Chapter 22

22

Aurora

"Because I tried to abort our twins," I rasp, and all eyes come to me, Annie gripping my hand in support.

I refuse to allow Theo to deal with this on his own.

It's time I faced my fears once and for all; otherwise, I'll never move on, and Brook and Annie were both in support of me.

Theo sighs, half turning his body and lifting his arm. I smile at him and walk into his side, his momma staying near me, keeping hold of my hand, while my left grabs hold of my husband's cut for support.

Theo tuts, "You just can't do as your told huh, Firecracker?"

Looking up at him, my heart flutters with the pure love he's looking at me with, and my eyes tear up as I say, "Nope, but you love me anyway."

He smiles, his eyes showing nothing but love as he admits in a room full of men, "With everything I am."

I hum, placing my forehead against his chin, and remind him, "You're still not out of the doghouse."

The brothers snort as he chuckles. "I know, Rory…."

"Really, Annie?" Bull sighs, exasperated. I look at him, giving him a smile, which he returns, his eyes softening at seeing the grip I have on my husband.

Annie adds, "What? It's not like I helped the women prank the men again. They're doing that on their own while you're all in here. I really hope you all like glitter on your bikes."

The men groan loudly, and I grin wide, looking up at Theo.

He narrows his eyes and demands, "Please tell me you have not been in contact with the Untamed women, Firecracker."

I bat my eyelashes at him, and the men groan louder, causing Annie to laugh before she sighs, and says to the men, "She needs this."

They all nod, sighing in defeat as Theo holds me tight, and I look toward the men I grew up with for the first time since entering the room, even though I've felt their eyes on me.

My eyes connect with Acid's first, his eyes teary, before I look at Piston, his eyes looking at my large belly, his hands fisted.

I look at Steel next, who looks like he's barely holding it together, then I look at my father, and anger shoots through me.

He promised he wouldn't leave me again, but he did, and a small part of me blames him.

My tears fall, and I finally get my shit off my chest. "You promised me you wouldn't leave me again!" He flinches and opens his mouth, but I'm not done. "You left me when I needed you the most. If you were still home, what happened may never have happened."

Theo holds me tighter, and my father whispers, "Pumpkin?—"

I cut him off, "No! I stopped being your pumpkin when I was bent over the kitchen counter and raped by someone all four of you trusted! I stopped being your princess when I was abused mentally and physically for a year!"

They all cringe, stepping back, and I sob, clutching the back of Theo's cut and Annie's hand. I stutter, "I hate you for- for leaving me-me, but-but then I-I wouldn't have-have my daughter…. I-I wouldn't have-have Theo!"

Theo gently rubs my belly, trying to calm me, and he takes over for me. "She was held captive a few towns over from your clubhouse. She spent a year there, and even tried killing herself. That's when she found out she was pregnant."

The men I saw as a family don't say anything, so Doc adds, "Sniper fucked with her birth control pills. Rory had found out around the same time about him being a brother. Her past and her trauma overtook her, and she went into survival mode. Autumn was a product of rape, and she panicked that she wouldn't love the new baby, and when she realized she was having twins, she finally opened up to us."

Piston, who has been quiet since I entered the room, steps forward and whispers with pain, "The day I was supposed to come over and help you with the math test, that day was the last day any of us heard from you…. Axe said you weren't in when he got there."

My tears fall, and he shakes his head in denial, seeing my terror at hearing his name, but soon roars out in pain, gripping his blonde hair, crouching in guilt when I confirm, "Axe raped me; he's Autumn's biological father."

Acid freezes, my father stepping back, while Steel tries to hold it together, gripping Piston's shoulder as he sobs in guilt.

I continue, "He told me that after a few months, he could take his property patch from Hannah and give it to me, all while trying his hardest to get me pregnant again. The first time I got my period after Autumn was born, he knocked me out and nearly broke my eye socket before raping my ass."

The men in the room curse, Theo holding me tighter as Steel cuts in, "Hannah went missing a year after you did; we all thought she…."

I shake my head. "She helped me escape. She never wanted him; he forced her to be his old lady after she had found out she was pregnant. He treated her like crap, and she had an abortion, hoping he'd kick her to the curb, but he didn't. She stole from his safe for me, she saved me and my daughter, and I hope and pray she's okay."

Steel drops his chin to his chest, anger radiating from him, and I sniffle. "I couldn't get in contact with her when I ran. At first, it was for my safety, my daughters, but then, his voice was in my ear, the words he tormented me with over the years, about how you were all happy to get rid of the burden. I let it fester, and it was hard…. I held a lot of anger for a while."

Steel's head shoots up, and he snaps, "You were never a burden. You're my niece, Aurora, and I mean in blood, too. It turns out your mother and I shared a father; it all came out after you went missing. You're my fucking family, you were before I even found out the truth."

My eyes widen, and he shakes his head before looking at Theo, and rasps, "I'm sorry for how I spoke to you. I understand I'm of higher rank, but you're right; not only is this your clubhouse, but you're also her husband. I should have respected that. I-I just…four years, brother. It's a long time to look for someone, then not be able to see them after finding out they are alive." He looked at me again, his brows furrowed. "Though she's not wearing a cut…."

He adds the last bit as a question, and Theo hums.

I roll my eyes as every brother's eyes come my way, each one smirking.

"He lied to me! He has a whole lot of groveling to do before I put that leather on, leather I never wanted, by the way, which you can all vouch for, and don't get me started about the whole keeping a prospect on my ass so I wouldn't leave like I tried to do, and getting me pregnant with, not one but two babies, and he's huge which means they'll be huge!"

The brothers all try to hold in their laughter as Theo states, "And there's the Firecracker I love so much." He looks at me with a smile and admits, "I'd still do the same, Rory, because you're here, our daughter is here, and you're carrying our babies. I don't regret it."

I narrow my eyes at him, making him grin just as my father butts in, "How are you in one piece right now? How are you joking?"

I look his way, and I soften a little toward him, seeing his pain. "When I found out about Autumn, I didn't want her." Guilt fills me as the brother's eyes all soften as Annie rubs my hand. "When she was born, I struggled to connect with her, but I saw she was all me and innocent, and I knew I had to survive for her. She was a few months old when Hannah got us out of that place.He wanted to get me pregnant again, and I couldn't live with that. It was all survival mode for me, Dad, until Theo…. When I'm around him, my pain, my past disappears, and since I opened up to him, told him the truth, I've felt…." I pause momentarily, thinking of the right words, before smiling and admitting, "I've felt free. All the pain and heartache, his voice, all gone because of the love of a man who was damn determined that I'd be his, that my daughter would be his. He saved me…."

Theo places his lips on top of my head as my dad nods, his eyes teary. Dad whispers, "I'm so sorry, Pumpkin…."

I shake my head at him and snap, "No. You left me, and right now, whether you deserve it or not, all of my anger has been focused on you for leaving me. I know I wouldn't have Autumn, and I have to battle with that guilt every day, but you don't get to look at me with guilt and sorrow; you left me."

He sniffles. "I resigned, Aurora, when I heard you were missing. I left my job, handed in my resignation, and spent all this time trying to find you."

I sob. "But you didn't find me."

He shakes his head. "I know, and it kills me, Pumpkin, fucking kills me."

I shake my head, my tears falling hard, my breathing getting heavier, my heart wanting to run to him, but my head blaming him.

Acid snaps, "Fuck it," and storms over to us. He takes me from my husband's arms, holding me close, one hand in my hair, the other planted in my back, holding me to him. And I grip him, his musky scent overtaking my senses, and my childhood hits me, making me sob.

Theo growls, and Acid chuckles. "Brother, she's like a little sister to me. I mean, I grew up protecting her while asking for advice when I pissed a woman off." Theo to groans, realizing he growled loudly, and I chuckle with a sniffle, holding Acid tighter.

I murmur, "I missed you…."

He holds me tighter and whispers, "Not as much as I missed you, Cupcake…."

I snort, pulling back and smiling at my little nickname.

Crow speaks up, "Cupcake?"

I feel my cheeks heat, and Acid smirks. I try to warn him with my eyes, but he doesn't care as he announces, "It's the nickname I gave her when she was twelve and shoved a chocolate cupcake in Billy Madison's face when he called her a poopoo brain."

The brothers laugh, and I groan as my husband pulls me back into his arms, his hand going straight to my bump.

Acid grins at Theo's possessiveness. He tilts his head, his eyes looking between me and Theo, before he remarks, "I guess now this means I can get married, huh?"

I furrow my brows while he smirks, but he soon grins when I see the name on the side of his neck, and I gasp. "You finally got the balls to ask Perrie out?"

He rolls his eyes. "I wasn't scared to ask her out…."

Steel chimes in, "She went on a date, and he saw them. Instead of speaking normally, he decided to throw her over his shoulder."

I snort. "Such an alpha-hole move."

Acid narrows his eyes as Snake speaks up, "We're Alpha men—brothers—we know what we want."

I raise a brow at him. "Is that before or after you all mess up? Because I've heard all y'all stories."

He winces but nods. "Yeah, you've got me there. I think every man in this room has fucked up where their old ladies are concerned…."

I cut in, "Except for Tats," and look his way. He grins as the brothers throw pens and paper at him, making me chuckle.

Acid smiles at me, seeing I am okay. "You've found your place," he concedes, and I nod because I have, and Theo squeezes me.

I look around the room. The brothers are all smiling at me, including Steel, whose eyes shine with pride. The fact that he's my blood uncle is something I don't know how to process just yet.

I look toward Piston, who hasn't moved. Guilt radiates from him, and I hate that he feels this way. He didn't know his cousin would do what he did, and I know it's the same for my father, but I think my main problem with him is my dad broke his promise.

I never blamed Piston. In fact, I struggled to figure out if he knew what was going on. But the way he's looking at me right now, full of heartbreak, I can see he didn't, and deep down, I knew he didn't.

His voice just clouded my judgment and my mind.

I wipe away my fallen tears, and I whisper, "You better have that footage of Natalie kicking two clubwhores asses, Piston. I've waited four years to see it…."

His tears fall, and my heart hurts. I look up at Theo. He gives me a smile and a slight nod, letting go of me. I squeeze Acid's arm, who gives me a wink, and run over to Piston, who doesn't move. When I'm close, I wrap my arms around his waist, placing my head on his chest. I can feel his heart race, and he doesn't move, but I don't let go.

I squeeze him tighter as his breathing deepens, before his arms wrap around me, holding me tight, his face going to the top of my head as he sobs.

"I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. I should have just let Natalie hit them; I-I should have been there," he cries, and I hold him tighter.

I could placate him and explain that I've started to see the silver lining because I got Autumn, and that she's not a reminder of my terror; she's a reminder of my strength. But right now, I know he won't listen.

"He's dead, Aurora, I fucking mean it. I'm going to kill him," he growls, holding me tighter.

I sniffle, admitting, "You'll have to get in line." I pull back and look at him. "My husband has first dibs."

He scoffs, "Husband? You can't be married; you're only fifteen and crushing on the quarterback."

Theo growls again, making me grin, and I shove Piston with a laugh. "Sorry to burst your weird bubble there, Piston."

He sniffs but nods, then rasps, "I missed you."

I smile at him. "I missed you, too." He nods, his hand cupping my cheek, his eyes looking at me with such relief. I bat my eyelids and whisper, "Like, I really missed you…."

He raises a brow, and I bat my eyelashes again. Then he sighs. "Let me guess, math…."

Annie snorts. "That girl sucks at math; poor Brook is negotiating with Huntersville College not to make her retake her math, and to just let her redo the test."

I wince, and Theo groans. "Fuck's sake, Firecracker, I thought you passed it."

I twirl and narrow my eyes, pointing at him, stating, "Well, I'm sorry, but I was a little bit preoccupied with my husband knocking me up on purpose but overachieving, putting two babies in me, lying to me about who he is, and then kidnapping me!"

Theo points at me, "I've already told you; it's not kidnapping when we're married!"

I roll my eyes as the brothers laugh, and Breaker murmurs, "This is better than TV."

I give him a grin, because yeah, it probably is, then look back at Piston, who smiles and asks, "You're in college?"

I nod. "Part-time while interning at Summer's Vets to be a vet nurse. I'm learning from Brook, Tech's old lady, and my best friend." I squeeze Piston's arm. "She made me godmother to her son…. Can you believe that?"

His eyes soften as he pulls me into his arms, and whispers, "I'm proud of you, after everything you've been through…. I'm so fucking proud of you. And yes, I'll help you pass your math class."

I nod, sighing with relief because I really don't want to redo the year.

Just then, my father speaks, "Can I please hold my daughter?"

My eyes tear up. I'm so mad at him, yet I have missed him so much, and knowing he resigned as soon as he heard I was missing….

He loved that job.

Sniffling, I move out of Piston's arms and straight into my father's, and my body shakes. My sobs rip from my chest, my past, my pain, pouring out of me as my father holds me tight.

There's so much pain to work through, but I hope and pray, we can get through it, because I have missed him. I've missed all of them.

They're my family, every man in this room is, even if I'm still pissed at my husband, my love outshines everything else. Freedom from my terror fills me.

It's just a shame I didn't keep my guard up; then maybe everyone would have survived what came next.