20. Stolen Alpha

Aaro’s pov

Eve explained the phone to me, but I still felt like a fucking idiot using it. She was so patient with me, but I knew if others saw me fumbling with the phone, they’d think I was raised under a damn rock. Everyone used technology for everything, and I felt like I didn’t belong in this world.

To be honest, I don’t belong here. I belong with my sister; I belong back home.

But a part of me wished I did belong here. That I could give Storm what he deserved. He wanted a real person who didn’t have that many secrets, someone who could be themselves around him, and I wasn’t that at fucking all. I had to think before I spoke, because otherwise I could reveal the truth.

"I really am sorry, Aaro." Eve said again.

I shook my head, "don’t be. I’ll be fine."

Eve sighed, "it can be really hard sometimes, Aaro. I try to put on a brave face for Storm. I don’t want him to feel bad for me, but it’s really lonely for me. I miss my family and just having a life. Don’t get me wrong; if I had to do it all over again, I would choose to live here with Storm. I’d rather be with my son and not have a life than have a life without him. Not to mention how different Storm would have been if he only had his father to raise him. I'd hate to think of what that man could have turned my sweet boy into if I hadn't been here to stop him."

"I’m sure Storm is the man he is today because of you. He’s nothing like his father." I replied.

She smiled at me, "you like him, don’t you?"

I looked away. "Storm is a good guy, and he’s been really sweet to me."

"I’ve never seen my son the way he is when he’s with you. Storm’s father has done a lot of bad things in his life, and even though he had the wrong reasons, bringing you here might have been one of the best things he ever did."

I was quiet. I didn’t agree. I might have been able to escape if I hadn’t been bought.

"You don’t think so?" Eve asked.

"I don’t know, Eve."

Eve didn’t pry any further; instead, she smiled at me. "You know. I should teach you some Dutch. Especially if you’re not going to be able to join the pack. It will be another way to talk to me and Storm without Lex being able to understand us. And you won’t feel left out."

"I’d like that," I replied.

"It’s a really hard language though."

I laughed. "And from what I’ve been told, I’m a terrible student."

"Are you?" Eve asked, surprised.

"I don’t know. I gave my teachers a hard time."

"I think you’ll be fine." Eve said, and she started by teaching me a few short sentences.

We spent the whole afternoon together until I smelled Storm’s scent outside of Eve’s room. He must be close.

I smiled without thinking, and Eve smirked. Storm’s close, isn’t he? You can smell him?"

I blushed, nodding my head.

"What does he smell like to you?" she asked.

"Like home." I said without thinking. I shook my head, "I mean, like the forest, river, and being outside."

She got tears in her eyes. "That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. My son smells like home."

She came close and whispered. "Did you know that to Storm, you smell like stroopwafels? They’re this Dutch cookie...."

I didn’t hear the rest. Those are his favorites. That’s what Cara said. What does that fucking mean?

Storm knocked on the door, and Eve quickly wiped away her tears. "Have fun, Aaro. And whenever you want a lesson, just call me or send me a text."

"Tot ziens [see you later]," I said, a sentence she had taught me.

"You see, you’ll be fine." Eve said, waving me goodbye.

"So, did you and my mother have fun?" Storm said, giving me a peck on the lips.

"Ja [yes]. We did."

"Did you say "ja"?" Storm asked, surprised.

"She’s teaching me Dutch." I explained.

He pulled me in for a hug without saying anything. Did he like me learning Dutch that much? It wasn’t a big fucking deal.

Storm kept his arm around my shoulder and walked with me through the enormous packhouse. "I thought we could have a picnic."

"A picnic?" I said surprised. It was fucking cold outside.

He let me into a large room, which was almost empty with a lot of windows everywhere and beautiful lights hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room there were a blanket, some pillows, and various plates with food.

"It’s our ballroom. It’s for parties and other dumb shit the pack does, but nobody ever uses it except when we have a party, so it’s private, and, -"

I stopped Storm, "it’s perfect. Thank you."

We sat down crossed-legged on the floor, and Storm grabbed a plate and started putting food on it.

"So, tell me about the school."

I shrugged my shoulders, "there were more than thirty girls, different ages. We go to school, work, and sleep there. Not much to tell."

Storm sighed, "you know that’s not what I fucking want to know. Describe an average day or tell me about that head mistress that looked like a witch."

I laughed, "she was a bit of a witch. I really disliked her."

"Was she the one that hurt you?" Storm asked, grabbing my hand.

I nodded.

"What would she do?"

"It wasn’t that bad, Storm. We can talk about something else."

Storm stood up and got behind me, putting his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder. "I think it would be good for you to share. I know talking sometimes fucking sucks, but honestly, I think it will help."

I wanted to tell Storm everything, but I knew I fucking couldn’t. I couldn’t tell him I tried to escape, because why would I want to escape if I claimed not to remember anything? I could tell him what she did without explaining why exactly, but as usual, I had to watch my fucking words carefully. Not to mention, I was taught to share as little as possible about the school, lest they harm the girls that were still there.

"I used to misbehave a lot, maybe because I was older when I got to the school? I had a harder time adjusting to everything than my sister did. Or maybe it’s just my personality; I don’t really like it when people tell me what to do."

Storm smirked, "so that’s why you always have this "fuck you" expression on your face when I tell you what to do."

I decided not to reply, and he chuckled. "You have that expression on your face right now, don’t you?"

"Maybe. Anyway, when I misbehaved, she would take me back to her office for her punishment. It depended on the severity of my crimes. Sometimes I had to scrub the toilets with a toothbrush, or I wouldn’t get food for a few days. That was usually when I didn’t tidy my bed or if my hair wasn’t tied correctly. Sometimes I had to stand somewhere in a corner for the whole day without being able to move. If I really misbehaved, she would beat me or lock me up for a week in a dark, small room after giving me wolfsbane. I preferred the beatings to being locked up."

Storm was quiet. "When did those punishments start?"

"The smaller ones started early, but I started misbehaving more when I got older. I’m stubborn like that." I joked.

"Did she hurt your sister too?"

"Not a lot; I used to cover for her. Plus she behaved a lot better than I did."

"What was a normal day like?" Storm asked. I fucking loved that he just listened and didn’t seem to get angry or pity me. And it helped that I couldn’t see his face either. His scent calmed me down, and it felt nice talking to him. It was almost like I wasn’t fucking lying to him all of the time.

"We would wake up at dawn. It depended on what your job was that week. If you had kitchen duty, you had to get up even earlier. Then we’d quickly get dressed and freshen up. Like you might have noticed, I like to sleep, so I was usually one of the last ones to shower. My sister would help me make my bed often, because if your school uniform was dirty or your bed wasn’t tight enough, you’d get punished. Then we would head to breakfast; after that, we had different classes, and when school was finished, we’d clean. We’d do laundry, prepare dinner, and help take care of the little ones. Then we’d eat, and we’d have to clean the kitchen. Then we’d go to bed, I guess."

"What did they teach you?" Storm asked.

"Well, we had ancient textbooks that contained some human history and werewolf history from long ago. Nothing recent. We got basic math, English, and something called domestic science, which was just basically how to become a housewife. We got lessons in walking in heels and how to act appropriately around men and people that were more important than us."

"Did you do any fun things? Or was it just work and school all the fucking time?"

I smiled thinking about Ero. "I would tell my sister stories about how we would be saved by our not-existing parents. I told her they were this powerful Luna and Alpha. I’d sing her songs. We were all taught nursery rhymes and songs in school; it’s a good skill to have for when you become a mother. My sister and I were not allowed to go outside very often. They didn’t want our skin to become darker. But whenever we did go outside, I would pretend to hang up the laundry while lying in the sun with my eyes closed. We’d have very small birthday celebrations; sometimes the other girls would make us something or smuggle something out of the kitchen."

"But the school never felt like home to you?"

I shook my head, "no. Maybe because they took me when I was six. I knew better; despite not remembering much, I knew home shouldn’t feel like that. I tried my best to make Ero feel loved, like I used to feel."

"Maybe I can be your home." Storm whispered.

I started to pick some food off my plate; I didn’t know how to respond to that. It made me fucking nervous because, if things were different, I might have wanted Storm to be my home, my safe place.

"Do you want some too?" I asked Storm.

"Are you going to feed me again?"

"If you want."

"Yes. It’s fucking adorable." Storm said, and it made me blush.

I started to give Storm some bites of my plate, and he stroked my arms with his fingers. "Your turn. Ask me anything."

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going to do something fun tomorrow so won't be able to write. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you for all the nice comments.