CHAPTER 5

            —Aurora’s pov—

As I removed the dress I had worn to dinner, I gazed at the young woman in the mirror. A sigh escaped my lips, and she mirrored my action, her expression reflecting her heartache. It was hard to fathom that the woman before me was actually me.

I unpinned my hair, letting it cascade down my shoulders like a waterfall, and a tear trickled down as I scrutinized my reflection. My heart pounded heavily, each beat deepening my misery. This was an unfamiliar feeling, one I never wanted to experience again.

A few maids entered my room carrying more clothes. I let out a derisive snort, refraining from saying anything as they indicated I was to wear yet another dress, a mandate from the Alpha. Once they left, I stared at the pink, translucent gown through the mirror, hesitating. Well, at least he got my color right. I finally stood up from the chair and walked toward the bed, examining the clothes.

Soon, I was dressed. My shampooed hair, dripped off water as I tried to dry it off with a towel. I walked out of my room, as soon as I was done. I wanted to look for Margaret. I wanted to talk to her as she was the only one I could trust in this hellish place.

The Mansion was quite large. Larger than the house I grew up in. Descending the stairs, I could hear the sound of crackles coming from the fireplace. Surprisingly, there was no one there. About to turn back, a loud bang caught my attention. Intrigued, I followed the sound and found myself outside Hawthorne’s study.

I swallowed as I contemplated if eavesdropping on them was a good idea and the consequences of my actions, should Hawthorne find out that I indeed, eavesdropped on his conversation with his beta. I shook my head as I knew it wasn’t worth it. I turned to leave when suddenly, his beta spoke.

“You are only hurting yourself. You are aware that you are mated to her, aren’t you? What do you think will happen if she eventually turns twenty and discovers that you are her mate? Would you still hate her even then?”

I stilled. My lips quivering and yet, not a single word escaped. I was beyond shocked to learn that I’m mated to the one man that despised me so much! My heart thumped so hard that I feared that they would notice.

“How do you know all these?” It was Hawthorne and he didn’t denial the fact that I am his mate!

I could feel my head spinning. It was all too much for me to process. How can one be so cruel to his own mate? Was that even possible? I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

“So what are your plans?”

My heart began to thump even faster as I waited in anticipation as to what Hawthorne’s reply to the question would be. For a moment, there was no response and my heart sank a little bit to think that Hawthorne had to contemplate on it.

“Nothing, she’s just here to produce an heir for me and as soon as that happens, I have no use for her anymore.”

I could feel my heart shatter. The pain was unbearable and I didn’t bother wiping away the tears. I turned as I heard light footsteps behind me.

Margaret stared at me, while clutching a basket of laundry. She had a look of pity on her face as she stared at me. She looked down after a while and nothing waiting for her to say anything, I brushed past her, heading for my room. Walking in, I banged the door closed and picking up a pillow, I buried my face into it and screamed.

There was no holding back, as I allowed the tears that had welled up in my eyes, flow freely. A gentle knock sounded, and the scent of hibiscus and honey announced Margaret’s presence. That was her natural scent and it was a scent that I would never forget. I did not bother to say a word but she didn’t seem to care, as she opened it anyways.

“How are you feeling dear child?” she asked but I did not listen but kept my face buried to the pillow. “I know you must have heard a lot of unpleasant things but I assure you that Master Hawthorne, is not who you think he is.” She spoke but again, I did not reply.

Even though I said nothing, I was annoyed by what she had just said. She dared to try and defend him, despite knowing all he had done to me?

“I understand how you…”

“What? How I feel?!” I yelled at her. “You have no f**king idea how I feel, Margret. I was constantly molested by my mate and beaten to a pulp for the slightest mistakes, while you stood on the sidelines and watched. Do you know what that feels like? Of course you don’t!” I blurted out, much to her surprise. Her eyes softened and I knew I had hurt her by my choice of words. “I’m sorry.” I apologized while she just nodded with a slight smile on her face.

“Take a rest, Aurora. You will need it, dear.” She said with a smile and walked out of the room, slowly closing the door shut.

Now, I feel a lot worse. I stood up and walked toward the dressing mirror. My hair was already a mess and traces of dried tears drew on my cheeks. All these, all because of what Hawthorne had said. No, there is no way I would let him take my child, away from me. I wasn’t going to be used and dumped by the streets to eat from trash and beg, much to the satisfaction of my stepfather.

I tore out a piece of paper from a book and began to scribble down some message. I would have to escape and hopefully, Hawthorne doesn’t find out and catches me. I wouldn’t dare to think of what he would do to me, if he did. After penning my message, I set the pen aside. Placing a vase on the paper, I positioned it so a portion of the message was visible.

Walking toward the window, my hand subconsciously rubbed on the crystal glass necklace Hawthorne had gifted me, two days after coming to his estate. I tried to take it off but hesitated. I couldn’t do it because I still loved him. I began to contemplate if what I was doing was right but the thought of him, taking my child away from me, woke me from my delusions.

Staring down from my room through the open window, I noticed that there were no guard around the vicinity. I wanted to jump but from such a height, I would only end up getting injured pretty badly. Luckily, a tree had grown right close to my window. As soon as I jumped for the tree, I missed a branch and fell to the ground. Luckily, except for a dislocated ankle, I was fine. And as if the moon goddess was in support of my escape, I had fallen over the other side of the wall. Before me, was the thick forest and the sturdy wall behind me. I turned to give one last glance at my window, before I turned and limped away to freedom.