Page 21

CHAPTER 20

AURORA

“Aurora,” Jaxson says softly.

I can’t bring myself to look at him. The utter shock and horror on all their faces when they realized I was the one who killed the men in the room hurt, but Jaxson’s reaction gutted me. He’s the one person I thought would understand why I’m doing this. Instead, he looked at me as if I’m insane and need to be institutionalized. Hell, maybe I do.

Why can’t they comprehend how important this is? Those pricks needed to pay. I wanted them to hurt, feel what I felt when they defiled me. Why can’t Jaxson see that?

I wrap my arms tight around Lykos’ neck, resting my head on his back. He pushes his body against mine, which grounds me and helps me remain focused.

Footsteps shuffle toward me. “Don’t come near me!” I shout. “Guard.”

I release him reluctantly, and Lykos doesn’t hesitate at my command. He springs up on all fours, growling at the approaching angry squad. They immediately stop in their tracks.

“Call off Lykos,” Thomas demands. “We’re not gonna fucking hurt you.”

“Okay, shit for brains,” Carver mocks. “Because that just screams trust us .”

“Do you have a better idea, asshole?” Thomas growls.

“Aurora,” Hudson says gently. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Physically… Not anymore. But yes, I fucking hurt. I hurt EVERYWHERE!

I shake my head, refusing to answer with words.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Bennett calls. “We have an unknown female over here.”

Hudson jogs over to Bennett. “Shit.” He drops to his knees and places his fingers on her wrist. “She has a pulse.”

Great. They probably think I tried to kill her, too.

“She was drugged.” My voice sounds robotic. “She’s been out almost two hours. The one with the hole in the head injected her with something.”

Hudson scrambles over to Potts, digging in his pockets. He pulls out a vile and studies it. “Ketamine.”

Thomas bounces on his feet. “Will she be okay?”

“Yeah,” Hudson says. “I’ll monitor her until we can get this mess cleaned up, and then we’ll drop her off at a hospital. She’ll be out for a while.”

“Let’s get started,” Bennett says.

They all fan out, opening different doors and pulling out buckets and mops. Lykos isn’t growling anymore, but his focus is unwavering as he watches their every move. As for me, I’m too tired to move. Hell, I’m too tired to breathe.

Jaxson drops to his knees a few feet away. “Winchester.” My head jerks in his direction. “You can trust me, Aurora, just like that day we rescued you. Please let me help you.”

“Help? I asked for help, Jaxson, and you all stared at me like I’m a goddamn monster. Me, not them.” I wave my hand toward Potts and Briggs. “Settle,” I whisper to Lykos so only he hears me. He lies down with his head in my lap, keeping his eyes trained on Jaxson and the others. I brush my hand through his soft fur and hum.

“Aurora, we have a dead senator,” Jaxson states. “That’s gonna require an explanation.”

“An explanation.” A maniacal laugh bubbles out of my throat. “Do you hear that, Lykos?” My dog looks up at me. “Jaxson wants an explanation. Let’s give him one, shall we?”

“That’s not wh?—”

“I used to be a dedicated undercover reporter who wanted to help shed light on the darkness in the world. Unbeknownst to me, I stumbled upon a story about human trafficking taking place on the East Coast. I met up with an informant who disclosed the name of the family involved, and the poor girl couldn’t have been over the age of sixteen.” I point to myself. “This reporter wanted to save her. I convinced the young girl to come with me. My father is a general and could protect her, but I lied. You see, I made a huge mistake and stopped at my house, thinking no one was following us, because I didn’t see anything. I was wrong! Now the young girl is dead, and I’m changed forever.”

“How do you know she’s dead?” Jaxson asks.

“No one escapes the Krukov family,” I deadpan. “You’re either killed, or you wish you were.”

“You’re not dead.”

“No, but I should be, shouldn’t I?” I point out. “I live in fear every damn day. You have no idea what it’s like to wake up and not know if someone is going to be lurking around the corner. Well, I found out, didn’t I? They’re everywhere. There’s no escape. My only hope is to destroy them before they destroy what’s left of me.”

“Why the senator?” he asks, confused.

“Why are you so fucking concerned with the senator?” I scream. “Senator Timothy Briggs, along with Terry Potts over there and three other men, bought me while I was chained naked on a stage for one million dollars from Dmitri Krukov. Do you want to know what happened next?” Silence fills the air as I pause to take a deep breath. “The lovely senator had Jameson tie me down on a bench, and then he turned on cameras to film the whole thing. Potts over there beat me with a whip until I bled, then he shoved his cock down my throat while they watched. They all took turns raping me, over and over and over again. Finally, just when I thought it was over, Briggs asked me if anyone had ever taken my ass. You can guess what happened after that.” Tears slide down my cheeks. “That’s not the worst part. I know what you’re thinking… How can that not be the worst part? This was my life for… How long was I missing? Oh, that’s right, about two weeks, give or take. I thought I was finally safe until I went to the State Dinner with my dad and, low and behold, guess who was there? Ding, ding, ding, you guessed it. Senator Briggs, who told me point blank that I’d never be safe, and now that they knew where I was, the Krukov family was coming for me.”

Jaxson clenches his fists. He makes no move to speak, so I continue.

“That night, I ran. I went home and swallowed every pill I had. I wasn’t going to let them take me back to the hell you helped me escape from. Instead, I created my own personal hell, but what I didn’t know was that I was pregnant.” Gasps fill the space around me, but I ignore them. “Dr. Sheppard gave me a pregnancy test when I was first admitted, and it was negative. No one thought about it again because I was on the shot, and it was administered a couple of weeks before I was taken. Turns out, the fucking shot failed. I forced a miscarriage with my attempted suicide. Those bastards took the last bit of control I had in my life and stripped it from me,” I cry. “I was so scared by Briggs’ threat that I let it consume me. I didn’t think, I acted.” My shaking body sags against Lykos as I let out a guttural scream.

I scream at the injustice of it all, and my heart shatters into pieces once again. Strong arms scoop me off the floor and pull me close. Lykos keeps his head at my back, lending me his strength.

“Shhh,” Jaxson soothes. “I’ve got you. It’s not your fault.”

I pound on his chest and sob. “It’s my fucking fault because I should’ve known. I should’ve felt something.” Jaxson makes no move to stop me from beating him. “I don’t know what I would’ve done when I found out I was pregnant, but I wouldn’t have taken those pills, Jaxson. Please believe me,” I plead.

“Baby, I believe you,” he says soothingly. “You were traumatized. You had every right to your feelings, and you did what you felt you needed to do to protect yourself. I fucking wish you would’ve told your dad what was going on, but I understand.”

I stare into his stormy gray eyes, looking for any sign of deceit, finding none. “What do I do now?”

“You? Nothing.” He scowls. “The rest of us are going hunting.”

I push out of his embrace and stand, and Jaxson follows suit. We’re toe-to-toe, staring at one another as if we’re both prepared to go into battle.

Anger bubbles inside me. “The fuck you are. Not without me, you’re not. You can’t take this from me, Jaxson. I need this. I need to see the life drain from their eyes, to know I broke them like they broke me.”

“They didn’t break you,” he growls.

“Yes, they did,” I mumble. “But you put me back together. All of you did.”

He inhales sharply. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t. Neither one of those assholes touched me. Besides, I have Lykos,” I say. “And you don’t have my kill list.”

“She’s got a fucking kill list?” Carver hollers from behind us. “That’s badass!”

“Shut the fuck up, Carver!” Jaxson bellows. “We’re not encouraging her.”

The shock and emotional toll of the day hits me again, and I double over laughing. Once I have control over myself, I wheeze. “That s-s-ship already sailed when you t-t-taught me how to maim and kill someone.”

Jaxson roughly runs his hands through his hair. “Fuck. Okay, fine. But there will be rules.”

I raise my brow. “Rules?”

“Yes, rules.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, I have to be there.” He holds up his hand when I open my mouth to argue. “You can do the killing, but I will be there to help if things get out of control. Second, you never go anywhere without Lykos. Third, if for some reason you find yourself in over your head and I’m not around, you immediately send me your location and text ‘Winchester’. I don’t care if you’re in the middle of the goddamn Sahara Desert, you text me.”

I can live with those conditions.

“Deal.” I stick out my hand to shake his.

Does Jaxson shake my hand? Nope. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close to his chest. Before I can grasp what’s happening, he presses his lips to mine. It’s a sweet, short kiss, and I don’t even have time to reciprocate because as quickly as it started, it’s over, and he’s walking away to help the rest of the guys finish cleaning up my mess.

I brush my fingertips across my lips and replay our first kiss in my head.

Jaxson Rivers kissed me! Holy shit!