AARON CONNOR

FOREST PARK.

꘎♡━━━━━━━♡꘎

I always knew my mother wasn’t exactly a bed of maternal love. Her “lessons” never came with affection. The claw marks and bite scars on my skin were the only proof she’d ever been there. Cassandra always got her way—and if something refused to bend to her will, she broke it. By force. By fear. By betrayal.

“What do you get out of all this?” I ask Stefan, my voice low but tight, like a tendon about to snap. I’m no fool. Like my mother, I’m a bastard who doesn’t lift a finger unless there’s something in it for me. But unlike her… I actually give a damn about other people. And right now, I’ve got damn good reasons to end this—once and for all.

“How can you be so sure about all this?” Luca cuts in, speaking for Stefan.

“Shut the fuck up,” I say, turning my head just enough to glare at him with pure contempt. “I’m talking to your master—not you.”

“Still sore about the beating I gave