Chapter five.

~Aurora.

More letters from Sturgeon Moon pack came in within the consequent weeks and when I got tired of shredding them like I did to the first one, I began keeping them in my drawer to collect dust.

Their request -asking me to come back to the pack - was absurd. I couldn't help but wonder if Ethan knew that it was me, the same Aurora he banished from his pack, or if my new identity as 'Rory' was keeping him in the dark. The name 'Rory', I knew, was a good disguise, but not good enough to erase the similarity of my original name. Did Ethan really not notice, or was he playing dumb?

I was reaching into my drawer to take out the most recent letter when Arne ran into my room to throw himself on the bed.

“Mommy's bed is not the playground, Arne,” I cautioned as I kept back the letter and closed the drawer, turning to face him.

He chuckled, “Don't blame me, your bed is as bouncy as a bouncing bed. Here,” my face fell at the sight of the familiar seal, “Audrey said I should give it to you.”

“Thank you,” I said with a sigh, before slowly reaching for the letter and adding it to the previous collections.

“Is that from dad? All those letters you've been getting lately, are they from him?” Arne was a smart kid and I couldn't be surprised he noticed I had been receiving those letters but, his question caught me off guard.

“Of course not, Arne, Daddy does not send us letters in these types of envelopes, you know that, right?” A sharp pain ran through my chest in protest at how the lie easily rolled off my tongue. I didn't want to lie to him but, I couldn't tell him the truth either, not when a death threat was hanging above his head. A threat placed by his father.

“I no longer want letters from Dad, I want him here. With us.” His thin voice turned teary.

“And you will have him soon, he will be here with you and me soon, I promise.” Another lie.

“When?”

“Soon, baby.”

“How soon?” I turned fully to him and pulled him to my chest as I brushed his hair off his face.

“Daddy is a brave soldier at a war front, he is doing a fantastic job of saving people's lives but, he will be back even sooner than you can imagine. I promise.”

“They wouldn't hurt him?”

I forced a spittle down my throat, "No, they wouldn't. Daddy is brave, powerful, and smart, he will be fine, and he will be with us soon, okay?”

He nodded, his face showing no signs of consolation.

“Arne, dear, don't be sad.” I wasn't sure whom I directed those words to because I too was sad, and I needed a bit of consolation, a bit of reassurance that everything was fine, that Ethan hadn't found out about Arne, and that nobody was after my son.

“Can we go to the park?” The usual giddiness in his voice was replaced by a hint of pain.

“It's almost dinner time, my love.”

“Okay, can we go for a small walk then? It will make me happy.” He added after seeing my indecisive expression.

“If that's what's going to make you happy.” My face lit up as a small smile crept into his face. “Now go put on your boots, the last to get ready is a stinking banana!” I gripped him loosely and tackled him as he tried to wriggle his way out of my grip. Seeing that a bit of his former self was back, I let him go with a dare to be ready before him, he countered my dare before running out of the room.

With a sigh, I stood up from the bed and pulled my hair in a loose bun. I, too, needed the walk, after being cooped up in the room the whole day, my body longed for some exercise. As I reached for the nightstand to get my phone, my eyes fell on the letters in the drawer - I hadn't closed the drawer fully- I pulled up the drawer and picked up the newest member of the collection.

Would there be something different in this? I asked as I checked the envelope front and back. It was exactly the same as the ones I have been receiving, same brown envelope and same seal, meaning that the content of the letter will be no different, right?

“Right?” I whispered and threw the letter back into the drawer and snapped it shut this time. Straightening my shirt, I picked up my phone, tucked it into the back pocket of my trousers and shut the door behind me.

“Ha-ha! Mummy is the stinking banana!” Arne teased as I stepped into the living room, I stuck out my tongue and made a face, and he mirrored my expression before running into Audrey's arms. Audrey, who should have gone home.

“You don't always have to wait till Arne goes to bed before leaving, you know that, right? I can tuck him in, I have been doing that for years.” 

“I know that Dr. Rory, I just love spending time with him.”

“And he took is getting too attached to you.” I took an apple from the kitchen counter and bit into it. “But, as your employer, I am telling you to leave early today. Arne and I are going for a walk, don't wait for us, we'll fix ourselves dinner when we get back, and I'll tuck him in.”

Audrey bit on her lower lip, “Are you sure? I could fix you guys something, I don't have to leave early, it's not like I have anything to do at home.”

If I didn't know Audrey and her family personally, I would have suspected she had something she was running from but, Audrey was the type that puts other people's needs before hers, “Lies, you have your homework to do and besides, staying here will do you no good, go out there and enjoy your teenage age.”

“Okay.” She said after a while of contemplation. “I will see you tomorrow then.”

“On Monday. Take the weekend off.”

She chuckled, “Thanks ma'am. Bye Arne. I will miss you, be a good boy, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied and waved as Audrey got on her bicycle until she was out of sight.

“Now, what business do I have with you, young man?”

“We are going for a walk, mum,” Arne said as he took me by the hand and dragged me to the door, and I willingly followed. I handed him his jacket before locking the door behind us.

After taking just five steps away from the house, two men walked up to us. I gripped Arne tightly as I tried to figure out who they were. I was certain I didn't know them, and the long strides they took towards us told they hadn't come for chit-chats.

“I am really sorry, ma'am,” one of the men said. 

As I was still trying to make sense of what he said, a hard object him the back of my head causing me to fall to the ground, but not before I could see the pair of dark green eyes staring down at me.

The owner of the eyes reached out and caught Arne in a tight grip. I tried to push off the ground to reach for Arne but my action only caused to me hit my head against the ground and darkness engulfed me.