8. Shower

Aaro’s pov.

I am so fucking confused. I’ve known the guy for hours. Literally, just a few hours and he’s already shown a lot of different sides to himself. First he tries to humiliate me by flirting with Lisa in front of me. Then he suddenly tells her, "I’m his Luna." Sometimes he's kind, and then he treats me like shit.

Did he feel bad because I was crying? Because I wasn’t crying about him. The word princess made me think about how dad treated mom, me, and Elora as princesses. For years I thought they would come and save us, but I had to give up that idea and be there for Elora. She was my sister, and I had to take care of her, because no one else would. But deep down, I still missed them. So fucking much. Dad and mom were the kind of parents you can only hope for, and I even missed Logan and Reina, especially Logan because he let me play with his fur. I prayed that they were still alive, but I knew my parents would try to find us, so something must have happened to them. Maybe they were killed. I didn't want to think about that.

"Right, Aaro?"

I looked up, "right, Storm."

Then Lisa started asking questions, and I knew it was time to get the hell out of here. I didn’t know what Storm wanted to tell his pack about me. He probably wasn’t going to advertise that they bought me, like his dad did this afternoon.

Storm started talking to me in the car, but I didn’t really feel like talking. It wasn’t like I was free to talk anyway. I doubt he wanted to hear what really was going on in my fucking mind. He would be in for a shock once he realized I wasn’t someone who would do whatever he asked of me. I am a fucking fighter and I’m just waiting for my chance to get the fuck out of here. I'm ready to play the submissive little girl for as long as it takes.

"Anything that’s not bullshit." Storm growled. Maybe I wasn’t as good an actress as I thought. Or maybe it was just hard to hide myself around Storm. He pushed all the wrong buttons.

Then he offers to fucking shower with me! I can already picture his body. I’m sure it’s fucking perfect, like his face. Those blue eyes that stare into your soul; his hair that just falls into place; and even his stubble appears to be there by design. I don’t think this man could look ugly even if he tried.

After we got to the packhouse, I stayed in my room. Well, my room. Nothing about this room felt like it was mine. It was a huge fucking room with a really big bed, but it wasn’t my home and would never be. I didn’t want to hang up all these clothes. It would be a waste of time; I was getting out of here sooner than later.

I checked the whole room, seeing if there was anything that could help me escape. But like Eve said, that wasn't easy. I looked at the time and decided to get dressed instead. I put my hair in a braid because that was what I was used to doing, I guess, and I picked out one of the dresses that Storm had bought. It was a pretty dress, but it was so fucking weird seeing me in a dress like that. I looked like a woman. Like a grown ass woman.

Everything went fine. I mean, Storm growled at me a few times, but I wasn’t bothered by that. He even put food on my plate, which I was so fucking grateful for because I didn’t recognize half the food on this table. At the school, we had simple food, which just meant crap food. Tasteless, cheap food.

I started eating, but almost immediately I noticed Storm and James mindlinking. James kept looking over at me, and I didn’t like the way he looked at me; it made my skin crawl. Then, out of nowhere, Storm jumped over the table and started choking James and pushing his face into his food.

I didn’t know what that was about, but I soon found out when Storm started yelling. "If you say or even think another word about her, I will kill you." Who was she? It couldn’t be me, right? Why would Storm be so protective of me that he would attack someone he would choose to be his beta?

Storm sat back down, and I poured him some water, hoping to calm him down.

And then I was reminded why I was here. In one week I would turn eighteen, and I would be marked and mated against my will. Lying didn’t help; nothing would help except getting the fuck out of here.

I couldn’t eat or think, and I started to panic thinking about Ero. I needed to get her out, and if I was marked, I would be so much harder to leave.

I tried to calm myself by telling myself that even if I was marked, I could still reject him.

One of the many benefits of remembering my past was knowing my real name. I could reject Storm once he marked me. Most girls didn’t have that opportunity, because you need your birth name and his to reject your mate.

Storm gently grabbed my hand this time and told me to get up. I had no fucking sense of how much time had passed, but his plate was empty, so he must be finished eating.

"I’ll show you how the shower works, okay?"

I nodded my head, and we walked towards my room. I didn’t realize we were still holding hands until we got to the room.

I let go of his hand, and he walked to the bathroom.

"So, you turn this display on, and it has all these settings. This one makes it hot; this one makes the lights go on; this one makes the sunshower turn on, this is..."

I didn’t know what the fuck he was saying. A sunshower? What the fuck is that? And why do you need extra lights in the shower? Or is it to dim the lights?

"So, you want to try it?" Storm asked and I nodded.

"Sure…" Fuck. I didn’t remember anything passed how to turn on the display.

I started pushing buttons randomly, and like before, water started spraying from every direction. Not the one in the ceiling though, but there was water coming out of the wall and even the floor. I quickly took a step back, only to see that Storm had already been hit by a jet of water. His shirt was sticking to his chest, and he looked pissed.

He took off his shirt and threw it on the floor. Goddess, he was built like a fucking statue. His tattoos were really cool and just made him look even hotter. His shoulders were wide, his stomach had this perfect six-pack, and he had this v-shape going down to his trousers. I knew he would look good, but this went beyond what I had imagined. This man was a fucking god. But a very angry god, because his eyes were fixed on me and he appeared ready to kill me.

"I’m so sorry. I’ll go get a towel!" I yelled, but Storm pulled me back.

"If I get wet, you get wet."

He pulled me towards his chest and held me in both his arms while water kept being shot at us from every direction. It was like standing in the middle of a fucking water fight. We used to have those in the summer at the Iron River pack; everyone got a water gun, and we’d go crazy.

Without letting go of me, Storm walked towards the controls, and he shut the shower off. He turned me around, my ass against his stomach, and pointed to the screen.

"You just need to press this button." He said, and the shower above us turned on, "I’ll explain the rest of the buttons another time."

I wasn’t paying attention to the water because I felt something hard against my lower back. Like really fucking hard. Storm was breathing loudly, and I felt his breath on my neck. We stayed like that for a minute, standing under the hot shower while he held me.

"Now turn the shower off using the same button." Storm said. His voice was so deep and it was fucking with my head. Not to mention his hands around my waist and his bare chest against my back.

I pressed the button he showed me before, and the shower turned back off.

"Good girl." Storm said huskily, and fuck that sounded good. I had this urge to press my legs together.

"Now, do you think you’ll manage to take a shower or do you need help with the rest as well?" Storm asked, pressing himself against me.

"I can manage." I replied, although I considered taking him up on his offer for a second.

He turned me around again, and I stared into his blue eyes. His shade was different than mine. They were the brightest shade of blue and there was some gold in his eyes as well.

"Are you sure you don't need my help." he said, staring at my lips.

I licked my lips without thinking, and I was at a loss for words.

He moved his head slowly towards mine. Why did this man get under my skin so badly after a few hours? It felt like I knew him, even if I knew nothing about him. He was almost near my lips when I stopped myself. I needed to think about Ero.

I moved my head to the side, and instead of kissing my mouth, Storm kissed my cheek.

"I’m sorry, Storm. I, -"

He growled. "It’s fine. Whatever. Just go take that fucking shower and leave me alone."