I somehow managed to get through an entire shift without once running into the twins. I finally emerged from the bathroom after pulling myself together and was pleased to find the twins had already left. My pitiful joy was short lived when Cameron handed me a note."They wanted me to give this to you." Cameron frowned, "They didn't hurt you did they?""No." I shook my head. That was all the answers I was willing to give."Good." Cameron nodded, "Just making sure. Men who hit women are scum.""Agreed." I nodded."Here." Cameron grunted, "Take my phone number in case you need anything."After getting over the initial shock of Cameron being nice to me, I looked down at the note in my hands. I waited until Cameron walked away to read the messy scrawl on the paper.'Quit avoiding us, Aurora. We need to talk. Alec & Kade'Of course the simple note had my heart thundering in my chest. Not a chance in hell would I risk

Snapping branches tore me from my thoughts and my heart nearly stopped as two wolves walked into the clearing. I had never seen wolves in person before, only in pictures and movies. I was sure wolves weren't naturally this big. The two were nearly identical, both the color of midnight. Their fur was shiny and glistening. I had expected wolves to look much dirtier, living in the woods and all. While I wasn't sure the geographical placement of wolves, I was also fairly sure wolves did not live in Georgia. What troubled me even more was that I wasn't afraid. It was though my mind and body had simply accepted my death as inevitable.My mind played through the scenario. Aurora eaten by wolves. Grace would probably dance with joy while Tori and the twins wondered what happened to me. Would Melissa even notice when I failed to come home? Did wolves leave any scraps?I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn't noticed the two wolves were sitting only twenty feet away, simply staring

"Your father is here." Melissa rushed the words from her mouth and my heart nearly stopped.What she was saying made no sense in my mind. My father- I didn't have a father. I had Frank and a sperm donor. A Father was a foreign concept only lucky kids were able to fully experience. I was not one of those lucky kids."Father?" I found myself repeating the word, confusion soaking each letter."Your father." Melissa spat, anger forming in her crystal eyes. "The social worker managed to track him down.""The social worker." I nodded, not fully processing the conversation.I still couldn't get passed the word 'father'. It simply wasn't possible, wasn't fathomable."Get down here." Melissa snapped, "He wants to speak with  you."Was that jealousy in her tone?  Why would Melissa be jealous?I trudged downstairs, completely ignoring the fact that I was still in my pajama's. My busted and swollen face hadn't even registered in

I was torn between my miraculously appearing sperm-donor and the twins stationed at the front door. Each looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to make the first move."This is too much." I snapped under my breath, feeling much too exhausted for just waking up. There was no way I planned on letting the twins inside, or entertaining my sperm donor for any longer. I'd simply retreat back into my bedroom and pretend this entire day never happened. Garrett and the twins would hopefully be long gone. 'Let them in.' The voice in my head rang out clear as day. The voice was so close, I looked around the room wondering if someone else had came into the house.'I know you can here me.' The voice called out again, sounding exasperated."I'm going crazy." I mumbled under my breath, turning my back on Garrett and the twins as I bounded up the stairs.It was all too easy to listen in on their conversation. The house was old and the walls th

An hour was much too long to get ready.I brushed my hair, and changed my clothes in ten minutes. That left me fifty minutes to contemplate what the hell was going on. Fifty minutes to realize how horribly my fractured life had been upended. Once hour passed, and Garrett knocked on my door. He didn't wait for me to answer, he simply poked his head inside until his eyes locked on my own. "Ready to go?" Garrett asked, his eyes shining brightly.I nodded, grumbling something unintelligible and stood to my feet. While my face was somehow miraculously healed, my ankle was anything but. Occasionally dull pain would twitch up my ankle, making me wince. Garrett and I walked downstairs, to where Melissa and Frank were sitting on the sofa. Frank was drunk, as usual. Melissa was desperately trying to keep her gaze off of Garrett. Her eyes kept flickering from the TV to his towering form. I resisted the urge to scoff, she's more interested in

I cringed, but telling him about Frank was a lot easier than telling him about Grace. Frank couldn't torment me anymore, not with me being forced to live with Garrett. Grace on the other hand could still manage to get to me. "Frank likes to drink." I shrugged, "He gets rough. I ran and locked myself in my room. He was trying to break down my door so I climbed out the window and jumped.""You jumped from your window?" Garrett's voice was calm."No." I replied, deadpan. "I jumped from the roof.""That fact makes no difference." Garrett growled under his breath."Look." I sighed, "Don't go playing the caring father card. Seriously, for my sanity don't do it."This entire conversation was giving me a headache. My heart was being pulled in so many different directions, I wondered if it could withstand all of the torment. 'Only a few more days', I told myself. Then I'd be in the wind, not a single person to worry about.Two devastatin

'I thought you'd never ask.' The voice huffed, 'You can call me Thalia.''The voice in my head has a name.' I nodded. 'This is great.''Look at it this way, we're improving.' The voice sounded happy.'Improving?' I scoffed, 'More like descending into madness.''Hey, I'll be along for the ride.' The person in my head grinned, 'It'll be fun.''Y'know, I didn't expect the voice inside my head to be so damn optimistic.' I rolled my eyes.'Get used to it, Aurora.' The voice chided me, 'I'm here for the long run.''Great.' I sounded unenthusiastic.Garrett looked over at me from the corner of his eye, concern evident in his gaze."Feeling alright, Aurora?" He questioned, more concern flooding through his tone."Yup." I popped the 'p' on my lips, "Just talking to the voices in my head."I wasn't sure what made me say that, but I didn't really care. This week has been one for the books. I was nearly one hundred per

KadeIt wasn't our intention to find Aurora in the forest, but once we caught her scent it was nearing impossible to stop.Alec and I locked eyes, our wolves inhaling the creamy scent of their mate. She was sitting by herself, her back against a large tree. The sunlight peered through the trees hitting her in the perfect spot. Her chocolate hair was glowing under the sunlight, looking like freshly spun silk. The sun brightened her unique eyes, making them radiate with color. "Are you going to eat me or not?" She huffed, her face impassive as she looked at my brother and I.There was no fear in her eyes; just the acceptance that her life could possibly end today. That fact send a sharp ringing pain throughout my body, sending the memory of the night we ran into her rushing to the front of my mind.She was stumbling down the sidewalk; Alec and I noticed her before she saw us. She looked out of her mind with fear, the kind of fear that makes peo

AuroraI left the note, changed my clothes in one of the many bathrooms and left for work.Today was a school day, but that didn't bother me. My boss was so desperate to find someone to cover an extra shift, he didn't even ask about school.I sent Tori a quick text, letting her know I didn't need a ride to work. She was in school, which forced me to walk. I never minded walking, it gave me time to think and clear my head. Unfortunately, I had too much to think about at the moment.I was sure Garrett would give me a ride to work, but I truthfully didn't want to ask. I felt smothered in his huge house, surrounded by people who didn't want me there (Lucy excluded).By the time I made it to the restaurant, my booted foot was aching. The pain wasn't as bad, but it was still annoying to walk on.'One miracle is good enough.' I told myself, thinking about my magically healing face.The next few hours, work was effortless. There were no kids

The laughter fell from my lips in waves, and I realized I hadn't truly laughed in so long. Garrett sat in his seat, a perplexed look forming on his face as he watched me. It was comforting to know the mental decline ran in the family, but didn't give me much hope for the future.My erratic laughter died down, and I was left taking a few deep breaths."Look, Garrett." I snickered, placing my hand against my mouth to stifle another wave of laughter. "I think you need to get some help, which means I definitely need to get some help.""Aurora--" Confusion formed on Garrett's face. Did he really think I was going to believe that? Werewolves?He rips me from my life and confesses there's a world of magical creatures? This isn't a book; Life isn't full of fantasy.  You work, get fucked over by people, try to survive and then die. "Don't--" I shook my head, "I shouldn't even have to entertain this."I turned on my heel and st