5. Aurora

Chapter 5

Aurora

T he gifts begin to arrive on the third day of my imprisonment, one after the other, in wrapped boxes. In each one, there’s a different pastime for me—books, puzzles, and other things for me to do while I’m in captivity.

It doesn’t feel right to call it imprisonment at this point when I am being treated so well, my favorite foods being cooked, a collection of movies and music added to the sitting room, and a gorgeous wardrobe of clothes brought to my closet.

Zane furnished a proper library of books for me, with titles I haven’t even heard of, and I find myself sitting on the Juliet balcony, overlooking the rose gardens at the front and side of the house, reading for hours. It’s not a hard life, and I really can’t complain.

Zane makes it a point to spend time in my suite, gently prodding me on details of my life in Oklahoma, and I’m reluctant to share even the smallest bits of information, lest they learn about Lachlan’s rejection. I’m surprised they can’t see the mate glow around me, my yearn for Lachlan less now that I’m locked away in the Golden brothers’ estate, maybe because I’m tucked in Oak Hollow. But can’t they tell I’m mated, even if I’m rejected?

Every day, I feel less connected to Lachlan, and I wonder if that’s normal. I don’t know how that works, if he’s done something on his end. Perhaps he’s visited a warlock and had a spell cast to unbind him, or maybe his rejection is just so strong that it won’t exist. But the burn of the rejection still lingers, and it hurts more than the loss of my mate. I’ll never have a mate now and that’s a slap in the face I never saw coming.

Peering at my reflection in the full-length mirror in the bathroom, I don’t look much different than I did before the night of the full moon bonfire. My skin seems clearer than before, and I still ache deep down, but the Golden Alphas have helped alleviate the yearning that Lachlan left behind. That creates an odd sense of guilt that I don’t understand.

They can’t be my mates, of course.

Lachlan is.

And yet I’m so drawn to them each in my own way. They’re kindred spirits in a way, and yet they’re my captors, too.

Oh, how did my life manage to become so complicated?

Fenris hand delivers the duffle bags from my car, along with my other meager belongings from my apartment on the third day, too. He apologizes for the mess he’d made going through my things, and I'm wary of his sudden change of heart. I feel like he’s still ready to explode beneath this cool new exterior, but he doesn’t.

“Thank you, Fenris,” I tell him slowly, accepting my bags.

He avoids my gaze, my hand accidentally brushing over his. A smidgen of static fuses between us, the same way it does when I touch Zane and Victor. I don’t understand it, but I do like it, wrong as it must be.

“Victor says you can leave the suite today if you want to wander through the estate,” he informs me. “There’s a lot to do if you want to explore. We even have a pool and tennis courts, riding stables. Go check them out.”

Stunned, I blink at his suggestion.

“R-really?” I stutter. “I can go do all those things? Even riding?”

“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” he asks gruffly. “Are you going to run off with one of the horses?”

I shake my head vehemently. “No! I’ll stay on the property. I don’t even really know how to ride.”

His face softens. “I’ll have one of the stable hands show you how to tack up. Or I can come with you later, if you want.”

I’m flabbergasted by his offer, and I nod slowly. “I would like that… if Victor says it’s okay.”

“He doesn’t want you to go crazy sitting around in this room all by yourself.”

I smile warmly at him. “You three have been keeping me company where you can,” I reply, but it’s true.

I’ve been feeling restless. He doesn’t return my smile, and I wonder if he likes me even a little bit. Fenris is the hardest to read of all three of the Apex Alphas.

He hesitates at the door like he wants to say something else, and I tense, sensing bad news. “I called the Oklahoma Apexes.”

Swallowing thickly, I purse my lips together. “You did?” I breathe. “What did they say?”

He stares at me for a long moment. “What did you expect them to say?”

I shrug, temporarily speechless. “Nothing,” I finally manage to sputter.

“Hmm,” he grunts. “It’s interesting, actually. None of the Apex pack has heard of you.”

I exhale in a whoosh of breath, causing Fenris to raise an eyebrow. “You seem surprised by that.”

“I’m not. I’m no one,” I reassure him honestly. Lachlan had not told anyone in his pack about me, just like he’d said. “I’m not an Apex pack member. I’m an ordinary shifter from a small pack. They have no reason to know me.”

Fenris stares at me a moment longer than necessary. “Why don’t you come join us for lunch?” he suggests.

Again, I’m startled. “Yes!” I agree, nodding. “I’d love that.”

“Main dining room, half an hour.” He closes the door behind him, leaving me to dig through the boxes of gifts for an appropriate dress for the occasion.

I have no idea what I’m supposed to wear to meet Apex Alphas for a meal. Aside from the monthly full moon parties, I’ve never really had an opportunity to spend time with them in Oklahoma. Why would I?

I settle on a simple teal dress that fits my form and covers my upper thighs, showing only a hint of my small swell of cleavage. In a pair of flats, and with my long hair flowing loosely along my shoulders, I let myself out of the suite for the first time since my arrival.

It’s daunting stepping into the hallway. I half-expect to hear the caw of a falcon or feel the fire of a dragon’s fire burn me, despite Fenris’s assurance I am now free to roam. But none of that happens. I truly am allowed to roam, just as Fenris said.

Exhaling, I raise my head and throw my shoulders back.

This is where I’m staying now. I have to look the part. No slouching or stuttering. Don’t embarrass yourself.

My hand falls over the wood of the banister, and I slowly descend the marble stairs, listening for activity along the main floor.

Victor’s voice guides me toward the center of the massive house. “…kind of trap?”

“I don’t know,” Fenris replies curtly, the clank of cutlery and dishes reaching my ears.

I pause along the wall, listening.

“What did they say that makes you think so?” Zane asks.

“I don’t know,” Fenris said again. “It’s just a feeling I have. When I spoke with the Alpha earlier, he claimed he had no idea who Aurora was. Now, they want to come here for some kind of friendly sit down?”

My heart leaps into my throat, and I step into view, my eyes widening. “What’s going on?” I demand, the brothers coming into view.

“Maybe you can tell us,” Fenris replies stiffly. “Any idea why the Oklahoma Apex Alphas want to come for a visit next week?”

My pulse rushes in my ears, and I have a difficult time breathing. My knees buckle slightly, and even before I realize what’s happening, Zane hurries to my side, placing a hand on the small of my back.

“Easy there,” he urges, sitting me down on a chair. “If there’s something you’d like to tell us, Aurora, now’s the time.”

Gulping, I shake my head. “I don’t know why the Alphas want to come,” I answer truthfully. “I have no business with them. They already told you that.”

Zane waves at one of the nearby staff members to fetch me a glass of water, and I smile at him gratefully.

Fenris gives me a skeptical look as Victor takes his seat at the head of the table. “So let them come,” Victor declares. “What’s the harm?”

“The timing is awfully suspect, don’t you think?” Fenris insists as I take a long gulp, my mind racing.

There is no reason for the Alphas to come here. Lachlan rejected me. It has nothing to do with the Alphas.

But I can’t shake the feeling that the two things are closely connected, and I don’t like the way Fenris is looking at me.

“Aurora? Do you have anything to say about this?” the youngest Golden prompts again. His well-honed senses are going crazy around me.

I shake my head and look down at the table. “No. And I wish you’d stop asking me the same thing over and over. I’ve already told you that I have no business with anything in Oklahoma. How many times are you going to keep peppering me with questions?”

My cheeks flush with upset.

Zane sits to my right and sighs. “Fen?—”

“There’s one way to be sure,” Fenris intones, cutting Zane off. He’s not entirely swayed by my protests. “And we’ll put this to rest once and for all.”

Peeking up through my lashes, I wait expectantly, sure they can hear my heart hammering across the long dining room table. The lights overhead buzz lightly, but not nearly to the degree they had when I had first arrived, and none of the Alphas appeared to notice as all eyes fix on Fenris.

“What do you have in mind, Fen?” Victor asks tiredly.

“You’ll have to swear an allegiance to the Texas Apex pack, to us,” Fenris concludes.

My jaw slacks. “W-what?” I sputter, thinking I’ve misheard him. “You want me to be part of the Apex pack?”

Victor leans forward, his golden eyes becoming slits as he gauges my reaction. “Is that a problem, Aurora?”

But he’s misunderstood me.

I laugh aloud. “A problem? No! It would be an honor,” I titter disbelievingly. “Are you sure? Me?”

Zane cocks his head curiously. “You don’t think you’re worthy of being an Apex pack member?” he asks, sounding confused.

Victor sits back, his eyes returning to normal as he understands my reaction now.

I almost shake my head, but I stop myself, biting on my lower lip. Considering my response carefully, I answer. “I will be worthy of the Texas Apexes,” I vow firmly. “I’ll show you I’m worthy of this pack, even as a prey shifter.”

Victor chuckles, shaking his head. “Prey shifters are just as important to the ecosystem as predator shifters,” he says. “We all have our roles to play. Aren’t their prey shifters in the Oklahoma Apex pack?”

I shrug and dart my eyes down. “I don’t know,” I answer truthfully. “I didn’t spend much time with others—Apex or otherwise. I grew up in foster care as a child, around humans mostly.”

All three brothers gawk at me like I’m speaking a foreign language, and I shrug, determined to bare it all, before they can appoint me part of their pack.

“I was raised amongst human families, and when I had my first shift at fifteen, I thought I was having a psychotic episode. It was only because there was a witch in my class who told me what was happening that I learned about shifters. Her coven took me in for a couple of years, and then the Quartz pack when I was eighteen. But I wasn’t really ever good at any of it—human, witching, shifting.”

Zane’s fingers trail over my arm, creating goosebumps as I talk. I meet his warm, hazel stare willingly.

“That’s rough,” he tells me sadly. “What happened to your parents?”

I purse my lips. “They died when I was four. Car accident, I’m told.”

“Ours died a little later,” Zane murmurs, casting his brothers a quick look. Fenris and Victor avoid his gaze as he closes his hand around my arm. “But still too young.”

“At least we had a pack,” Fenris adds.

Victor grimaces, and I realize that he was leading the pack, however young he was. The door connecting the kitchen to the dining room swings open, and the staff march forth with our lunch.

I munch on a salad and pasta with roasted garlic and tomatoes as the Alphas devour steaks with silver knives.

All three cast me furtive glances throughout the meal, and I wonder if they’re communicating telepathically about me. Can they do that? I have no clue, but I feel like they can by the way they’re eying me.

“You’ll commit to us, then?” Fenris finally says, setting his fork down, breaking the silence over the table. “You’ll join the Texas Apexes.”

“Yes! Of course I will,” I concede. “I have no interest in ever going back to Oklahoma, now or ever. Even if I hadn’t ended up here.”

Victor also sets his cutlery down and drops his elbows on the table, peering across the surface intensely, his yellow gaze piercing my soul.

“Do you know what that means?” he asks, the question taking me aback slightly.

My eyes dart toward the other two brothers, who stare at me with just as much intensity. Zane’s usually gentle hazel eyes seem harder, more scrutinizing, Fenris’s blue irises boring through me.

“I… I think so?” I murmur, setting my fork down and wiping the edges of my mouth. “I swear my allegiance to you and run with your pack, just as I would have with my pack back home?”

“It’s a blood oath,” Fenris intones flatly, cutting to the chase.

My heart leaps into my throat. “A… blood oath?” I repeat slowly.

“There will be a ceremony in the estate temple,” Victor explains. “You will bond yourself to the pack… and to us. You cannot break that bond.”

My heart skips as I take in their faces, one by one.

“But it would have to be your choice, Aurora,” Victor tells me seriously. “This isn’t something that we force on you. It’s not something we could make you do as a prisoner. If you need to think about it, or if you have any doubts…”

My shoulders straighten as I look at them, shaking my head. “I don’t feel forced,” I say firmly. “I want to do it. I don’t need time. I want to be a part of your pack.”

Wind chimes beyond the open windows tinkle, and sparrows chirp sweetly to match their pitch, a gentle breeze whispering through the dining room to ruffle through their dark hair in unison. A rush of attraction surges through me as I look at each of them, my fear of them long ago diminished and replaced with something far more appealing.

“Good.” Fenris reclaims his fork and grins genuinely, maybe for the first time since I’ve met him. The sight of it warms me as he meets my eye. “We’ll do it after lunch, and then I’ll confirm with the Oklahoma Alphas. I want to make sure there aren’t any surprises with them.”

I follow his lead and finish my lunch alongside them, sneaking sidelong glances at my handsome captors.

But they’re not my captors, not anymore.

They’re my Alphas.

And I’m about to have one of my biggest dreams come true. I’m about to be an Apex pack member. Lowly orphaned prey shifter me! I’m moving up in the world.