WINNING BACK AURORA BLAINE

Aurora’s POV “Mate.” They all growled and I felt my stomach churn as I pulled back. I’m probably just hearing things because there’s no way in hell that the Thorn brothers just called me ‘mate’. Just thinking about me being the brother’s mate was enough to make my skin crawl and it makes me want to dig my fingers into my eyes and pull them out. Fuck fate. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to accept these monsters as my mate, even if it means death, I would rather die than accept them. FEW HOURS AGO: Breathing heavily and completely exhausted, more exhausted than I’ve ever been. I rushed around trying to make champagne towers. Everything needed to be perfect and I definitely can’t afford a single, tiny slip up or I was going to regret it. My stomach growled, I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning and although the thought was pulling me back, I had to push through. Rushing around the incredibly large hall, I placed gift cards and napkins everywhere for the guests and I almost forgot how to breathe with all the rushing around. Stopping to catch my breath, I wiped the sweats that had formed on my forehead as I clutched the basket of decorations that needed to be placed strategically close to the entrance. “You can do this, Aurora, you’re almost done.” I said to myself as I proceeded to drop the basket where it was meant to be when everything flashed right before my eyes. My life, all of my hard work. My head felt light and I had no idea why but my chest and knee hurt really badly. Finally bringing myself to open my eyes, it wasn’t until I did that did I realize that I was lying face flat on the floor. My breath hitched and my jaw dropped as I stared at the scattered decorations on the floor. No. There is no way this is happening. Everything was perfect, it could’ve been— “What the hell do you think you’re doing,” a familiar voice put a halt to my thoughts and with horror obvious on my face, I lifted my gaze and was met with the coldest look ever. It was Sasha, the Gamma’s daughter. She had an evil smirk on her lips, her eyes glistening with the wickedness that she’s an epitome of and her entire demeanor promised more torment. She stood there with her clique of friends, holding on gracefully to their wine glasses and feasting their eyes with the embarrassment that is me. “Can you be any more useless?” She asked as she flipped her hair and my ears soon filled with the laughter and snickers of her and her friends. My fist clenched, anger licked through my being like molten flame but I knew that I could do a lot of things but retaliating is definitely not one of those things. Swallowing, I hissed at the insane amount of pain coursing through me. I’d skinned my knee and it hurts like crazy but this isn’t the first time and I can handle it. I needed more time to erase the pain but that’s unfortunately one luxury I don’t have. Tears trembled on my eyelids and I winced as I tried to gather the spilled decoration. Crawling and picking them as slowly, yet as fast as I could, I didn’t get to gather up enough when Sasha’s heels dug into my hand, making me bite my lower lip so as not scream out in excruciating pain. It hurt as I laid there, my face buried in the decorations as deep sobs racked my insides and hot tears trickled down my eyes. “You’re not about to let any of your filthy blood stain the decorations, are you?” Sasha asked and judging from how close her voice sounded, I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that she was crouching in front of me already. Her hand fisted into my hair, lifting my head up forcibly and causing it to pound as my blood rushed. “If any of that happens, you’re going to regret it.” She seethed as she released my hair, making me slam my face back into the ground. “I don’t know why we can’t just go hunting with you being the prey,” Sasha laughed and the other girls joined in, “would save us the trouble of having to always deal with you.” She finished. My stomach curled as I laid down there waiting for it to be over but it didn’t seem like it was going to be over anytimesoon. “Is she dead?” One of the girls asked and I felt my eyes sting really badly but not only with the tears I was holding back but also with the hatred building up inside of me. “I mean, who’s going to miss her if she died?” Sasha laughed as she kicked my ribs and I could swear that I heard some of it breaking. Like every other day, I just have to take it. The bullying wouldn’t stop and I know this because this isn’t the first time. Not just Sasha and her friends but the privileged kids too. They were born with luxurious blood running through their veins and are made to dominate the lives of the likes of me. They would get away with killing me and I would be blamed for my own death. I swallowed and bit back my tears as Sasha and her cliques laughed at my misery. The Thorn brothers spoke to these girls more than they interacted with any other people and they prided themselves in being in a clique with the brothers. Tears danced on my eyelids as I bit back the pain I was feeling from the hair pulling and rib kicking. I’ve been bullied for as long as I can remember including by the quadruplets too. Many times, I’ve tried to figure out why because mostly, I was always on my own. I avoided them like plagues but somehow, just like today, they always find me. Is it because I’m an orphan? Because I’m the lowest of the lowest of the low wolves? Because I’ve been slaving my life away for them? Waiting for the bullying to stop seemed far fetched now but I knew that I wouldn’t have to wait for long anymore. The days I needed to wait for are nothing compared to the years I’ve spent letting them treat me like I was nothing but a rag that deserved to be beaten up. Everything will be over next year. I’ll finally be eighteen, I’ll find my mate and he’s going to take me away from this torturous life. It will be over soon. I just have to endure it until then. “Get back to work, b***h!” Sasha delivered another kick that sent a nerve wrenching pain through me, my stomach knotted and I felt like puking. Lying on the floor, I listened until I could no longer hear the sound of their heels. Lifting my face up, they were gone and I was alone. It was over. For now. Hurriedly, I got up and began gathering the spilled decorations making sure that my bloodied knee doesn’t touch any of them so I wouldn’t be penalized for staining them. The sound of the loud laughter and hollering stopped me for a moment and I looked to see the brothers laughing heartily, whooping and hollering around at the joy of finding their mate today. It’s their birthday and since they’re quadruplets, they knew that they were going to share a mate. They were prepared for it too. Taking my eyes off them, I got up from the ground and took a good look around. Luckily for me, the incident with Sasha hadn’t attracted any unnecessary stares. Carrying the basket as carefully as I could, walking became a chore as usual made my way to the entrance. Pausing to take a look at my bruised knee, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the flesh finally weaving together and healed. I’ve always been a slow healer but it’s a good thing that I healed anyway. Looking up, I started climbing the ladder with the basket hanging on my right arm as I put up the decorations. Stopping to catch my breath, I was almost done with the decorations when I looked down to see some boys whispering and looking up at me. I recognized that look in their eyes and I didn’t need to rack my brains to be able to figure out what their intentions were. They got closer, pretending to be passing by while I braced myself for the worst. The ladder faltered and thank goodness I’d prepared myself before they kicked it because I jumped down before I could fall off and to give them the satisfaction they so crave, I rolled on the floor in pain. “Oww.” I winced while they laughed at me and I watched as they walked away. I’d learned not to stand up for myself because it would only make things worse. If I had landed without a hint of pain, I would’ve drawn them to me and they were going to make sure I felt more pain than the pain the ladder could have possibly inflicted. They left and I was left alone. I was more than glad that they hadn’t tampered with the decorations because that was the last thing I wanted. Smiling at the result of my hardwork, I left the entrance to make myself available for my second job since it’s just seconds to the start of the mating ball and the quadruplets birthday. The party began and I resumed serving food and drinks. The sight of everyone finding their mates made me smile and I felt my heart flutter. Things like this make my heart warm. Regardless of how horribly they treat me, I couldn’t help but be happy that everyone was finding the person they were going to spend the rest of their lives with. Soon, I’m going to find my mate too. Focusing on my job, I walked past the quadruplets table and felt a sensation like never before, the hair at the nape of my neck stood erect and my ears felt cold. My throat went completely dry and my heart tugged as I saw the looks on their faces. It’s one of the looks that I wasn’t familiar with and I tried to walk away but my legs won’t move forward as the brother’s gaze on me became incessant. They looked as though they wanted to say something which they did, my eyes grew wide and I felt my soul leave my body as the brothers growl in unison. “Mate.”