Chapter 92

Aurora’s POV

Warmth surrounds me, and something soft yet heavy covers me, pressing me down. The weight is odd, almost like someone is laying on top of me, but when I open my eyes, all I find is a blanket.

I run my fingers over the fuzzy material before looking around. Light seeps through the bedroom window’s curtains. Familiar curtains. A familiar room.

Pushing up on my elbows, I blink against the exhaustion trying to pull me back under. A giant stands near the dresser, leaning over it and muttering to himself. I expect to see Thorne in the room, but with a quick sweep of the small area, I don’t find him.

Even as I try to sit up, I have to close my eyes to fight the wave of dizziness that rolls through me. Pain sparks, and I bite my tongue as I fully come out of sleep. My head aches, my shoulder throbs, and my hands burn, and when I look down, I find bandages around both hands.

“Ridiculous,” Anders, the doctor from the other day, mutters.

I’m not sure how long I was locked in that boiler room, but clearly it was long enough to bring up the aches and pains from previous injuries.

“Why do they have to make these caps so damn small?”

I try not to giggle as Anders turns around, fussing with a small bottle and apparently unable to open it.

“Do you need help?” I ask, my voice rough from shouting for help.

Ander’s eyes find mine, and they widen. He’s at my side in seconds, sitting n the edge of the bed, and touching the back of his enormous hand to my forehead. If he wanted, I bet he could palm my head like a small ball.

“How do you feel? Your fever has gone down,” Anders mutters, pulling away. He stands and goes back to trying to open the medicine tube.

Again, he towers over me, and the image of a giant flashes in my mind. I can’t help but ask, “How tall are you?”

“What?”

“How tall are you?”

Anders stares at me for a moment before answering, “Six feet, seven inches. Now are you going to answer my question?”

I nod. “I feel okay, but I imagine that might only be because you’ve given me pain medicine. My head hurts, along with my hands and shoulder.”

He hums, and I reach out a hand, taking the medicine tube from him. Even with my injured hands, I easily press the release and open it.

“Where is Thorne?” I ask. “I thought he would be here—”

“He was, but he and Jace are looking for whoever hurt you and locked you in that boiler room,” he answers, siting on the edge of the bed again.

“Oh, he should’ve stayed,” I say, lifting my hand to let Anders unwrap it. “Ivy and Angeline did this.”

Mid-application, he freezes. “Are you sure?”

“I would never forget it.” Just the thought of them throwing me in that room has my shoulder aching more. “How is my shoulder?”

Anders resumes applying the medicine to the scrapes on my hands. The rough door and the constant banging against it tore up the skin on the outer sides of my hands.

“It was dislocated, but I popped it back in. Did they do that too?” Anders asks, and I can imagine he’s mentally filing this information away to tell Thorne.

“I did it myself by ramming my shoulder into the door to try to open it,” I admit. “They drugged me and locked me up, but I still tried to escape.”

“Good.” He nods, sets the medicine aside, and begins wrapping my hands again. “Your shoulder and other injuries will be fine with a few days of pain medicine and this healing salve. I’ll continue to check on you to make sure you’re healing correctly, since you don’t heal as quickly as us werewolves.”

One advantage to being a supernatural creature. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to heal fast.

“Here. He’s waiting for your call.”

When I look up, Anders is holding out my phone with Thorne’s number already pulled up. With fumbling hands, I take the phone. The call connects instantly, after only one ring, and Thorne speaks.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright, thanks to you.”

There’s a pause before he speaks again, “I’m glad to hear your voice, Aurora.” The warmth that always comes with Thorne’s presence returns, and I smile at his admission. It makes me feel tingly and happy all at the same time.

“Anders told me it was Ivy and Angeline. Is that true?”

My heart sinks at the mention of the two women, but I can’t keep this from him. Nor do I want to.

“Yes.”

“Do you trust me to take care of it?”

“I do,” I find myself saying. Honestly, I trust him more than anyone else in my life, which is strange because I never thought I would say that about Thorne. With how we started out, growing to love and trust him was not how I saw myself ending up.

“Then I’ll be back later, and everything will be taken care of.”

I grip the phone tightly, not wanting the call to end, “Thorne?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

There is no hesitation, no pause, and no uncertainty in his voice when he responds, “I love you, too, Aurora.”

Thorne’s POV

“Brother, you wanted to see us?” Ivy’s grating voice calls out just before she and Angeline enter my home office. I didn’t want them anywhere near Aurora again, so meeting in the pack house is the safest option.

“Kneel,” I bark, my Alpha command sending both women directly to their knees.

Both stare up at me with large, confused eyes, but they immediately look down again when I step in front of them.

“Both of you have broken pack law by hurting an innocent. Do you admit your mistakes?”

“We- we didn’t do anything.”

I clench my fists behind my back, trying not to lash out at the lies.

“You dare lie to your Alpha?”

The snarl in my voice has both of them shaking.

“I-I wouldn’t… We didn’t hurt anyone in the pack, Alpha. I swear,” Ivy stutters, trying to be slick with her words. She knows exactly what she’s done and clearly realizes that I know as well. Yet she still won’t admit it.

“It is against my rules to hurt any innocent person,” I say, gripping her chin and lifting it. “It doesn’t matter if she is in the pack or not.”

Ivy visibly pales, and I release her to look at Angeline, “As for you, you’ve only been back for a short time, but that does not excuse you from punishment as well.”

“Punishment?” They both shriek. Ivy scrambles forward, grabbing at my leg, “But we—”

“Silence!”

Anger burns through my blood as I look down at them. “Just because you’re my stepsister, and you’re my ex-girlfriend, doesn’t mean I won’t punish you. I suggest that you think before you act again, and I strongly advise you to remember who is in charge of this pack. You will be punished for wrongdoings, no matter what your status or family connections are.”

Ivy gawks at me, her eyes filling with tears.

Angeline flops back on her ass, confused and scared.

“Ivy, you will be confined to your room for a month with no outside contact other than to receive meals. During this time, your computer and phone will be confiscated. You will copy the pack laws fifty times as a reminder of how to act.”

“You can’t!”

Ignoring her pleas, I turn to Angeline, “And you will be relocated to the Redwater Pack until further notice. You will not be allowed to return unless given explicit permission by me.”

“Brother, you’re—”

“You two have ten minutes to get your affairs in order before I send gammas to execute your punishments.”