6. Shopping

Aaro’s pov

This fucking Storm was hot and then cold. He was fucking hot in the looks department too; he looked really good. But I meant that his behavior was odd. He was protective of me, but the rest of the time he seemed annoyed with me or just ignored me. Sometimes it felt like he wanted me to lash out, but I knew better than to speak my mind. I was pretty sure if I was punished here, they wouldn’t care about leaving a mark or not. I mean, they stuck a fucking thick needle in my wrist to track me. How the fuck did that work?

I searched the whole damn closet for something to wear. Layers. Whatever the fuck that meant, because the only thing here were more dresses. I gave up and I went to the bathroom to wash my arm. I tried to push the shower on, but the whole thing went crazy. There was water coming out of different holes in the wall, and I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. By the end, I was soaked. I dried myself off as best as I could and tied my hair down; getting it wet wouldn’t help my curls right now. They would turn into a frizzy mess.

Then I heard someone knock and quickly ran to the door. Storm pulled me out of the room. I had legs, you know. What's up with the fucking manhandling? He could just ask me to come with him.

"Get dressed."

Here? Like in front of him? Or was he just testing me because he kept looking at me in the same way Sugar and Dolly would if they wanted to provoke me. I wasn’t giving him the fucking satisfaction. If he wanted me to get dressed, I would fucking get dressed.

So I took my dress off. I could feel his eyes on me and I recognized that look. It was the same look Birdy had when she used to look at me. The look that said she wanted more.

I didn’t know if I liked girls or boys. Or both. It didn’t fucking matter, because I wouldn’t have a choice as to who I would end up with anyway. Not until I was free. But seeing the way Storm looked at me, did something to me. It made my core clench, and I fucking hated that this guy was making me feel this way.

Particularly when he was putting a belt on his jeans. We weren’t allowed to wear pants at school. I did know what they were, I had worn jeans before when I was still at home. But I never used a belt before. I didn’t remember where it was supposed to fucking go. It wasn’t on my list of things worth remembering.

His thumbs grazed my skin, and I had to hold my breath. Not just because it calmed me down, but mostly because he smelled really good. Somehow he smelled like home, and I fucking hated that he reminded me of my home. He had no fucking right to smell like the perfect combination of the woods, the river, and the wind whenever my father and I went for a walk in the forest. Storm’s scent was all around me now, since I was wearing his clothes. It made me miss my home and I had to tell myself to focus, before I would start crying again.

"Let’s fucking go." Storm said before grabbing a coat for me.

Yes, my lord. I thought inside my head. You fucking dick.

"You have something to say?" Storm growled.

"No, future Alpha Storm. Let’s go." I said, with a fake ass smile on my face.

When we walked down the stairs, we ran into Eve. "Storm, koop wat kleding voor haar en Storm….[Storm, buy her some clothes and Storm….] " She looked down at my feet. "She heeft geen schoenen aan. [She isn’t wearing any shoes.]"

"Fuck." Storm said.

Did he finally realize I wasn't wearing shoes? Eve ran back up the stairs and then came down holding my old shoes. At least it weren’t the fucking heels.

"Sorry, Aaro. I don’t have any winter shoes in your size. Storm will buy you some."

"Thank you, Eve." I said, putting the shoes on.

"Tot straks, mam. [See you later, mom]" Storm said, giving his mom a peck on the cheek.

"Doe een beetje lief tegen haar, oke? [Be nice to her oke?]" Eve replied.

I could see why Alpha Fuckface would find them speaking Dutch annoying; I couldn’t understand a single thing they were saying. Why wouldn’t they just mindlink if they wanted some privacy?

Storm walked towards his car, and I followed him. Was this going to be my life until I escaped? Being a fucking dog chasing after its master?

I went to the other side of the car and tried to open the door, but I had no fucking clue how. Where was the fucking door handle?

Storm opened the door from the inside without a word, and I sat down. Mom or dad used to put the seatbelt on when I was younger, but when I was six could do it myself. I had barely done it a few times before Marco had taken us, so I hoped I was doing it the right way.

Storm got annoyed and bent over me, grabbing the seatbelt and buckling me in. He was so fucking close, and it sounded like he was smelling me.

We drove out of the super-secure packhouse mansion—whatever the fuck this house is called—and into the town. Storm was supposed to show me around, but he didn’t say one fucking word about the pack until we stopped on a busy street.

He unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car. So I guess I should fucking chase after him again?

I got out of the car and was immediately hit with how cold it was. That wind was so fucking cold, it even went through the coat I was wearing and the woolen sweater. But my shoes were the fucking worst. My feet were frozen instantly.

Storm walked into a store, and I followed behind him. 

"Go buy some clothes." He growled.

Okay? I didn’t even know my fucking size, what I needed to buy, or what amount I could spend. I had never shopped for clothes without my mom there, and I didn’t remember much from shopping other than that I wanted to wear glittery dresses, but it always took too fucking long and I'd hide under the clothes racks. 

I laughed at the memory. If only Mom could see me now.

"What the fuck are you standing there for, and why are you laughing? Go get some clothes."

"Okay, future Alpha Storm."

"Just call me Storm." he said annoyed. 

I walked up to the first woman, who looked like she worked here, and I approached her. I could do this. I could fucking handle anything. This was just a stupid shopping trip.

"Hi, future Alpha Storm is buying me some new winter clothes. I am not from around here; could you perhaps assist me?"

Hearing Storm’s name drew her attention, and she got right to work. She grabbed different sizes, different types of warm clothing, and a lot of tights, which I didn’t get why she did.

"Those are thermal leggings; you put them under your trousers or dress." She later explained while I was getting dressed in a fitting room.

 She also picked up some underwear, socks, and a bra when she noticed I wasn’t wearing one.

"She needs shoes too." Storm’s voice startled me and the woman.

"I’ll get right on that. What is your size?"

I took my shoe off and looked inside. These shoes had been a size too small for years, but they would never waste time on buying new shoes.

"7, I guess?" I added another number to the size I was wearing.

She smiled at me, "I’ll get a few different sizes."

Storm sighed as if the whole thing was so annoying. He was the one who told me to buy fucking clothes!

When we were finished, I had a new coat, two pairs of jeans, some sweaters, a lot of thermal clothing, a few woolen dresses, and two pairs of shoes.

"She needs some formal wear too." Storm said, and this time I sighed before I could stop myself.

"What? You don’t like to shop?"

I put my fake smile on, "I am not used to shopping, Future al-, I mean, Storm."

The woman brought some over, and Storm picked out a few dresses, "we’ll buy those."

I didn’t even try them! Storm paid for everything, and it sounded like a fuckload of money, but I didn’t really have a clue what a lot of money was these days. Or maybe ever. As a kid, I had no sense of the value of money and at school we didn't use any.

"Let’s go back." Storm said, but just before we reached the store’s exit, we were stopped by a woman.

She was short, had long, straight brown hair, and a lot of fucking make-up on. It looked good on her, but I wouldn’t even know where to fucking begin.

"Who’s this?" the woman asked Storm, and she was the first one that didn’t act all starstruck or scared when she spoke to Storm.

"None of your business." Storm replied.

I smiled at the woman, "I’m Aaro. Nice to meet you."

Storm looked at me like I had done something wrong, but it wasn’t like I told her my whole fucking story. I just said my fake name.

"Aaro. Be careful with this one. He has some commitment issues." She joked while touching Storm’s arm.

I watched her hand on his arm, and a small growl, more like a tiny little growl, left my mouth. I was pretty sure none of them heard me. I faked a smile and waited for Storm to say anything or to leave. Either was fine with me.

Storm looked at me puzzled, and then his attention went back to the girl. "Lisa, I thought you loved it when I wasn’t careful. I remember you used to like it rough."

What the fuck? In front of me, who was supposed to be his future Luna? Well, keep Lisa, and I’ll go back home and save my sister. Fuck, my sister. I felt bad for not thinking about her all the time. Storm had distracted me. This whole fucked-up situation, the shopping, and his weird behavior had distracted me from escaping. Not that I could go anywhere right now. I didn't know how that thing in my wrist worked, but I was pretty sure I couldn't get far without getting it out first.

I smiled at Lisa and Storm. "It sounds like you two have some catching up to do; I’ll leave you two alone."

I didn’t wait for permission; instead, I took a step forward and was once again pulled backwards by Storm’s hand on my arm.

"You stay right the fuck where you are, Aaro."