Chapter Thirteen: Be Brave

Aurora

When I arrived home, I had forty-five minutes to get dressed. Melly met me at the door, “It took me nearly twenty minutes to undo that dress. Better hurry if we are going to get it on in time.” She looked unhappy, but I don’t believe it was with me.

We rushed into my room, which looked and smelled different. It was nothing but cleaning products sitting on my now bare dresser, table, and desk. “Hurry, and strip.” I looked at Melly as she motioned for me to move faster. When I was down to my bra and panties, she handed me two new garments that had been sitting on my bed. Both were white silk with lace. She turned to give me a moment of privacy to put on my barely-there panties. The bra was really a bustier. “Here, let me help you with that.” She fastened the hooks before grabbing my blush pink shoes. “These first, and then the monster of a dress,” she kneeled so I could step into my outrageously high heels. She kept a hand out so I could balance before stepping into the fabric on the floor.

She worked quickly behind me, pulling the dress up until it the bodice met my breasts. “Here hold this, while I start buttoning. I have to use this looping tool to pull the pearl buttons through. Even my fingers are too big.”

“How am I going to get this off? Your fingers are more petite than mine.”

She grimaced, “Someone will help you.”

With one hand on the bodice and another on my dresser, I couldn’t help but ask about my room. “Melly, where is everything?” I was thankful for the mirror on the wall so I could see as she spoke.

“I told you I had to pack before leaving.” Her eyebrows went up.

“But why pack my things? I’m happy my father gave you my old clothes, but I don’t think we are the same size. And honestly, who in their right mind would wear my clothes willingly.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

She wasn’t laughing. “I wondered when you would ask about the clothing.” She bit her lip and continued to word.

At that point, it was clear something was very wrong. I turned around and placed my hands on her shoulders, “What aren’t you telling me?”

“A lot,” she sighed. “Commands. But,” something struck her. “I can tell you about my family and my situation.” She looked down at her phone, “We don’t have much time. So I need you to listen very closely and think. You have to figure this out on your own.”

“Okay.” I turned back around so she could work and talk.

“As I was telling you this morning, your father gave me leave to see my family who wants me married.”

“Which is totally ridiculous.”

“Yes. It is the old way of thinking. Even the lower society still believes in matches and strengthening the bloodline.”

               She moved closer to me and almost whispered, “The rush is a good marriage, and offspring can secure the position of the family.” She looked at me intently. “I’m the house manager for The Alpha. I take care of all the business your father does not have time for, thus the usefulness of my business degree. Luckily for you, I love to occasionally cook. Many would believe I could marry a high-ranking officer in a smaller pack here or at home, which would help my younger brother further his career and marry above his station.”

               “That’s ridiculous. What if you don’t want to marry? What if you want to pursue your career?”

               “It doesn’t matter, Aurora. Our families can use our laws even in today’s modern times to further their agendas. Everybody wants more. Unlike some, I’ve found freedom under your father’s roof. But patriarch and Alphas can always do as they like and force their will.”

               “I understand that,” I said off the cuff. My whole life had been based on pleasing my father.

               “Do you? Do you really understand what I’m saying?” Melly looked almost frightened. “Do you understand how families can use us as they like, no matter what we want? Technically when I turned eighteen, my parents could have married me off under an Alpha’s command.”

               “They could have forced you? Nobody does that. I don’t even think my grandparents were commanded to get married.”

               “You are correct. Nobody has done it in a very long time. But it is always an option that families have.”

               “No, your family would have to be cruel to do that.”

               “Some families are, Aurora. Some families don’t care about the happiness or well-being of their children, especially their daughters.”  

               “Oh, Melly.” I wanted to cry because my father certainly didn’t care about me, “What do you know?”

               She shook her head in frustration, “No tears, just smiles. You could be called down anytime soon, or worst, your father could come up here to check on you.” She plastered one on to show me as if I’d forgotten how to smile. I forced my perfectly painted lips to curl up. “But I’m telling you about what can happen in general. I’m talking about myself,” her eyes widened as her jaws clenched together. “Even though I run this household and staff, I’m still a nobody often ignored and unseen. I hear and see more than anyone would ever wish. Do you understand? I’m leaving after packing up the room,” she held her hands up to indicate the room we were standing in. “Leaving.” She dropped her tool as her hands balled into fists as her eyes screwed shut. She was trying desperately to tell me more.  

Looking around, I said it out loud, “My room.” I was becoming frantic as I threw open my now empty drawers. She looked at me helplessly as her eyes watered. “Oh Melly, what has my father done? Where are my things? Who has he sold me to?” She shook her head, biting her lips.

               “Your things are at your home.” She worked faster.

               “This is my home.”

               She stopped to look at me. “Not anymore.”

               “Your family isn’t really going to force you to marry, are they?”

               “No, but they could. Like any in a pack, they could force me to do something against my will.”

               “But my father is going to do that to me tonight.” She remained perfectly still. “To who?”

She blinked and thought very carefully. “Who would the city see as your family's equal in power?”

There was only one family as famous and feared as mine, “The Hawthornes?”  

She nodded, “The city would be happy with permanent peace. An heir with both bloodlines…”

“Do my friends know this?”

“No. Remember, I’m unseen.”  

“I have to run. I have to get out of the city. I’ve heard what they do to their women. I can’t be one of them.”

She pulled me into a hug as she cried, “No one will be able to help you. If you ask for help, you are condemning others to death. The few that know have been commanded into silence and not to interfere. Treason. Unbreakable.”

“Why did you risk everything?”

She smoothed out my hair, “As I said, I’m leaving after I pack.”

“And you’re never coming back.”

Tears freely flowed down her face, “Use all of your resources, be smarter, use the rules against them.”

I clasped her hands, “I will.”

Her phone buzzed, “Your father is waiting downstairs for you. He decided to escort you to the surprise.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“And I you. Be brave and fight.”