Aurora

I clutched the knife until my knuckles turned white. There was no escaping these monstrosities. For years, I had tried to hide from them … but they always seemed to find me.

With terrifying yellow eyes, the hound rushed down the aisle, springing himself forward on his two hind legs. Foam oozing from his mouth, teeth dripping with blood, he was coming for me. They always came for me.

I stepped in front of Charolette and Ruffles, determined to protect them with my life. The silver knife burned my palm, but the pain was never as bad as the pain of watching a loved one being torn apart by ruthless animals.

When he leaped into the air, all I could see was Jeremy. Being severed to pieces. His limbs being ripped off. The hounds devouring his flesh. The images were forever lodged into my memory. Never to leave.

“Aurora!” Charolette screamed.

The hound dug his claws into my arm, and I howled out in pain. Moon Goddess, I wanted to shift. I wanted to kill him with my teeth. I wanted him to pay for everything that his kind had done to me. But I hated that I couldn’t shift, despised myself for it.

I clutched the knife harder, pretended that the gash in my arm wasn’t bleeding profusely, and hopped out of the way before he could hurt me again. I sprinted down the aisle to get him away from the others and stood between the chips and my cart of cat litter.

Just as I’d hoped, he turned on his paw, wildly shook his head, and stalked toward me once more. I would kill this piece of shit before he could hurt anyone ever again.

In the distance, I heard Ares growl, claws tearing into fur, and the whimpers of the hounds. My wolf called out to our mate, and I forced her to shut up. I could handle this beast myself.

Coming at me faster this time, the hound sprinted down the aisle. When he leaped at me, I crouched down, stepped out of the way, and stabbed the damn thing right in his neck. The monster growled in pain and fell to the ground on his back.

I crawled on top of the animal, straddling his waist to keep him in place, and stabbed him over and over, right into the jugular. This was for everything that had happened to me. This was for my inability to shift. This was for Jeremy.

Blood sprayed onto my face and gushed out of the open wound in my arm. Tears welled up in my eyes. But I didn’t stop. I hated them so much. Thoughts of them tortured me every single fucking day.

“Aurora,” Charolette called.

The hound lay limply under me, yet I took the blade, cut right through the few threads of skin left holding the hound’s head in place, and ripped off the skin to make sure this fucker didn’t come back.

I saw red.

Figuratively and literally.

“Aurora!” she shouted again.

Suddenly, someone scooped me into their strong arms and picked me up off the hound. My silver dagger slipped out of my hand, and the scent of hazelnut engulfed me. My body relaxed in Ares’s arms, but all I wanted to do was continue to make the hound hurt, displace all this pain I’d been carrying around for the past ten years.

Blood dripped from Ares’s canines. His chest was stained red. All I could see was wrath in his eyes. I squirmed in his hold, yet he didn’t let me down. The hound was lying dead in the middle of the store, and I could only imagine that there were others dead in the forest. Ares pulled me closer to him, letting me feel his raging heartbeat.

I took a deep breath, breathing with the rhythm. Calm, Aurora. Calm.

He walked to Charolette, placed me onto the ground, and looked at Marcel, who was drenched in blood from head to toe next to her. “Double security around the borders. Nobody comes onto the property, and nobody leaves the property without me knowing. Kill anyone who disobeys.”

Marcel nodded, glanced quickly at me, his lips curling into a smirk, and handed me my silver knife. I growled and snatched it from him, wanting to cut all of his locks of stupid silver hair and keep it as a trophy.

When Marcel left, Ares examined Charolette to make sure she was okay, and then he snatched my wrist and dragged me toward the exit of the store. “We’re leaving, Aurora.”

I pulled myself away and glared back. My mind was reeling. Anger. Violence. Pure adrenaline. But I wasn’t about to leave Ruffles without her proper necessities. I didn’t care what anyone said. She would always come first. She had found me when Jeremy died and stayed with me ever since.

“I came here for things, and I don’t plan on leaving without them.”

He growled under his breath, jaw twitching violently. “You just got attacked by a fucking hound. These things can wait.”

I flared my nostrils. “No, they can’t. Now, you’re going to wait while I get them.”

“Get what you need to get, but you’re not leaving my sight,” he said through clenched teeth.

After a few moments, I decided that he wasn’t kidding. “Fine.” 

I frowned at my backpack that Charolette was clutching to her chest. Ruffles deserved more than to have no place to poop or pee. If I didn’t buy some litter soon for her, she’d start peeing all over Ares’s clothes, and then he’d have an allergy attack. 

I swallowed hard. “Just … give me a second.”

I walked toward Charolette, holding my arm to stop the blood, but Ares followed. “And stay here, or you won’t be getting any breakfast tomorrow,” I said.

That’d teach him.

When I reached Charolette, she handed me my backpack. “Are you okay? I can take care of my brother for you, if you need me to. All he needs is a good kick in the ass when he gets too protective.”

“No,” I said, glancing back at him. 

Ares raised a brow at me, a scowl set deeply on his face, and I pulled Charolette even closer. 

“Ares doesn’t know about Ruffles. I thought he was just being an asshole when he told me not to bring her. Now, I have to hide her. I was going to hide her in one of his spare rooms and buy her litter, but he won’t let me out of his sight. Could you get some for me? I know this is a huge favor to ask of you.”

She smiled widely at me. “Ooh, I like you already.” She grabbed my hand, her manicured pink fingernails lightly digging into my palm. “He doesn’t usually go into the spare room, three doors down from his bedroom, the one with the yellow curtains. I’ll bring some litter and a litter box over and leave it in there tonight.” She grabbed my bag back from me. “I’ll bring Ruffles too. Spare room. Yellow curtains. She’ll be in there.”

I pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tight. “Thank you so much. I owe you my life.”