Aaro’s povStupid fucking nightmare. I used to have them when we were younger. I would dream about Marco taking us away. We were asleep when he took us, but we woke up before he brought us to the man who transported us to the school.Doctor Marco had always been so kind to us, but suddenly he was cold. He ignored our cries, he ignored me begging him to let my sister go. In the end, he threatened to hurt Elora if I didn’t help him calm her down.He showed me bones and said they belonged to a girl, and if I didn't help my sister out of her pajamas and make her shut the fuck up, he could turn my sister into a bag of bones too.For years, I wondered what he needed the bones and the pajamas for. I thought he might have pretended it was one of us who died, so my parents wouldn’t come looking for us. Or my parents were dead themselves; there must have been a reason why they didn't find us. Auntie Kat was too smart to not see through Marco’s plan, I was sure. She was the smartest person alive;

Aaro’s povBrand was cool. He reminded me of my dad’s wolf, Logan. He was as fast as him, too. How would it feel to run as a wolf? Would I be that fast?It was easier around Brand because he didn’t talk to me and I didn’t have to pretend so hard.Even when I was myself, I still had to pretend. I couldn’t let anyone know my real name or identity. It wasn’t easy. I so badly wanted to tell Brand about Logan. I wanted to tell the girl in the orphanage more about Ero. And when we discussed our names, I really wanted to tell Peter what Aaro fucking stood for.It bothered me how scared everyone was. It was supposed to be like this. In my dad’s pack, people weren’t scared of us. And although my grandpa Os could be a bit scary, people respected him more than they feared him.Then he shifted back, and although Storm looked a lot better, like a whole fuckload better, I went back to pretending. Pretending that he didn’t look fucking good, and I wondered what it would feel like to touch him. Preten

Aaro’s povFucking phone. That stupid fucking phone. Phones didn’t used to be like this, were they? I remember mom and dad having a phone, and I sometimes watched videos on it or played a game. But this thing was totally different.I felt so fucking out of place. I knew nothing about this world. I guess that the school does this on purpose. Make sure to isolate the girls once they’re out of the school. Make sure we don’t know how to use technology to ask for help.We’re not supposed to tell anyone about the school, but even if we only wanted to help ourselves once we were out, we wouldn’t be able to. We had no one to turn to and no way to set up any support system. Maybe I should talk to Eve. She had been isolated, stuck inside this packhouse. She knows how it feels, and maybe she knows how to get out of here.I opened the stupid phone again, cursing at it."You better not fuck this up again. Send text to Eve.""Send text to Eve," the phone said."Do you want to join me and Storm for l

Aaro’s povEve explained the phone to me, but I still felt like a fucking idiot using it. She was so patient with me, but I knew if others saw me fumbling with the phone, they’d think I was raised under a damn rock. Everyone used technology for everything, and I felt like I didn’t belong in this world.To be honest, I don’t belong here. I belong with my sister; I belong back home.But a part of me wished I did belong here. That I could give Storm what he deserved. He wanted a real person who didn’t have that many secrets, someone who could be themselves around him, and I wasn’t that at fucking all. I had to think before I spoke, because otherwise I could reveal the truth."I really am sorry, Aaro." Eve said again.I shook my head, "don’t be. I’ll be fine."Eve sighed, "it can be really hard sometimes, Aaro. I try to put on a brave face for Storm. I don’t want him to feel bad for me, but it’s really lonely for me. I miss my family and just having a life. Don’t get me wrong; if I had to

Aaro’s povI shouldn’t have said that, but it was the fucking truth. No matter how much this wasn’t Storm’s choice any more than it was mine, he was still going to mark me against my will. Maybe if things were different, then I would have chosen Storm as my mate.I always hoped I would find my true mate, but that ship had fucking sailed the moment I was bought. Maybe even before then—maybe the moment I was brought to the damn school. It didn’t fucking matter anyway.I saw how my remark hurt Storm, and all I could think of to make this better was to ask him to kiss me. I knew it fucking made me feel better. More than better. The orgasm he gave me was out of this fucking world, and I just wanted to make him feel good too.I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, but he seemed to enjoy it, and to be honest, I was enjoying it too. I didn’t think having someone’s dick inside my mouth would be fun, but hearing Storm grunt and hold on to my hair and knowing I was the one doing it to him was a