both my kids are home today. so won't be able to write for my other story probably. my youngest had a stomach bug and my oldest has a study day.
Maggie’s povIt’s been a few weeks since Tallulah arrived at the Iron River pack, and although she isn’t so scared anymore, she is still not willing to share much. It’s hard, though, because we still have no actual confirmation that Aeryn and Elora are there. So it’s just guesswork at this point until we can find Marco.Hopefully today’s meeting will help with that, because we’ve finally been able to schedule a meeting with the alpha of the Shadow Mountain pack, who claims to want to build a factory near or in their pack.I am coming with Rain to do my spy shit."Spy shit?" Alice said, laughing."You know, lying and stealing. No one expects a little red-headed woman." I joked.I was actually a little nervous. I would have to improvise because we didn’t know much about this pack, besides that Marco grew up here. We couldn't just ask them about Marco because that would be inappropriate during a business meeting, but maybe I could find something out by talking to the Luna.I left the kids
Leia’s pov"Luna Leia, may I come in?" Lula asked."Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something anyway." I replied and motioned for her to sit down.Tallulah, or Lula, as she liked to be called now, had stayed with us for almost six months. Six fucking months have passed, and still she hasn’t shared much more. She was fucking terrified of that school and the people that ran it.She would share things about how she was treated or the classes she had, but nothing that described the rooms or the buildings. There were no names, no descriptions of faces, and no information about the surroundings. Nothing that could actually help us."I would argue that knowing how your daughters are treated could be beneficial to your mental health." Reina said."My mental health is fucking fine and we have no proof that they’re there. Of course, I'd rather they were at school than in some alternate horrible reality that they're being used as, -""Do not linger on these thoughts." Reina warned me.She was
Leia’s pov"They found him." Ash said, rushing into the living room."Who what? Who?" I said, unsure of what he was saying."Marco. Frank. Whatever the bastard's name is. Damian and Kane have found him."I didn’t expect to hear that at all. They had been looking for fucking years. Damian and Kane didn’t mind; they got to travel the world together and see beautiful fucking countries at the same time. Sometimes Angelina and Jayden joined them, so they could spend some time together. But lately they've been on the hunt for that dickhead Marco and they’ve been looking at tropical islands. Which is difficult given how many tropical fucking islands there are."You possess that knowledge?" Reina asked, surprised."No, I fucking don’t have an exact number of islands around the world. I just know there are a shitload of islands."They started in Asia, looking at tropical islands there, thinking Marco would want to hide as far away as possible. But then, after Maggie and Rain visited the Shadow
Asher’s pov "One more time, Marco. What did you do with our daughters?" Marco smirked, but behind his fake smile I could see he was scared. "I burned them in that house." He lied, and I was done playing games with him. He was going to die anyway, so like a villain in a damn movie, I would tell him all my secrets and hope he would reveal his. "You’re not the villain." Logan said. But it kind of felt like I was. I didn’t like beating up a man when he wasn’t able to defend himself. It was important that Marco would pay for what he did, and I needed to be the one to do it, but I didn’t enjoy inflicting pain. I wasn’t some psychopath who liked torturing or killing people. That’s why I was the one to clean up after myself after I killed Alpha Braxton. He deserved everything he got, but people didn’t need to see that side of me. Look at what I was capable of. I didn’t even want to see that side of me. It was the "Iron Alpha" side that people would call me. The killer. But that wasn’t a
Sierra’s pov"I screwed up Sie," Ash said. "I lost it when I heard he had done this to more people. If I hadn’t let him into our pack, he would have never found the Goldacres, and more people wouldn’t have gotten hurt."He looked absolutely devastated. I could only imagine how guilty he must be feeling, but in all honesty, would we have used Marco anyway?"What could we have gotten out of Marco?" I asked, trying to remain practical. I could say a bunch of things to try and make Asher feel better, but I knew the only thing he would believe were facts."He could have given us a meeting with the Goldacres." Asher's hands had moved to cover his face.He had called me down into the dungeon, and I almost gagged when I saw what he had done to Marco’s body. It looked disgusting. Asher was covered in blood as well, and he had his hands on his face right now, and I wanted so badly to tell him not to touch himself because I had no clue what was on these hands. Bits of Marco’s intestines? Ugh."Le
Rain’s povI thought it would go faster. Maggie and I want to finish this, but in a year's time, Aeryn will be eighteen, and I’ve only now managed to get a meeting with the Goldacres. I’ve spoken to them before; we’ve actually been working together, but I still haven’t met them in person, and as much as I am good at business, I really need Maggie for the spy crap.And today is the day. We’ve got an invite for the whole family to this big party being hosted at the Goldacres, and we’ll finally meet in person. Since it’s not that close to home, we’ll also be staying for the weekend. It’s a chance for us to do business and for our kids to meet. although that’s what we’re pretending it’s for."Stop being nervous, Rain. We’ll be fine." Maggie said."And the kids?" I asked. "We’re going to hang around people that sell kids."Maggie winked at me, "then it’s a good thing our kids are not that cool. No one will want to steal them."I laughed, "our kids are super cool.""Maybe they will be. But n
Riker’s povIt hasn’t been easy being the younger brother of Kate and Asher. It’s not that they're not great siblings; they are. But they were teenagers when I was born, and it often feels like I’m in their shadows. I will never live up to their legacy. He’s the Iron Alpha, and she is the Elder and leader of the task force.Mom and dad have tried hard not to make me feel like I need to compete, but for crying out loud, they named me after one of the most famous betas, Dad’s best friend and Sierra’s father. It's another big pair of shoes I have to fill.I don’t know why Kate chose me. I haven’t done anything to prove myself. Maybe I’m the right age and I haven’t found my mate yet? Dad was twenty four when he met Mom, I think, so I have time."You’re not even looking for your mate." My wolf, Nero, said.I wasn’t. Not since Kate and Asher asked me to do this. I could finally mean something to the Iron River pack. I could get my nieces back. It was different for Isaac, Argo, and Airk; they
Riker’s pov "All isn’t lost, we might be able to go to the school." Rain said, but his words meant nothing to me. This was my opportunity to help my family and see and save my nieces. I didn’t just feel bad for them; I felt bad for myself, which made me feel guilty, and that didn’t help me feel better either. This whole thing was crap. I had spent almost two years training for this; I have been pretending to be Rik for a year now, and it was all for nothing? And most importantly, Aeryn and Elora were still stuck there, or in the case of Aeryn, things were probably even worse for her now. "Maybe they’ll have some files at the school that keep track of who bought who?" Maggie said when we came home. I didn’t answer her and went straight to my room. This was supposed to be it. We were going to save Aeryn and Elora, and now we are no further than we were before. I looked down at my arm, seeing their initials. We had all gotten the same tattoo at one point. Everyone who knew the truth
Aaro’s povI shouldn’t have said that, but it was the fucking truth. No matter how much this wasn’t Storm’s choice any more than it was mine, he was still going to mark me against my will. Maybe if things were different, then I would have chosen Storm as my mate.I always hoped I would find my true mate, but that ship had fucking sailed the moment I was bought. Maybe even before then—maybe the moment I was brought to the damn school. It didn’t fucking matter anyway.I saw how my remark hurt Storm, and all I could think of to make this better was to ask him to kiss me. I knew it fucking made me feel better. More than better. The orgasm he gave me was out of this fucking world, and I just wanted to make him feel good too.I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, but he seemed to enjoy it, and to be honest, I was enjoying it too. I didn’t think having someone’s dick inside my mouth would be fun, but hearing Storm grunt and hold on to my hair and knowing I was the one doing it to him was a
Storm’s povI knew if I got pissed off, Aaro would stop telling me the truth, so I let her talk while inside of me a storm was raging. I wanted to go to the school and kill everyone who ever hurt Aaro. I wanted to destroy the entire school and get everyone out, but I knew I couldn’t. I was a fucking hypocrite. My father had bought Aaro for me and had funded the school for years. I didn’t realize where part of our money was going until I checked the books today. Our pack had been giving money to the Goldacres for decades. How could I say I would destroy the school if I still profited from it? If it wasn’t for the school, I wouldn’t have met Aaro.I wanted to be Aaro’s home, her safe place. She deserved that. Despite the fucked up situation she was thrown into, she was trying to do things her own way. She could have ignored my mother like the rest, but instead she decided to learn Dutch. The thing that bonded me and mam together. If Aaro was smart, she would have sucked up to Dad and R
Aaro’s povEve 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
Storm’s pov"Aaro is bijna klaar; douchen liep een beetje uit. [Aaro is almost done; the shower took a bit longer than expected.]Mam laughed, "Ik zie dat jij ook ging douchen? [I see you took a shower as well?] She ruffled my wet hair."Dus? [so?]""Niks. Ik ben blij voor je. Ze is speciaal vind je niet? Ik durf het bijna niet te zeggen, maar misschien is zij je, - [Nothing. I am happy for you. She’s special, isn’t she? I am almost too scared to say, but maybe she’s your, -] " I stopped my mom from finishing her sentence."Mam zeg het niet dan! Fuck, je weet zelf wat pap zou doen. [Then don’t say it! Fuck, you know what Dad would do.]"My mother knew better than anyone what my dad thought of true mates, considering she was his. Dad and mom fell in love when they were seventeen. Love at first sight, she called it, and then my grandfather got killed and my dad turned into a paranoid asshole. Too scared of what a true mate meant. He wasn't just scared of losing half his soul if his true
Aaro’s povFucking phone. That stupid fucking phone. Phones didn’t used to be like this, were they? I remember mom and dad having a phone, and I sometimes watched videos on it or played a game. But this thing was totally different.I felt so fucking out of place. I knew nothing about this world. I guess that the school does this on purpose. Make sure to isolate the girls once they’re out of the school. Make sure we don’t know how to use technology to ask for help.We’re not supposed to tell anyone about the school, but even if we only wanted to help ourselves once we were out, we wouldn’t be able to. We had no one to turn to and no way to set up any support system. Maybe I should talk to Eve. She had been isolated, stuck inside this packhouse. She knows how it feels, and maybe she knows how to get out of here.I opened the stupid phone again, cursing at it."You better not fuck this up again. Send text to Eve.""Send text to Eve," the phone said."Do you want to join me and Storm for l
Storm’s povI put Aaro on my lap and let her eat."So what’s her deal?" Cara asked, mind-linking me."What do you mean?""She seems nice, but is she like the rest? Does she want you because of your title?"I laughed, "no, she isn’t like the rest. Not at fucking all. I don’t think she cares about becoming Luna at all.""Did she have any say in coming here? Did her parents force her?"I sighed, "she’s an orphan. It’s fucking complicated Cara, but she doesn’t really have a choice. So I’m trying my fucking best to make everything not suck as fucking much."Cara smiled at me, "you want her to like you."Aaro started giving me bites to eat, and although it surprised me, I let her. It was fucking adorable that she cared enough to feed me."She likes you already. She was straddling you, and now she’s feeding you!" Cara shouted inside my head.That kiss was amazing. And when Aaro started moving her fucking hips, I went insane. If Cara hadn’t stopped us, I don’t know what would have happened. Wh
Aaro’s povBrand was cool. He reminded me of my dad’s wolf, Logan. He was as fast as him, too. How would it feel to run as a wolf? Would I be that fast?It was easier around Brand because he didn’t talk to me and I didn’t have to pretend so hard.Even when I was myself, I still had to pretend. I couldn’t let anyone know my real name or identity. It wasn’t easy. I so badly wanted to tell Brand about Logan. I wanted to tell the girl in the orphanage more about Ero. And when we discussed our names, I really wanted to tell Peter what Aaro fucking stood for.It bothered me how scared everyone was. It was supposed to be like this. In my dad’s pack, people weren’t scared of us. And although my grandpa Os could be a bit scary, people respected him more than they feared him.Then he shifted back, and although Storm looked a lot better, like a whole fuckload better, I went back to pretending. Pretending that he didn’t look fucking good, and I wondered what it would feel like to touch him. Preten
Storm’s povI tried to get some work done, but my mind kept wondering about tonight. What would be a good date idea?"Let me meet her," Brand said."And then what, have a picknick? It’s fucking freezing outside.""Please?" Brand asked and I think it was the first time he said please to me."I’ll see what I can do, okay, buddy?"Dad had given me her tracker information, and I felt like a fucking stalker, tracking Aaro’s moves. She went from the hospital to the orphanages, to lunch somewhere, and then to one of the elders' houses.When it was around four, I just gave up on working and decided to pick up Aaro early. I'm sure she'd appreciate it; I couldn't imagine spending the entire day with Ruby.I went to the O'Hares' home and watched as Aaro spoke to a young boy. He must be one of the grandkids or great-grandkids of the O'Hares. Mister O'Hare was 104 years old and looked no older than 70.When the boy saw me, he bowed his head and seemed scared. It was such an obvious contrast between
Aaro’s povStupid fucking nightmare. I used to have them when we were younger. I would dream about Marco taking us away. We were asleep when he took us, but we woke up before he brought us to the man who transported us to the school.Doctor Marco had always been so kind to us, but suddenly he was cold. He ignored our cries, he ignored me begging him to let my sister go. In the end, he threatened to hurt Elora if I didn’t help him calm her down.He showed me bones and said they belonged to a girl, and if I didn't help my sister out of her pajamas and make her shut the fuck up, he could turn my sister into a bag of bones too.For years, I wondered what he needed the bones and the pajamas for. I thought he might have pretended it was one of us who died, so my parents wouldn’t come looking for us. Or my parents were dead themselves; there must have been a reason why they didn't find us. Auntie Kat was too smart to not see through Marco’s plan, I was sure. She was the smartest person alive;