he will pull away and I’ll melt to the ground in a pitiful, unworthy puddle.
I want Luke. He was supposed to be mine.
If I can’t have him, I’ll numb his place in my heart until I can’t feel it throbbing anymore.
Aurora “Slow down,” Paul grumbles, snatching away my glass before the bartender can refill it. He is sick of me trying to numb my ache but in the same breath, whatever he mixed into that muting potion he gave us leaves such a sour taste in my mouth, I just need to get rid of it with something else; anything else. He tries to push my glass away, but Ann follows his moves, sticking another glass in front of me and tapping it with the top of hers. We giggle, throwing it back quickly while Paul turns to see what has transpired with his back turned. He snarls, Row busy paying the bartender, Ann and I loose and warm in the cheeks. “You will make yourself sick like this, Aurora,” Paul hums, reaching for my newest glass. I snatch it away first, pulling it to my chest like a mother bear clinging to her pup. He rolls his tan eyes. “Really, girls? “Blame Ann,” I snicker, both her and I breaking into a cackling episode of laughter.
JaxsonIt’s easy to say how I got my role as the lead warrior in the royal guard; and it’s not the relation to my father, King Alpha Kennedy. I worked hard to be the strongest warrior, the most endured fighter, and it shows when I walk through a crowd. Everyone smells the royal bloodline and when they look, they see a warrior, strong and fierce. I refuse to give up in a fight, or bend to the will of anyone that tries to challenge my father or the royal pack.Royals are the picture of prestige and strength, a group of wolves so damning in size and strength; we are the apotome of unfiltered perfection.We heard rumors of rogues searching for casinos to rob, most of those coins then taxed to the royal pack and if there’s one thing my father doesn’t like to be messed with, it’s his gold. Rogues are mostly harmless, a majority of them useless, puny commoners.They can’t stand authority.They really can&r
AuroraI can’t recall the last time I drank but I know it has never felt like it does right now. I jolt out of my warm bed, stuck in the blankets for a second, falling to the floor and having to crawl into the bathroom so I can throw up. My stomach churns, my body so sore that I feel as if I’ve been running for days on end without stopping.The memory of yesterday floods my mind while I sit by the toilet, waiting to hurl. Luke found his mate and my stomach seizes at the sight of him kissing her so outright. Everything changed so fast, too fast, that it left me in the dust to figure out alone.Then there was the casino, the endless drinks. After that my mind goes foggy.A delicious smell of pancakes and warm syrup floods my senses, and I stand slow, catching my balance. Only now do I spot myself in the mirror. I wear a long-sleeve white shirt, something I’ve never owned nor would I; it’s made for a male. Aside from tha
AuroraLuke appears outside my house, and I want to embrace him and never let go but I am inhibited by Jaxson's arm squeezing around my bicep. He drags me from my parents, being held back by warriors, and I watch them struggle at the sight of me being taken away.I leave with a small glance over my shoulder, being tugged into a horse-drawn carriage with the proclaimed prince of the royal pack. He takes a seat on the bench, and fall to the floor, flimsy with fear, his eyes burning holes into my back as the door is thrown shut. I close my eyes, expecting a hit, expecting some sort of pain or to have him finally do what royals do best with helpless, commoner girls.His brow furrows at the sight of me.As the carriage begins to move, he reaches forward to grab me but I flinch, my hands out before me, pleading that he doesn’t touch me. Now that we are alone, and my parents and best friend are out of sight, I feel vulnerable in the carriage
AuroraEven with the immaculate bed, so large I could roll over six times and still not hit the floor, I couldn’t sleep through the night. I kept tossing and turning, moving into the suite connected to my room and splashing my face with cold water, thinking it would help, but it only made it worse as I’d lay down and end up weeping into one of the millions of pillows.I feel dumbfounded at how this situation has come about, and how I should have never gone to the casino at all, but it wasn’t the worst part of the night. I could hear women being raped, being beaten, and I know for fact they are commoners. Royal men don’t hurt royal women like this.I miss Luke, my protector, my best friend.I always had a feeling Mary had a crush on him, always staring at him longingly while he and I hung out with our friend group, but I didn’t know she had already had the inclination that they were mates. I bet she knew for mont
AuroraThe cabin is small, stuffy, with a horrible stench of animal flesh and burnt cedar radiating through the small space. There’s a kitchen fit for one person at a time, chunks of meat set out on the counter, fresh and bloody from a recent kill. The living room is a few lounge chairs facing the fireplace that runs smoke outside, some of it staying dormant indoors, making it hard to breathe without tasting the stench.Jaxson pushes into the back room, something like a bedroom. The space is small, and the bed is nothing but a pile of blankets and a sleeping bag. I spot a male moving around in there already, laughing at Jaxson’s abrupt entrance into the room, and they exchange a hard handshake. Jaxson ruffles through clothes in a dresser against the wall and I watch him slip on some jeans and a flannel top. The rustic sight of a man so perfectly formal makes my head spin.That’s when his brother steps into the room, a blond kid cl
AuroraIt feels like ages before I finally fall asleep in bed, warm under the covers and exhausted from the day. Jaxson refused to speak to me after I hit him, and I feel on some level he is busy brewing with a new idea how to punish me, how to hurt me, and I can only see the way he had thrown his own warrior for grabbing me.His strength is unmatched.He left me in my new room alone for the rest of the day, the only exception being the servants coming through to bring various foods and fruits, but I hardly touched any of it. I can tell the servants are all commoners. It makes me sick to dine while they are bruised and wounded all over.I’m surprised that Jaxson hasn’t tried hurting me like they are hurt, speckling me with wounds until I conform and give into his whims. I turn nineteen in two weeks, the pressure looming while it will be a long year until my twentieth birthday, and I can tell if he’s a liar or no
AuroraAfter a few brushes of makeup, I slip into the gown pulled for me by the mute maids. They are young, like me, watching me be dressed and made up to be a princess with eyes of envy. I would let them have this life if they wanted it, considering how much I don’t want it. No matter my wishes, I am sewn into a long ivy white dress that mirrors the color of my silver hair, now pinned in a long ponytail down my back with extensive, loopy curls.They ignore their wounds and tend to my exterior, trying to make me beautiful, but I can’t stand the sight of being looked after by girls like Callie, girls I grew up knowing and being friends with who don’t deserve this treatment. I turn away from the sight of me in this dress, feeling sick at my reflection.The dress wraps over my shoulders, crossing over my breasts and leaving a lot of skin seen, not leaving much unseen. The fabric tears down over my legs, showing my thighs through the