Mated to the Alpha Twins

Chapter 20

I finally woke up around one in the afternoon.

My sleep had been the most pleasant part of this entire weekend. The twin’s had vanished from my mind and dreams. I forced any and all thoughts of them from my head. I was left with a dull and sometimes excruciatingly sharp pain in my chest. It honestly felt like a chunk of my soul was missing, but it doesn’t help to dwell on what could’ve been.

My plan to leave was officially set into motion. I would leave Friday night. That gave me an entire week to work, and pick up my check Friday morning. I had a little over twenty five grand in my bank account. While it wouldn’t sustain me forever, it would be plenty until I found myself a job.

I had everything planned out. Friday night I would catch a bus to Atlanta, Georgia. From there I’d get the soonest plane ticket. My destination didn’t matter. I wanted to be far away from Georgia, somewhere no one would look. Once the plane landed, I’d find myself a job and somewhere cheap to live.

I had no intention of going to school at all this week. It simply didn’t matter anymore. Once I was established in a new state, I’d work on getting my GED. For the first time in years, I was truly excited.

I trudged into the bathroom, no longer caring whether Frank was awake or not. Melissa was home from work for the day, which would hopefully prove a worthy distraction.

My face looked awful. My eye was swollen, only showing the smallest sliver of my chocolate brown iris. The skin around it was a sickly shade of purple. My lip had seen better days, but the bleeding had stopped. Any other bruises would be successfully covered by my work uniform.

I pulled the concealer Tori had given me out of the bathroom drawer and applied some to my face. I blended it into my cheek and eye area as best as I could.

While it did nothing to help the swelling, the bruises were completely covered on my skin.

I slipped my work uniform on and inhaled a couple granola bars while sitting on my bed. Tori would be here within the next five minutes, forcing me to retreat downstairs.

Melissa was in the kitchen cooking, and my stomach rumbled at the thought of eating some hot home cooked food. It grew tiring living off of restaurant leftovers and granola bars, but I refused to cook in the kitchen. It would only give Frank more time to torment me.

Melissa stiffened as she heard me coming downstairs. I kept my eyes away from her and walked over to the window. The window was directly by the front door, giving me a clear view of the empty driveway. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Aurora.” Melissa called my name, snapping me from my thoughts with a hard flinch.

I turned my head and looked at the woman who carried me for nine months. She had a small white bottle in her left hand, two round pills in her right.

“Take some aspirin.” Melissa mumbled awkwardly, “It’ll help the swelling.”

I took the pills from her, ignoring the shaking of my own hand. For the first time I felt absolutely nothing towards Melissa. Not hate, not the sharp pangs that wracked my body whenever she did something the least bit motherly. It was truly nice feeling nothing for a change.

“Thanks.” I mumbled, swallowing the pills and taking a long drink of water.

I turned my attention back to the window and the empty driveway. For the second time, Melissa pulled me from my thoughts.

I nearly wanted to laugh at the irony. This was the most she’s spoken to me in months. If only I knew it would take getting my face fucked up for her to show the tiniest shred of concern.

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what happened to you.” Melissa’s voice was low, yet even.

Her voice held a tone I had never heard before, her words churning with concern. The emotion nearly made me sick. It was too much to process after what happened. I already had too many thoughts and emotions bubbling within me, this threatened to send them over the edge.

“Why do you care?” I murmured, my eyes never once straying from the empty driveway.

“You left last night with some girl and come running home looking like this.” I could hear the frown in her words, the concern hidden underneath. I couldn’t help but notice she hadn’t answered my question.

“Who did this, Aurora?” Her voice was strong and stern. She had that tone that only a mother could pull off.

“What will it change, Melissa?” I sneered as her name fell from my lips, turning to see the hurt in her eyes. “We both know nothing will change.”

The hurt lingered in her eyes for a few moments, but I felt nothing. Her dismissal of me had caused years of hurt. She could handle a few seconds.

“They wouldn’t be able to hurt you again.” Melissa murmured, her blue eyes burning into my own.

“You say that, but you don’t mean it.” I scoffed, “We both know nothing will change until I leave. Until then, quit with the fake f*****g concern.”

Tori picked the perfect moment to pull into the driveway. I hesitated for a moment, wondering which option would be worse. Melissa or Tori?

Tori would without a doubt be worse. Her eyes would flood with suspicion and concern as she hounded me with endless questions. But I needed the money. I needed all the money I could manage before I left Friday.

I turned my back on Melissa, as she had done to me for years, and left the house.

Tori’s eyes were locked on me the moment I closed the front door, and I ignored her burning gaze. Even walking down the driveway, her gaze set my teeth on edge.

The minute I opened the car door and sat down, rushed and slightly hostile words left her mouth.

“What the f**k happened to your face?” She hissed, not even bothering to put the car in reverse.

“We’re going to be late.” I pointed out, but I knew the effort to change the subject was futile.

Tori scoffed, “F**k work. What happened to you?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.” I pursed my lips and stared into her hazel eyes.

“Something happened at the party didn’t it?” Tori snapped, “Alec and Kade said you flipped out on them, but I didn’t believe it.”

“All that matters is it’ll never happen again.” My voice was lacking emotion. I sounded cold and detached, but I didn’t mind. Maybe it would placate Tori.

“Who?” Tori growled like a d**n animal, earning a wide eyed look from me.

“Who?” I repeated, my face blank.

“Don’t play stupid.” Tori growled, again. The sound was funny coming from her mouth. A petite red head growling like an animal. “Who hurt you?”

I shook my head, “Doesn’t matter. It wont happen again.”

“Dammit, Aurora.” Tori hissed, slamming her fist against the steering wheel.

I never knew Tori had anger issues like this, but I didn’t find her reaction surprising. I had known she’d react this way.

Obviously the defensive route wasn’t working. What would another lie hurt? I had been telling so many of them lately.

“Look.” I sighed, forcing emotion into my words. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just need time to process everything, but I’ll tell you exactly what happened Saturday.”

Tori looked at me blankly for a few minutes, her hazel eyes were much darker now. I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. Just when I was about to look away, she opened her mouth.

“Fine.” Tori pursed her lips, “One week. But I swear if you don’t tell me I will hunt you down.”

I nodded, feeling her threat churn in my stomach. Tori wasn’t one to talk idle, she meant every word she said. Hopefully I’d get far enough to be way outside her reach.

The car ride was silent, and for once I appreciated it. Awkward silence or not, it kept me from giving any details of my weekend.

We got to the restaurant and walked inside. I got a few strange looks from the other employee’s but I didn’t care. I ignored the ones who asked what happened, and praised the ones who kept quiet.

The only one to snicker and make rude remarks was Cameron. Obviously still jealous the twins wanted me to be their server, but that also didn’t matter any more.

Three quarters of my shift had gone off without a hitch. I made good money in tips, my busted face earning the sympathy of many customers. Pair my swollen eye and busted lip with the giant boot on my foot and I was a walking charity case.

My booted foot was throbbing with pain, as was my swollen eye but I was managing just fine. Another employee had a few Advil in their bag which I took greedily.

Two hours before the end of my shift, my heart nearly stopped.

Kade and Alec walked in, no doubt looking for me. I hid in the kitchen, not daring to peak out the window at them.

“Alec and Kade are asking for you.” Cameron spat, her shoulder banging into mine as she stormed past me.

“I’m not waiting on them.” My words came out in a frantic rush.

“Excuse me?” Cameron froze in her place, turning to look at me incredulously.

“I’m not doing it.” I shook my head furiously. Tears were prickling at the backs of my eyes, but I absolutely refused to cry at work.

Cameron paused and looked at me, something lingering in her gaze.

“Come here.” Cameron’s voice was harsh and impatient.

I felt rooted into place. I trusted Cameron as much as I trusted Grace. It would be my luck to follow Cameron and get my a*s kicked yet again. I wasn’t falling for it this time.

“Oh come on, Aurora.” Cameron hissed, but there was no menace in her words.

Her hand wrapped around my forearm as she pulled me towards the employee bathroom. She grabbed her purse from a coat hanger on the way and slammed the bathroom door behind us.

The employee bathroom was basically one room with a toilet, sink and urinal inside. It wasn’t for any specific gender, but it wasn’t accessible by the customers.

“Pull yourself together.” Cameron mumbled to herself, grabbing a wad of paper towels and placing them in my hand.

“What?” My voice was broken, and confused.

“You’re crying.” Cameron mumbled, looking somewhat uncomfortable. “And your concealer is fading.”

Cameron pulled a little tan bottle from her purse and dabbed some of the concealer on her finger, blotting it gently against my cheek.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you and I’m not gonna ask.” Cameron mumbled as she blended the makeup into my skin, “But your face is fucked up and you’re obviously upset. Don’t worry about the twins, alright? I’ll get them or make someone else do it.”

“Thanks.” I nodded.

“Just stay in here until you’re ready to come out. I’ll cover for you.” Cameron nodded, giving my face and boot one last glance before she closed the bathroom door behind her.

I let out a sharp breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Cameron was blunt, and didn’t have a filter but she lacked the d**d cruelty in her eyes that Grace clearly had. Maybe Cameron wasn’t so bad.