Mated to the Alpha Twins novel Chapter 14

I followed Tori into her house, my ankle absolutely screaming in protest. I could in the short time I’d been hanging out with Tori, my ankle had swelled up considerably.

I tried to cover my horrendous limp, but the sharp pain shooting up my leg made it difficult.

“Are you limping?” Tori frowned, her eyes locked on my injured ankle.

“It’s nothing.” I shrugged, “I fell earlier and must’ve twisted it.”

I hadn’t much experience with lying, but I hoped I had enough skill to fool Tori. My heart was thundering in my chest from the simple lie and Tori stood quietly for a few moments. The more seconds that passed in silence, the faster my heart began to beat.

“You should let me wrap it.” Tori pursed her lips, she didn’t look fooled, “It’ll hurt less to walk on.”

I contemplated that for a few moments and nodded in defeat. I could easily cover up a twisted ankle. A simple fall would be the perfect excuse. She knew how clumbsy I was, so it was no wonder I somehow managed to fall.

“Wait here.” Tori called out over her shoulder as she walked down the hall on the first floor.

Tori came back a few moments later with a first aid kit in hand.

“I’m gonna help you up the stairs to my bedroom.” Tori nodded, her lips still pursed.

“It’s alright, I can get up the stairs.” I mumbled, sulking past her.

I gritted my teeth and held in a hiss of pain as I pulled myself up each step. Tori was completely silent behind me. It was clear she wasn’t buying my story about falling. My heart hammered in response. The last thing I needed was for someone to report Frank and Melissa for abuse. They wouldn’t find any proof, and the accusation would only p**s the two of them off.

Tori pointed at a door down the hall, and I let her take the lead.

Her room was huge, full of fuzzy pillows and plush carpets. I plopped down on a couch she had in her room, pushed up against the wall.

I looked around in amazement as Tori pulled out a thick looking wrap. I had never seen a room so huge, or so decorated. Her room looked more like a suite. A four poster bed sat across the room, a white comforter sat on top with tons of fuzzy white and purple pillows. It looked like one of those bedrooms you see in an interior design magazine.

“Your room is amazing.” I gaped, hoping to change the subject.

“Mom’s an interior designer.” Tori grinned. “She went crazy with the entire house.”

“Well that explains it.” I chuckled, “Send her over to my house sometime.”

I clamped my lips shut hastily, hoping I hadn’t implied anything strange. If I had, Tori didn’t seem to notice.

“How’s renovations going over at your place?” Tori looked up and smiled.

“Their going- good, great really.” I shrugged, “Just fixing up the bathrooms and kitchen.”

“Maybe you could stay the night sometime.” Tori smiled, something flashed across her eyes but was gone before I could identify it.

“Maybe!” I grinned back. “Any night is fine with me.”

“Your parents don’t care if you stay over on a school night?” Tori inquired, her eyebrow raised curiously.

“Not really.” I shook my head, “Melissa kinda let’s me do my own thing.”

The voice in my head groaned. By trying to remain relaxed, I was simply attracting more unwanted attention. I was truly horrible at keeping anything a secret.

“Take your shoe off.” Tori poked at my shoe.

I could feel my jaw clench as I untied my shoelaces. Every little movement made my ankle throb, and I was beginning to worry something was actually wrong with it.

I averted my eyes once I peeled my sock off. Tori’s startled gasp had me gnawing on the inside of my cheek. I let my eyes flicker down warily, and they nearly bulged out of my head as I took in the state of my ankle.

It wasn’t simply swollen, it looked like a d**n balloon. Splotches of black and purple intertwined and mixed on my foot like an art palette. This was definitely more than a twisted ankle.

“Oh my g*d, Aurora.” Tori placed her hand over her mouth, “And this happened when you fell?”

I gritted my teeth together and let out a hiss of pain when Tori gently lifted my foot.

“Yeah.” I nodded, “I tripped over something and fell down the stairs. I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“You need to go to a hospital.” Tori gave me a hard stare, glancing down at my purple foot.

Fear knotted itself in my stomach, and I turned my head away from her intense stare.

“What happened to your face, Aurora?” Tori’s tone was blank, guarded.

Tentatively, I lifted a hand to my cheek. It was definitely sore, painful even when I touched it. I couldn’t tell if it had swelled up or not.

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

Tori huffed and got up from the floor, placing a compact mirror in my hands.

I pursed my lips as my eyes trailed over the side of my face.

My cheekbone was swollen, not horribly but enough to draw plenty of unwanted attention. The skin around it was turning a deep shade of blue.

“I must’ve hit my face when I fell.” I shrugged, my eyes flickering from Tori’s to my throbbing foot.

‘Lie better’, my conscience was telling me.

“Yeah, we need to get you to a hospital.” Tori nodded with finality and I sputtered for a reasonable response.

“I can’t-” I shook my head, reaching down to pull my sock back on, “I don’t have insurance and Mel- my family doesn’t have the money.”

Tori’s eyes flickered rapidly from my purple foot, to my swollen cheek, and back to my eyes. I could practically see the gears in her head turning. Any second now, I expected steam to erupt from her ears. Her hair was such a bright red, it already looked like her head was on fire.

“My Dad’s a doctor.” Tori crossed her arms, “He has an office here in town. Were going, Aurora.”

“Tori, I can’t afford that.” I shook my head. I slipped my shoe back on through clenched teeth and went to stand.

Tori met me half way and wrapped an arm around my waist.

“You don’t need to pay for anything.” Tori sighed impatiently, helping me down the stairs.

“Look, I’m kind of afraid of doctors and hospitals.” I hissed through clenched teeth.