Third Person Point Of View

Aurora's face was peaceful as her damp hair fanned her face in their bed. Arlan stared at her sleeping figure, so quiet and calm. It was a stark contrast to the twisted and dark night they had before bed.

He had made her endure pain he was sure she'd never forget, matched with pleasure, of course. Her screams still echoed in his mind, they were beautiful, like a symphony. He lowered the covers gently to see her once beautiful, milky skin was bruised and slashed and red. The morning light was beginning to pour, illuminating all the marks, like a painting and her skin the canvas. She was his favorite piece of art to ruin.

Her lamb was carefully tucked under her chin, her arms wound tightly around it. Its fur seemed to have some dried tears on its head which Arlan thought was cute. Her thighs were still shaking violently, even hours after, and in her sleep. He knew they probably would all day and it satisfied him immensely. He headed downstairs after tugging on a low hanging pair of gray sweats.

He had ordered the maids to put her clothes back. Aurora was never leaving.

If anything, his need for her was stronger. He now knew he couldn't live without her. Especially after owning her body, having it deliciously under him and tormenting and pleasing every part of it, their bond was stronger and more full-proof than he'd ever imagined. It was a fucking dream to him. She was a dream, forever his Dove.

She had never looked so beautiful than being under his control in such a vulnerable sense. Her sounds were better than he had ever dreamed of or thought in his head when jacking off in the shower. It wasn't like the bullshit moans Kacelynn had, which were overly theatrical and deafening to his ears. Aurora's whimpers were adorable and sweet, and only made him want to hurt her even more.

His second-thoughts on changing his sadistic ways were fleeting and he seemingly erased his night without her from his mind. It was simply a drunken, emotional night of confusion messing with his head. He wouldn't let his past and childhood dictate him now. He was powerful, the boss, the alpha, and nothing would change that.

His need for Aurora was stronger than ever and he needed to be with her more. Maybe he would cancel her tuition, make her come to work. Maybe he would marry her. His obsession was rolling through his mind and driving him over the edge yet he was so, so happy to have claimed her the way he always wanted to.

A few minutes after he had gone down stairs, Aurora followed, dressed in one of Arlan's T-shirts that he had put on her the night before, hair combed neatly. She was still holding her lamb, which she usually just left in bed. He cocked an eyebrow up, wondering why she was still holding the stuffed animal. He watched as she carefully avoided her thighs touching close together and rubbed his beard, eyes dropping to the shaking features of her legs.

"Good morning, Dove," He said confidently, his voice alone had her shoulders flinch slightly. "Sleep okay?" He provoked further.

She stopped in her tracks, licked her lips.

"Yes Sir," Aurora recited plainly, not looking up, quickly going to grab her backpack.

Arlan smirked. He had whipped her effectively into submission from last night and knew the effect would be long-lasting.

"Make me coffee, Dove," He commanded.

Aurora stopped, seemingly confused. He never asked her of that, but nonetheless she made her way to the coffee pot. She hadn't made coffee since she quit her job but knew what to do. He rose from the table and peered down at her, and she flinched when he did, accidentally dropping her lamb. Her height was substantially lower than his, she was such a small and vulnerable thing. Purple hickies on her neck poked out from the loop of the t shirt, though he knew there were many more, and even darker, bruises beneath the t-shirt. He felt closer to her then ever. He felt like he won.

He couldn't fight off his urges and came behind her, dipping his head into her soft neck and nippping. He wanted to bend her over right then and there, fist her hair and hear-

Aurora suddenly tensed and straightened her head, nudging him away.

Frustrated and confused, Arlan snarled, fisting her hair and jerking her head. "What?"

Aurora timidly turned to him, her penguin mug in hand. Her eyes were lowered. She spoke softly.

"I-I don't want to, again. Not now. I-it's sore..." Her voice trailed off.

It took Arlan a moment for his brain to catch up to his...lower region...and register he'd become hard against her.

Fuck, he thought. How did she get him so worked up so quickly?! He released her hair.

Aurora gathered her papers and notebooks together for her backpack when he caught her wrists and stopped her.

"And why not?"

"I-I have to get ready for class, Sir."

He noticed she was limping and smirked again. Approaching her and grasping her chin, he craned her neck up.

"You're mine, Dove. Fully, completely, utterly, fully mine," He felt his pants tug at the familiar look of her eyes widening. It was his favorite sight. He let out a gutteral growl.

"I want you naked, again," He growled.

"I-I have to go," She muttered, looking away. "I don't wanna be late."

And in the nick of time, Nate came down the stairs.

"Hey, Aurora, you should get dressed, we've got an early assembly for all students today, so we've gotta leave right away."

Aurora looked to Nate and then timidly back to Arlan and he grimaced at Nate, but with that he let her go. Only to grab her chin and give her one more firm look. She knew what that meant. She had to keep his T-shirt on, the Dove necklace on, and drown herself in his cologne so everyone knew she was his. He released her chin and she scurried back up the stairs to get dressed.

"Cockblock much, Nathaniel?" Arlan scoffed at him once Aurora was out of ear-shot and Nate had come down the stairs.

"Think you do that all on your own," Nate muttered under his breath. He swung his keys in the air, caught them and headed for his car.

When Aurora clicked her seatbelt on in Nate's car, she smoothed her bangs out of her face and exhaled.

"So what's this 'early assembly' ?"

"There is none," Nate started the car, backing out of the driveway.

"What...?" Aurora gave him a small smile. "So..you lied to help me get away from him?"

"And I'd do it again."

Aurora curled against the seat and pressed her nose against the car door to block out the smell of Arlan's cologne.

"You sleep okay after last night?" Nate asked.

Aurora gulped.

"Yeah, thanks," She whispered. "You?"

"As best as I could, I had a lot of assignments so in hindsight I shouldn't have gone to the bonfire. I want to maintain my 3.7 GPA."

"Wow...that's really high," Aurora said in surprise. "I didn't realize you were so academic."

He glanced to her shaking legs, and rose his hand to control the temperature.

"Is it too cold in here?"

Her head snapped up to him and quickly she put her arms over her trembling thighs.

"N-no..."

"Oh...okay. Well, yeah, I'm very academic, and half the time I'm doing your assignments on top of mine so it can get to be a lot. That's why I wanted a break at the bonfire but..." He shrugged.

"Nate, please, I can do my own assignments. I had no idea you cared so much about school...no offense. But nonetheless, it's not fair to put my assignments on top of yours."

"It's okay, Aurora, really. Honestly having a lot of assignments is a good distraction. That's why I begged Arlan to let me go back to school when you started."

"I'm proud of you. It seems like you're really trying to be a good person, Nate. I can sense you really are one. But...hey, if you drove me home, that means you didn't drink at the bonfire. Why not?"

"It's never super been my thing, I don't know," Nate shrugged, turning onto a different road. "I kinda just go to things like this not to get shitfaced, but to observe...see what normal young guys lives are like. Live vicariously through them, even if it's just for a moment. I don't wanna be drunk because then I won't really understand what I'm seeing. I'd probably just end up crying and pissing on the floor."

Aurora snorted lightly.

"Ew."

"Yeah, ew," He mimicked her voice and snickered. "No one'd wanna see that."

"I get it," Aurora said softly. "I actually don't really like it either. But, anyway, how do you manage to keep your GPA so high?"

"I just let my mind focus on my work and only my work, you know? You gotta be passionate about it."

"I try to be passionate...sometimes it's hard for me to focus. A lot of my life is overwhelming now and gets distracted. I'm definitely passionate about animals, that I know."

"Then there you go. Take that and run with it, Aurora. I'm sure you'll have a 4.0 and be kicking my ass in school in no time," Nate joked, pulling into the parking lot.

Aurora softly grinned and they got out of the car.

"My first class is in Commons so I'll catch you," Nate waved.

"Yeah," Aurora replied, walking towards the cafeteria area. She had a little bit before Biology so maybe she'd get some water. Approaching the door, she caught a glimpse of red hair in her peripheral and as soon as they locked eyes, she froze in her tracks.

Beck smiled, clutched his friends arm in a 'goodbye' and headed over. He wore a navy blue hoodie that was handsome against his red hair, dark jeans and white converse. She was hoping she wouldn't see him today but guessed she couldn't avoid him forever. Her stomach pooled with dread and all she felt was that she was some pity case Beck didn't actually like. Just his twin sister's best friend, nothing more.

"Hey, stranger. How'd you get home last night?" He asked.

His voice usually filled her with butterflies, warm comfort. Now it just made her want to cry. Her cheeks flushed red with a feeling of humiliation in his presence.

"A friend," Aurora said simply, forcing a half smile.

"I mean you kinda just dipped, I wanted to hang," He smiled but he looked disappointed.

"Oh...I don't know. You seemed busy," Aurora awkwardly said.

Beck snorted.

"Busy? Hell no. I wanted to spend time with you and Hadley, but after a little bit we both couldn't find you. We thought maybe you were getting some air away from the crowd, but we couldn't figure out where you were. We figured you went home. I was worried, I wish I could've called you but I know you don't have a phone."

"Sorry," Aurora said quietly, not really believing him. She knew he was busy kissing some girl, he didn't actually want to hangout with her and Aurora did not want to feel like some pity case.

Beck frowned at her clipped response.

"It's alright...did you have fun?" He asked cautiously, sensing her upset attitude.

"Yeah, kind of. You looked like you were having fun. Uh, who was that girl?" Aurora awkwardly clutched her backpack strap.

Beck paused for a moment of hesitation to figure out who she meant.

"Oh, Peyton?" He clarified.

"You guys looked like you were laughing a lot."

"She's funny, yeah. She's cool...I guess," He shrugged. "We have a class together, that's really it."

"Oh, that's it?" Aurora prodded quietly.

"Well..." Beck sighed, looking away from her gaze, rubbing the back of his neck and stretching his broad shoulders out. "It was a little awkward..." He looked back to Aurora, sighing again. "She was really wasted and kept being really touchy, but I'm awkward with those things and didn't know how to walk away. Especially since she was drunk, I didn't want to walk away and leave her in the hands of someone bad. But then...she kissed me, which made me really uncomfortable. I told her I wasn't looking for that and she kept apologizing over and over. I guess she misread the situation, you know. It still was just uncomfortable."

Aurora felt her heart sink to the bottom of her feet with the weight of a bowling ball. Her face flushed to a sheer, pale white color, as she now understood she completely misread the situation. Not only that, but she made a completely irrational decision based on context that wasn't even true. Beck didn't want that kiss.

"A?" He asked.

Aurora quickly looked up.

"I-I'm sorry, yeah, no, uh...I'm sorry that happened. But that's good you took care of her. You're a good guy."

"It's what any guy should do, you know? Eventually, she went home in a cab I paid for and I was finally excited to spend some time with you. I wanted to get some cotton candy with you guys. But I guess you had other plans," He laughed, looking at her neck.

Aurora quickly put her palm over her neck, feeling humilitated.

"It's not what you think," She quickly muttered before she could think.

Beck drew his brows together.

"...Huh?"

Aurora's wide eyes met his.

"Uh, forget it, I don't know what I'm saying, I'm tired, I didn't sleep great. I-I have to go, I'm sorry. See you soon?" She smiled faintly and quickly was off, leaving him in confusion.

Aurora found it difficult to study in her Mammalian Behavior class, but tried her best. Her conversation with Nate was inspiring her to want to be a better student and succeed. She knew her GPA would never be nearly as high as his, but she wanted to start prioritizing school more.

Yet her mind kept going back to Beck. How is it that she was the most sober and she ended up making the most regrettable decisions? She left Hadley on her own, she misjudged Beck. She got consumed in her own insecurity and didn't trust the two people who had cared for her most in her whole life.

She still didn't know why her bags were packed at Arlan's place. Was a punishment related to that still coming...? She felt incredibly overwhelmed with just about everything going on.

As the class was dismissed, the other students gathered their belongings up and rose to leave. She broke out of her thoughts and quickly gathered her belongings as well.

"Aurora, can I speak to you please?" Her professor asked.

Aurora paused, a bit anxious. He had never asked to speak to her after class before.

"Sure," She nodded.

When the students had all piled out, she rose her backpack to her shoulder and approached him in front of his desk, just the two of them in the room.

"Is...everything alright Professor Haldrin?" She asked nervously.

"Well, no," He sighed, taking off his glasses. "Not really." He passed her her previous exam across his desk and she looked down.

It was a D+.

"You're not doing well in my class, Aurora. It's almost November and midterm grades are due soon."

Aurora felt her heart sink. She had fallen behind on her studies, the stress of Arlan made it hard to focus. She cursed herself for not letting school be her priority.

Why couldn't I be driven like Nate was?? She thought to herself.

"I think it's best to set you up with the Tutoring Lab on campus. This late into the semester it's hard to find tutors that aren't already busy with clients. However, someone offered up their time, luckily enough. They are a senior and very well experienced. Meet in the library at 12 pm today if you want a chance at passing my class."

Aurora nodded vigorously.

"Yes, of course, I'll do anything, and I promise I'll bring my grade up. Animal studies means a lot to me. I'm so sorry it looks like I wasn't taking this seriously, I take it very seriously," She rambled.

Professor Haldrin gave her a tight-lipped smile of understanding.

"And...be warned-at our university if you do not have a C- average in all classes, you are not eligible to participate in on campus events."

She nodded again.

"Thank you so much for finding a tutor for me," she smiled

He gave her a relaxed smile at her anxious rambling.

"I trust you'll make up for it, miss Mulven," He nodded his chin towards the door and she nodded, taking her exit.

She exhaled slowly after leaving the room and entering the hallway.

"Ok...it's ok...you have a tutor...you can do this," She whispered to herself, willing herself not to cry at the overwhelming experience she just had with her professor. Yet, her eyes welled up. She had never been talked to by a professor like that.

"Stop, it's ok, it's ok," She promised herself, exhaling shakily.

And then every bad thing entered her mind. Beck. Arlan. Almost failing class.

"Stop," She whispered to herself, shaking her head.

She couldn't let herself be consumed by this. She had to focus on school.

Aurora sat in the library for the next two hours anxiously awaiting her tutor. She was nervous around new people and was especially feeling vulnerable and embarrassed about the state of her grade.

She always did pretty well in high school, averaging a B-. With the absence of real parents around, she never had a strict enforcement for all A's or a 4.0, no one hounding her to excel in school so the motivation to work hard always came from herself. She was proud enough for herself though, she didn't need parents to check her grades and give her a sense of validation. Aurora knew she was smart and hard working. But with a D+, she just felt so ashamed...

She looked around at all the other students diligently typing on their laptops and wished she had her own computer. Maybe then she could study more adequately. But she knew asking for something like that was a lost cause. She just hoped her tutor would be a gentle, understanding person.

"Aurora?" A voice brought her out of her thoughts as she looked up. Her tutor smiled gently at her.

"I'm your Animal Studies tutor, Santiago."