Chapter 12

Aurora

I wake up in a flurry of fear, screaming in pain, my body trembling as I fall to the floor and curl up in the corner of my room. I tuck my head into my arms, trying to protect myself, begging for him to stop, to have some inch of mercy, but I wait expectantly for the rogue to claw my eyes out and be done with me.

Warm hands reach for my elbows, making me gasp, Jaxson kneeling before me in silk pajama bottoms and a bare, masculine chest. His eyes are tired and bloodshot, running down the length of me, several warriors posted behind him as I blink awake to my bedroom.

I’m coughing my cries, so overwhelmed with fear that it takes a minute for me to realize it was only a nightmare.

Again.

It’s been many days since Xander had cornered me in the washroom, his threat bringing on such intense nightmares ever since. Again and again, I see the rogue from the casino holding me down, his claws dragging down my body and pooling blood underneath me as he leaves no skin unhurt. He is ruthless, but he isn’t here and instead Jaxson is, concerned and reaching to wipe my tears away. I flinch instead, wound too tight with fear.

“Hey, Aurora, snap out of it,” he hums, moving closer to me as I’m posted in the corner of the room. “I’m not going to hurt you. It’s just you and me, oaky?” My eyes pace the guards behind him and he releases a heavy sigh of frustration. “You are all dismissed,” he grunts to his warriors without giving them a second glance. “Now, it’s just us.”

I nod, the door shut on their exit, leaving Jaxson here with me while he brushes his knuckles across my wet cheeks, killing the tears that rest there. I sniffle and force myself to relax, my arms going limp in my lap, seeing finally that everything I had felt and everything I had been through was a horrible, albeit realistic, nightmare.

“What is going on with you, sweetheart? This is the fourth time this week I’ve been woken up to help you out of distress in your sleep. Tell me now what haunts you. I can help, Aurora. Please, talk to me.”

My mouth falls open, my lips dry but my cheeks damp. Words are lost on me.

“Okay, I get it,” he hums, reaching for me.

He pulls me into his lap on the floor and he leans back against the window overlooking the kingdom below. The sun isn’t up, and the night is pitch dark, my head still spinning in agony at the thought of the second prince storming in here and ravishing me until I’m dead.

Little Snowflake walks across my legs, climbing up my lap and settling against my stomach, curled tightly in my hold while Jaxson does the same to me, giving me comfort and letting me feel that I am safe with him here.

He tips his head back, exhausted. I have only seen him now in these situations, holding me tight to his body and being the reassuring staple from my nightmares. During the day his warriors that guard my door tell me he is off doing business, trying to keep trouble from arising with a pack in the town nearby, and I have almost missed having him nearby just in case his brother storms in and tries to scare me again with a threat.

“Oh,” Jaxson says, his head lifting back up and alive now. “Happy birthday, mate. Nineteen. In one year, you will be twenty and your wolf and my wolf will finally be mated with the natural pull.” He smiles wide, expecting me to react the same way.

I force a grin.

I go numb in his arms.

Another year closer to being a prisoner in this palace forever, far away from my parents, from my friends, and my hopes of being able to run free as I please. At least tonight at the gala I get to see my mom and dad, I get to relish being in their company and I get to see my friends. I gave Jaxson a list of people I wanted to come just days ago and so far, it seems like a small group compared to the number of guests his father has invited for publicity, for royal measures, but I just want to see my loved ones tonight. That’s it.

“Shall I get you back in bed?” he hums, moving before I can reply. He picks me off the floor and places me back in the covers, Snowflake still clinging to my blouse while Jaxson moves to the opposite side of the bed, adjusts the blankets, and lays down beside me. “I’ll be right here if you have another nightmare. For now, try to rest.”

Over the last few incidents of nightmares, never once has he stayed with me in the bed and gone to sleep. I can feel his body behind my own, curled up and comfy, his hand resting lazily on my bare thigh. It may help curb the nightmares, though, so I don’t protest.

I close my eyes, just me, my kitten and my self-proclaimed mate.

For a moment, everything is calm.

My mind brings me back home, in my real bedroom, waiting for my mom to call out and say that Luke is here, and I’d race down the stairs and hug him with all my might. He would laugh, holding me for a long moment before we’d break apart and go find the others. It was my daily life, something so mundane to some people, but deeply engraved in my mind as the best part of my life.

I miss Luke, I miss my doting parents and I miss my friends. Paul, Ann, and Row were more like family to me, like siblings, and I can’t stand the idea of never getting that happiness back. Luke sticks in my mind the most, so optimistic and lively, always there when I needed him, holding me when I cried but it will never be like that again.

It will be me in this vast palace, under the ornate chandeliers and elaborate murals painted on ceilings, reaching for the doorknob and finding it locked.

Sniffling a cry, Jaxson pulls me in closer, establishing my body against his chest while his legs tangle with mine, his breath hot as he exhales on my temple, his lips pressed to my scalp for a long, tired kiss. Our bodies are so perfectly put together like this I have to admit, we fit together like I would imagine true mates would.

“I hate seeing you upset,” he murmurs, holding me to his warmth. “I wish you’d talk to me more, so I can help you avoid feeling this way, sweetheart.” He pauses, his breath heavy on my neck. “I know you don’t feel the same way yet. Just give it time. You’ll feel it eventually. Just try to keep an open mind, you’ll feel it.”

I take his words with little interest. It’s not that I hate Jaxson, or that I don’t find him attractive, I just feel more like his stow-away prize than his partner. I miss being able to run downstairs and embrace my love.

I hope that I get that feeling back during my birthday gala tonight, but the one thing I know for sure is that I can’t let Jaxson know how I feel about Luke. He was my first friend, my first crush, and the thought of seeing him tonight and not falling back into my old affection is impossible to consider.

“If you insist, sire.”