Chapter Three: It Can't Be True

Chapter Three 

Aurora

               Brittney Connor, Betty Kent, and Mona Drake laughed as I belted one of the last songs from the play on our walk back to The Tower. What we lovingly referred to Briar Heights as, despite living in a mixture of penthouses and million-dollar suites. I was getting into the moment. It was late, and I felt silly after having fun with my friends. My arms were stretched out wide as I looked to the stars and sang. We had an incredible night of decadent food and entertainment. I even had a new wardrobe in my closet. The dress I wore was new and very different from my usual attire. It was downright sexy, red, and over the top. Usually, my father had me dressed modestly in baby pink. I usually looked like a living doll. But tonight’s dress was fun, so I happily wore it. It made me feel like someone else.         

Together, the four of us were my real birthday celebration and not whatever god-awful thing my father had planned. Everything was a surprise. I didn’t know anything except to be dressed and ready to leave by seven tomorrow evening. I begged the girls for information, but they would look over at my guards and just smile. The only thing I knew was that it wasn’t being held at The Tower since it required a car.

               It would be cruel to press them for more. They couldn't share, no matter how badly they wanted to. It didn't matter where I went or how carefree I pretended to be; I was still me. I was the daughter of the Southern Illyrian Alpha. The daughter of a thief, liar, and murderer. He managed to hide all of it from me but then again, I did as he told me years ago, I always obeyed, and I never tried to leave. I knew what would happen to me or, more importantly, what would happen to the ones I cared about if I ever tried.

               Once when I was thirteen, I had a meltdown. I cried, threw furniture, and cursed his name. Thankfully, the new house manager, Melly, caught me before Father could hear me. She held me and told me to be good. "Aurora," she whispered. "You won't pay for this mess now, but somebody else will, and he will remember. Do you want that on your conscience?" She was young but wise.

The answer was no, and we both knew it. So I helped her clean, and it was as if it never happened. Later, when my father noticed my less-than-perfect mood, he delightfully said it was a full moon, and my first shift was coming. He was right. That night I turned into a golden wolf. Apparently, my wolf wasn't as well behaved as I was. She had a feast that night as she tore into animals that were usually the hunters and stayed close to the forbidden river. Instead, they became her prey. I remember feeling a little power and slightly satisfied the next morning. I wished I could be like my wolf every day.  

The full moon was coming again, and my body was already feeling restless. The anger was bubbling beneath. I'm not sure how my father was going to deal with the full moon on my birthday. Nobody my age could prevent the shift. Those who were trained could control when during the night it happened but couldn’t stop it completely. We needed to satisfy our blood lust before turning back into our human form. It was going to be ridiculous. I'd already scowled at the hideous pink dress I was to wear, but he didn't see. He never saw me. He just sees what he wants, and that is me happily complying with his every whim. And that's okay because that kept me alive. But what was I living for?

Maybe something horrible would happen at the party, and I'd be standing next to him while I shifted, and on accident, I'd tear his jugular clean out of his throat. He'd never expect it. It would be satisfying, but then I'd be branded a traitor, hunted down, and killed by his cronies. Or would I? My options would be to die or flee. Fleeing would send me North to the Hawthornes, and they had a worse reputation than my father.

Linus Hawthorne was supposedly behind the killing of my mother. Apparently, it was an honor killing. Julie, also known to me as Mom, had once been engaged to Linus's best friend and Beta, who mysteriously died before the wedding. I only heard my mother speak about what happened once, to a friend while I hid on the other side of the door with my friend Mona.

We were as quiet and still as statues. She told Mona’s mom, Selene Drake, that she knew that she would be the main suspect in Benjamin’s death, and no one would believe what really happened, so she fled to the South. Because of her youth, beauty, and the fact she had belonged to the highest Hawthorn General (Beta in our wolf world), as soon as she entered the gates seeking asylum, my father immediately wanted her, and they were married the next day. Dad was disgusting and liked to joke about his virility and strong lineage in that he was able to get his wife pregnant the night they wed. Three months later, they had me. Wolves carry their cubs for three months, unlike humans who carry for nine. I don’t know how long Fae or Vampire carry theirs, but I’m pretty sure all creatures are different. If my mother fled to the arms of my father because she feared for her life, how terribly cruel were the Hawthornes?

Coming back to reality, I noticed my friends were chattering secretively.

"I heard," Betty leaned forward as we walked closer together. I abandoned my singing since the guards had walked off a little more. Apparently, they weren't very fond of my silliness. Betty looked over her shoulder to see the two guards lighting their cigarettes, laughing as they passed a flask back and forth. Guarding me was an easy, if not useless, job. I didn't step out of line, and nobody messed with me. They were practically babysitting a living doll, so there was no need for me to ward against eavesdropping. "I heard that Archer Hawthorne is going to be at your party tomorrow night."

"What?" the three of us gasped. Maybe I did need to throw up a ward. This was stuff we shouldn’t know or discuss. Despite legally becoming an adult in less than two hours, I was treated like a child. But the chaperones really were already drunk, and I couldn’t afford to draw any attention to my secret by making invisible signs with my fingers. Not even my friends knew what I could do. Only my mother and she never said a word. It all came after her death through a little blue book that my father would never read to me. The one time I asked for a story, he mocked me and said something about how I was old enough to read. I had never been more thankful in prayer than that night when I began to learn a secret my father never would. 

Goddess, secrets. I swear that is what my entire existence was based on. If you took away the secrets and lies, then what would exist in my world?

"He's the vilest creature I've ever heard of. And he’s so much older than us. The last time I saw my cousin at Wonderland, she said that a once beautiful woman showed up half beaten to death at the police where my uncle works, and some lackey of the Alpha's came in and brushed it all aside. She was saying that Archer did it. Uncle told my mother that it'd happened more times than he can count. Sometimes it's just a body that appears, and they aren't allowed to investigate. Supposedly Archer has a deadly temper."  

"Betty, what the fuck? Just morbid. We are celebrating Aurora. Why would they let dreadful Hawthorne heir come to her party?" hissed Brittney. “It can’t be true."

"I don't know, but that's what I overheard my parents talking about. I just thought you should know. I'm sorry, Aurora, but something doesn't feel right." We all looked back to make sure the guards were still ignoring us, and they were, so we continued.

"I agree," whispered Mona. "Mom and Dad were having one of their half out-loud and half in-head Mate discussions. They only do that when they've been forbidden to speak on an issue. We've all been forbidden on spilling certain details to you about the you-know-what tomorrow." I rolled my eyes. I loved it when my father issued Alpha commands. Mona could say party or event or gathering but made it sound worst by not. She could be a little dramatic.

"How did your parents get so lucky, Mona? They are the only True Fated Mates in this whole part of the city."

"I don't know either. They met at a wedding in Wonderland and never wanted to be apart again. They have never given me the details about being Fated Mates, but then again, I kind of didn’t want to ask about their sex life,” we all got the chills from thinking about our parents having sex. Just so wrong. Mona continued, “Since dad had a top job with the Alpha here, mom moved. She was from a nobody family in the North, so it didn't make sense for them to stay there. I'm happy they found love among the chaos. They met during some of the dark days."

Mr. and Mrs. Drake were an unusual couple. They were actually affectionate and seemed like good people. They followed my father's rules, but if you watched very, very closely, they didn't agree with them. But no one ever looked that closely. My father was absolutely confident in his absolute power and relied heavily on his Alpha Command's ability to control as well as his thugs.

"But the goddess be praised they found each other, and you are here to be my friend." We all giggled.  

As we walked closer to the door, I looked back, seemingly to check on the guards. They were lost in their own conversation. Usually, it was bragging about who had the biggest dick and who fucked the most. My money was that they were both tiny and lying. Though what would I know, I've never seen a naked man. Even during full moons, I was kept separate and only with my female companions. Though we can shift with our clothes on. If our fur gets dirty, so do our clothes.

No, I was looking past the useless men who were supposed to watch me. I was looking for my guardian, and he never disappointed me. I don't know who he was, but he'd been with me for as long as I could remember. I don't know if he worked for my father, or maybe he was an angel sent by my mother.

Either way, I found comfort in my handsome shadow. No matter what happened tomorrow, I knew he would be there watching over me and would intervene if I needed him.