The Tripartite Mate Bond Chapter 8: CHAPTER EIGHT

AURORA'S POV”

I had become a shell of myself, constantly watching my back as well as worrying myself sick of what might happen next. To compound my problems, I found myself longing for the three men that made butterflies engage in a fierce battle in my stomach. I have never loved one man before and now, I find myself feeling weird feelings for three men all at once. I was having so many sex dreams and always woke up with thoughts of the three of them touching me on my mind, it was wild and I felt so guilty about wanting all three of them but I loved the way it made me feel. It made no sense though and this confusion caused a lot of mistakes on my part that led to my father punishing me; well, he always did that but this few days, it was more than usual.

Yesterday, I'd been daydreaming while making dinner and the chicken got burnt a little bit. It was still salvageable and they ate it without much complaints but I was woken up by 4AM and beaten to an inch of my life.

"You think because you've found some unlucky man to fuck you, you can go around destroying things in my house?!" he screamed as the belt landed on my bare back. I couldn't even answer him, I was trying so hard to hold back my screams to avoid waking mother up. If she did, then I'll have two of them angry at me and she won't mend my injuries as she used to.

But he definitely wanted me to scream because he switched the belt and hit the head on my back, a scream ripped out of me effectively.

***

I got to work the next morning by a miracle. The wounds weren't closing as fast as they did when Mother stitched it and when I got back from my coffee run, I went back to my desk; only I didn't make it to my seat and collapsed, the world turning black.

***

Panic filled me as I woke up and surveyed my surroundings. I've never been to a hospital before and this time, I feared my secrets had been laid bare for new men in my life to see. I knew they were around here somewhere because I could smell those distinct scents they had that made me feel flustered sometimes.

But that wasn't my worry, Father would be looking for me and if he found out I was in the hospital, he will give me a painful death.

What on earth was I going to do? I wondered as I looked around the small hospital room.

I thought about running away from the hospital but I didn't know anything about it and I couldn't even find my clothes. I'd be caught before I moved ten feet away from this room.

As I pondered the dilemma that was my life, the door opened and the doctor, an Asian older man with glasses, walked into the room. He dragged the chair closer to me, his outlook, pensive. I felt like a caged animal with the way he stated at me.

“Miss Aurora, You're awake. How are you feeling now?”

I attempted to sit up but he waved me down

“We can talk while you lie down. We don't want you hurting yourself.” He said.

“It's okay, I've sat up before. I can barely feel anything. I'm fine” I assured him, sitting up.

“Are you sure? You are very injured, in fact, we had to do a lot of work on your back. It was badly sent and your skin was horribly sewn before. We had to undo some of the stitches and do it properly”

“Oh. Well, it's fine now I guess. So when will I be discharged? I kind of need to get back to work” I said, chuckling nervously.

“Work? You won't be going anywhere for another week. In fact, your boss who brought you here insisted on it. I just need to know how long this has been going on. It's important for the treatments we are doing on you” he said, writing something on the chart he came in with.

“Wait, what? He gave me the week off? But.. but I still have a lot of work to finish. In fact, the deadline he gave me for the Asia project is due in a week's time. Oh, you won't understand any of this. Let me talk to him, can I borrow your phone? I lost mine” I pleaded with the doctor.

He looked at me and I could feel the pity in his eyes drilling a hole in my forehead. I was used to it from my mom anyway so I didn't put much attention to it and to my relief, he brought out the phone.

I dialed the number that I had been dialing every day for about three years now, exchanging correspondence, instructions, reports and everything a personal assistant and secretary needed with a boss and he picked on the second ring.

“Good day Boss. I'm really sorry about all of this. It won't affect my job, I swear. I’m currently talking to the doctor about releasing me. Please don't replace me” I gushed out immediately.

“Wait, calm down Aurora. No one is firing you. In fact, your job is waiting for you anytime you want it but you need to rest and heal. Your wounds are not superficial, I have investigated them myself and you need a lot of time to heal. But I must inform you, Alpha Kane will be coming to see you soon. I don't want you shocked and all when you see him considering how y'all parted ways. Now allow the doctor do his job. Also, I've got the bills covered so don't worry about anything, alright” he responded to me, cutting the call afterwards.

I was shocked.

My boss wasn't a sweet, kind man. He was strict and demanding. If he wanted coffee by 7am, you best give it to him by 6:55am because if you are late by one minute, you are very much done with your employment.

So this came as a surprise to me and I wondered if the men that claimed I was theirs a had hand in this. He said they were on their way here but I had a feeling they were closer than my boss thought because I could smell them but now that I thought about it, that was fucking weird.

The more terrifying thought was how I was going to explain all of this to father. Running away wasn't an option.

That would be pointless because where would I go? I have never had access to the money I earned so I couldn't survive anywhere for more than a day. I was truly and utterly dependent on him and his mercy, or it's lack thereof.

“Miss, Miss?” The doctor called my attention, banishing my depressing thoughts.

“Sorry, I got carried away. What was your question again?”

“Yes, so I need a thorough and honest response from you about the injuries. How did you get them and how long has this been happening?” He asked, his pen poised, ready to take note of the details of my pathetic existence.

I wanted to answer, tell him everything and free myself of this burden even if it ended my life but I couldn't. So I lied; as usual.

“I actually had an accident doctor, I was trying to learn how to ride a bike. It would have been the best option for me instead of using the bus. My office is not so far from my house and I can navigate through my job expectations with it. Unfortunately, I fell on barbed wire and it tore my back up. I can't afford hospital fees right now so I'll really appreciate it if you can send me home. My mom will patch it up for me.”

He stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time and then he stood up, put back his pen in his pocket and he walked away.

Did he believe my lie? I wondered. His reaction was quite strange. I have been lying about these things for years now so I had come to be quite good at it but something was off here.

I lay back down, my thoughts going to the fact that those men would be coming to see me.

I couldn't explain the anticipation I felt, it made no sense, I definitely wasn't excited about them but I didn't know how best to describe how I felt.

A more disturbing thought though was what would happen if they discovered how I came to have these injuries. Will they demand to see father? Will they kil him?