Chapter 11 — Saved At Last

AURORA

“Halt!” Darius’s voice rang out.

Everyone stopped walking even Calypso stopped dragging me while the guards held my father in place as Darius walked up to me, his eyes narrowed into slits.

“What did you say?” he asked me.

“I… I…” I blanked out, stuttering with the intense way he was staring at me.

“She said you should check her father for tattoos,” Draven said, coming to my rescue.

Darius shot his brother a scathing look, but Draven didn't flinch.

“What tattoo?” Darius pressed, his voice cold.

I wiped off the tears hastily and cleared my throat as I forced myself to speak. I needed to save him.

“They normally have a red bird tattoo. The man I saw had it, if he's one of them he would have the tattoo behind his ears,” I answered.

Darius frowned and stared at his guards, giving them a curt nod. I watched as they searched my father, yanking his head to the side and pulling at his collar for any sign of a tattoo but there was nothing.

“He’s clean, Alpha,” one of the guards reported.

Darius glared at me, “Why did you wait this long to tell me this important information?”

I gulped, “I forgot.”

Darius grinned evilly, “Perhaps I should torture your father again and see if you would recall anything else you'd like to share with us.”

“No, please!” I cried, “That’s everything I remember.”

Darius walked towards me and Draven stepped up beside me., his golden eyes hardened.

“Enough, brother,” Draven said quietly.

Darius glared at him, tension crackling between them, until Darius turned away, motioning toward the other men in the crowd.

“Search the rest,” he ordered.

The guards moved around searching every male for the tattoo. My father sat on the floor while Veronica knelt beside him, clutching him with pale, shaking hands.

“They’re all clear, Alpha,” came the report.

Darius grunted in annoyance, “At least we have a lead. Round up, we’re leaving.”

As the Wolves started leaving, Calypso’s heavy arms wrapped around my wrist.

“You’ve made my job difficult today, Peach,” Calypso grunted.

“I’m sorry,” I said, wincing when her hands tightened around my wrists.

“You will be,” she threatened.

Draven glared at Calypso and she released her hold on me.

“Move!” she ordered.

I trailed after the wolves but my father and Veronica stumbled toward me. He looked pale and seemed to have aged ten times his normal age.

He was sweaty and bloody and he was limping when he approached me. I felt saddened by the torture he went through despite being innocent.

“Rory!” he rasped, voice trembling.

I stopped while the Wolves kept moving.

“Thank you so much for saving me, Rory,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Yes, thank you for saving my husband, Rory,” Veronica added.

“I’m so sorry for what I had to do. I hope you can find a place in your heart to forgive me,” my father said.

I scoffed, “Please, stop. I only did it because of Mom. I no longer see you as my father because a true father is supposed to protect their child from harm yet you put me in the devil’s arms.”

“I’m sorry, Aurora,” he cried, voice cracking, “Please forgive me.”

Tears ran down my cheeks as I thought of the pain I'd had to endure from the moment he sold me off to them.

“I no longer wish to see you. We do not have any relationship with each other again. I hope you have a good life with Veronica,” I said, smiling bitterly.

“Aurora, please!” he choked, collapsing to his knees while Veronica hid her face shamefully.

“Let’s go, Peach!” Calypso barked from ahead.

I left them and headed toward the vehicle. I got inside and I wiped off my tears as the car moved. I wanted to ask Calypso why she kept calling me that name but I was too drained to start up a conversation.

The ride back to the Packhouse was suffocating as I couldn't stop thinking about all the possibilities of what could have happened if I hadn't recalled the tattoo I had seen earlier.

My father would have probably been dead or half-dead as he was being dragged away. The fact that nobody had even tried to stop them made it worse.

I imagined what my life would be like now. It’s been six months since their invasion but would we live like this forever? It was like they were untouchable. The government, the law, the police, nobody could do anything to them.

The car jolted to a stop and I stumbled slightly losing my balance.

“Easy, Peach, you've had an eventful day,” Calypso said to me.

I caught a fleeting glimpse of kindness in her eyes before it disappeared and her eyes hardened again.

“Get down,” she said.

I obeyed. Draven’s golden gaze lingered on me as he stepped down from his vehicle.

“May I go?” I asked Calypso.

The last thing I wanted was to leave when I wasn't supposed to. I couldn't bear to get punished again today, not after how drained I was feeling.

“Go,” Calypso said to me.

I stumbled away from them as tears rolled down my cheeks, blinding my sight for a moment but I was finally able to locate my room.

All I wanted was to forget about the horrific and embarrassing events of today as I climbed into my bed and curled up into a ball.

I bawled my eyes out, the screams of my father echoing in my ears as I pictured the way he had looked broken when I told him he meant nothing to me now.

Memories flashed through my head as the pain I've buried in my heart from the day I was dragged here all spilled to the surface.

Suddenly a knock sounded on my door. I wiped my eyes quickly and stood up wondering who was knocking. Nobody visits me and I know Darius would never knock, he would just barge in and bark orders at me.

I tried to ignore the knock and pretend nobody was in the room but the person was persistent. Groaning, I threw the door open and I gasped at who stood before me.