WINNING BACK AURORA BLAINE

THE THORN BROTHERS

Aurora’s POV

What?!

My whole being went numb and it wasn’t until I heard the tray of food and drinks that I was supposed to be carrying clattering on the floor did I realize that I’d lost my grip.

My blood rushed and the hall fell even more silent than a graveyard at night. I could hear the voices in my head bombarding me with tons of questions.

I didn’t need to look around before I knew that everyone was staring at me, I could feel the death glares and my hand trembled as I stared down at the broken plates and cups at my feet.

“What?” I heard the voices whispering in the silent hall, “Aurora Blaine?” Another voice came and I understood why they were all mortified.

“She’s a nobody, how could she be the Thorn brothers' mate?.” Another voice whispered and I felt as though I was on a death ride.

My vision went blurry and soon, I could hear the thumping of my heart in my head and the rushing of my blood through my veins.

Standing in the middle of the hall, I have never had a hard time processing a single word like I was right now and my chest heaved as my breath hitched.

The brothers had just called me their mate. No, that’s not possible. There’s no way I’m their mate. There is no way in hell that the moon goddess would choose to punish me in this manner.

Confusion took over me and there were a lot of things I wanted to do at this point but I was unable to do them due to how numb I was already.

I wanted to reject them. I wanted to tell them that I would rather walk on shards of broken glass and then hot coal, I would walk through hell as slowly as I can before accepting them as my mate.

No. This isn’t happening.

My heart raced and it was as though it was making the biggest attempt in the world to jump out of my chest. Finally turning in the direction of the brothers, I was not surprised at their reaction.

They stared at me with disgust, a familiar twinge of disappointment in their gazes as they looked as shocked and confused as I was.

Their anger was evident and they did nothing to hide it as they glared at me. The ferocity of their gazes was frightening and I felt fear knot in the pit of my stomach.

It was raw, nerve wracking and their glares of anger soon became a scalding fury, burning so hot through their eyes that I could feel the fire in every fibre of my being.

“You’ve got to be f*****g kidding me!” Hunter spat and the other three brothers cursed under their breath before turning away from me, leaving me to stand in the midst of the crowds.

I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that the last person they would accept as a mate would be me and quite frankly, I would never accept these monsters.

Doing the first thing that came to my mind, I turned to my heels and made for the woods, running as fast, no, even faster than my legs were made to carry me.

I was running out of breath but stopping was my last resort, I needed to get away as far from them as I could. I need to be very far away from them.

Clutching my chest, my breath caught in my throat and for the first few minutes that I’d finally stopped in my tracks, I didn’t think to exhale.

I couldn’t. It all still felt like a dream but when I punched myself, I could feel the pain. I slapped myself and could still feel the excruciating pain but not from the pain I’d inflicted on myself.

But from the pain of being called ‘mate’ by the quadruplets. Why is this happening? Why does this have to happen?

Everything will be gone, my hope of leaving the pack when I turn eighteen had vanished because now there was no way I’d leave the pack because the Thorn brothers just acknowledged me.

For the first time in my entire life, I hated the fact that I was seen and acknowledged by the brothers that have made my life nothing but miserable.

I’d locked eyes with Hunter and he had glared at me with burning, reproachful eyes and I knew that my life from here on out would be nothing but hell.

“NO!” I screamed as loudly as I could, I screamed until I could literally hear my vocal cords breaking as I fell to my knees with tears streaming down my eyes.

“No,” I cried, “this can’t be happening, moon goddess, this can’t really be happening.” I wailed as I clutched my chest and breathed faster than I thought I could.

“Why? What have I done to deserve all of this? Why did you have to build my hope only to have it come crashing down right before my eyes.” I choked out as I sniffled.

It hurts and as much as I hate to admit it, I couldn’t deny the fact that it hurt to be rejected by not one but four of the brothers even before the mating bond was formed.

Uncontrollable tears poured out of my eyes and I let go of all the sobs that I’d learnt to keep in my throat as my tears choked me.

They didn’t say anything about rejecting me but I could feel it in each of their gazes, I could feel the daggers twirling around in my chest, piercing it deeper than anyone would think a dagger could go.

This was a journey I wasn’t ready to begin. Curling up like a ball on the grass filled floor. I couldn’t stop sobbing as my hand clutched at my chest.

Thinking about what to do with my life, I knew there was no way out of this for me anymore but the last thing I want to do is be confined in a relationship with them.

A loud bang and the sound of something crashing put a halt to my wallowing and I immediately jumped to my feet as I wiped the tears away from my eyes.

My heart spiked and I couldn’t shake off the feeling of something terrible happening, something that would eventually turn out to be blamed on me whether or not I’m present at the scene of the incident.

I walked as fast as I could back to the hall with my fist clenched and my teeth gritting, my sadness had gotten replaced by a seething rage at the thought of being mates to four brats that aren’t even fully grown.

Finally getting to the entrance of the hall, my heart plummeted to my stomach when I came face to face with Alpha Stone Thorne, the quadruplets father and the Alpha of the pack.

Immediately falling to my knees, I averted my gaze from his face and couldn’t bring myself to stop staring at the shard of glass he was holding.

My chest tightened and I felt cold chills run down my spine as fear gripped me. I’ve seen his face, I’ve seen the look in his eyes and judging by that, I could tell what was about to happen.

Why does my life have to be so miserable?

“On your feet,” he ordered, his voice loud and so intimidating that I sprung to my feet before he could say another word, “come here.” He added and I obeyed.

Alpha Stone Thorn has always been a man of few words, he was unpredictable and with each step I took, with each foot I put in front of the other, I heard my heart pounding like a drumbeat.

In a blink of an eye, I had spun around and Alpha Stone’s hand had fisted into my hair, pulling it so far back that I felt my eyes stinging with tears and my scalp burning.

“Clean up the mess.” He ordered the maid beside him when he dropped the shard of glass he was holding and relief washed over me.

Knowing that the glass wouldn’t be used on me like I thought it would made me let out a silent sigh of relief but the pain from his grip around my hair made me wince too.

Alpha Stone’s grip kept tightening even harder as he moved and dragged me with him as he took a different route that led to his study. I bit really hard on my lower lip to keep from making a sound in pain.

Soon, we got to his study and the moment the door closed behind us, Alpha Stone tossed me to the floor so hard that my head came in collision with one of the chair legs.

The pain rippled through me but I dared not make a sound as that would only infuriate him more. Hurriedly, I got up, ignoring the throbbing pain on my forehead as I got into a kneeling submissive position with both my hands on my thighs and gaze down.

I blinked back tears as I felt the force of his heavy footsteps, his anger kept rising and I kept feeling it. Holding my breath and preparing for the worst I knew was coming, I heard a loud ringing in my head and I coughed out blood before I knew it.

A death sentence would have been a better punishment, my ears were ringing and I knew Alpha Stone was talking but I couldn’t hear a single word due to the incessant ringing in my ears.

His fist had come in direct contact with my ears, bursting my inner ear and causing blood to seep out of it while I bit my tongue until I could taste my own blood so I wouldn’t scream out in pain.

Why?

My body shook violently and my body threatened to give up but the last thing I could let happen is to pass out in front of Alpha Stone.

“You ungrateful wench!” He roared, restoring my hearing and making me flinch, “just how ungrateful can you be?” He spat, holding my hair and forcing my head up so that I would be staring directly into his eyes.

“Do you know just how much the glasses and silverware you shattered cost?!” He bellowed before slapping my face so hard that I saw flickers of light dancing around my eyes.

How did he even……

It’s Alpha Stone, of course word would have gotten to him. He wasn’t at the event because it was mainly for those who had just turned eighteen but still, he knew everything going on.

“I’m So—“ The rest of my apologies got stuck in my throat when Alpha Stone delivered another blinding slap that made me feel like passing out.

Right, this is hell and it’s never going to get better.

I was sure my face had bruised really badly and it was going to take days to fully heal but at this point, it could even take weeks.

“How ungrateful can you be?” He said as he slapped me again and I held back my cough because I didn’t want to stain him with the blood I could taste in my throat.

“You b***h, have you forgotten just how much you owe me?” He continued, “I took you in, adopted you when everyone else had casted you aside and this is how you repay me?”

I wish he hadn’t taken me in, maybe my life would have been bad but not this bad.

“Embarrassing me in front of my guest is the best way you could think of repaying my goodness?!” He snarled as he lifted his hand.

I closed my eyes tightly, expecting another punch from him but the sound of the door opening caused my eyes to open slowly.

With half closed eyes and a bloodied face, I heard footsteps and from the scent that I could smell for the first time, I knew who had interrupted the punch.

The Thorn Brothers.