Chapter 185
Chapter 185
RHEA
I stand still, I don’t hinge, and I don’t let my claws out. I let her hit me again, barely defending myself. Her claws slash across my forearm this time, she knows what she’s doing. Not to kill me, just to mark so I could do the same.
She pulls back, waiting for a reaction.
When I don’t give her one, her brow twitches.
“Are you so fucking pathetic that you can’t even defend yourself?” she laughs. “No wonder why he keeps
world.”
you locked away and away from the whole
I breathe in through my nose. My fingers curl into my palms at her words. They aren’t true, I’ve to tell myself that.
“I’m standing here,” I say through my teeth. “You want me to lose it? Too bad.”
She tilts her head, “So that’s the strategy? Let me do as much damage as I can until you can play the victim? And then he comes to rescue his poor, weak and broken girl, and everyone sees you as the victim.”
It takes every ounce of strength in my body not to tear her throat out.
“How pathetic.”
“You think this is strength?” I ask. “Picking a fight in a bathroom like a jealous child?”
She narrows her eyes. “I’m not jealous of you.”
“You should be. Because even like this, I still have what you’ll never touch.”
Her face tightens. She swings again, this time aiming for my face.
My arm comes up, and I grab her wrist, but she manages to push me down to the ground so roughly that I hit the wall. Pain slams into the back of my skull, making me a little unstable.
I gasp, almost out of surprise.
Casey sits over me, breathing hard. Her hand moves, claws extending before they wrap around my throat and sink them into my flesh while my hand flies
to hers.
We both bleed.
“Is that all you can do? I’ve heard you could kill wolves. Where’s that strength? Or are those just rumors?” she still laughs, still pushing me like all of this is
some kind of fucking game.
I don’t understand.
Until I do.
Until it hits me.
And then I take my hand off her neck, letting her claws sink even deeper into mine.
“I died, you fucking bitch. So go ahead, kill me if you can, because all that will do is ensure that I will come back even more mad and I will end you and your entire line.”
Her breath catches. Good. Her hand loosens but not all the way, and before they leave, I grab them, keeping them in place, showing her how easy it is.
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Chapter 185
I want her to fucking do it.
But then the door bursts open, and a male voice rings out. She quickly shuffles off me and falls onto the ground as if I had just thrown her across. She clutches her arm, where I had barely scraped her.
I stay where I am, on the ground with my dress torn halfway down my side, one strap broken, and the left hem stained red from my blood. My hand goes over my throat, where her claws have dug.
My vision swims as I look up to see Aron.
And his sister, who’s beside him.
She comes in, running to Casey. “Oh, God.”
“She attacked me out of nowhere!” Casey says through a gasp, still on the ground, still acting.
Aron comes to me, kneeling beside me.
He takes my hand from my neck, and then I see his eyes darken when they land on the blood.
Casey has gotten to him. She has made him doubt me, but that only lasts for a minute.
“What happened?” he asks me.
My eyes flicker from him to Casey. “Ask her.”
He’s already peeling off his jacket, pressing it to the side of my neck where the bleeding continues.
“She attacked me. I came in, and she–she went at me. I didn’t do anything.” Casey makes sure that she’s heard.
I shake my head at Aron, and that’s enough for him to know, to figure out what’s happening here.
“I told you, she isn’t sane.” Layla speaks up.
Aron doesn’t look at her. Not yet. His eyes stay on me, scanning the blood dripping past my collarbone, the bruises already forming under my skin, the ragged tear in my dress.
“Get out of here.”
“What?” Layla rises up.
“Go, get out of here.”
“You believe her!”
“I know what you’re up to, Layla. Do you think I didn’t know? You came in here to try and stir up trouble. You sent her, didn’t you? Well, it didn’t work. Now get out of my sight, or you can find your own way back to the East tonight. Don’t forget that you’re nothing more than a guest here.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Get out.” he repeats, growling at her this time.
The room stays silent for a second before Layla steps back and takes a look down at me. She opens her mouth to say something, but holds herself back, knowing well that she has lost.
She leaves without saying anything else, taking Casey along with her.
Once they both leave, Aron turns his attention back to me.
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Chapter 185
You’re bleeding-
Ill heal,” I whisper.
“Come here,” he says, lifting me into his arms before I can protest. “I’m sorry, Rhea. I didn’t know that my sister’s hatred for you had gotten this far.
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine, and it’s not that deep.”
“I’ll tell Marcella to call for a healer-”
“No,” I stop him. “It’s not that much. I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. And we still have so many people here.”
“I don’t care.”
“Aron, please.” I look up at him, “I’m fine. She didn’t much.” Or couldn’t do much…
“What did she say?”
“Nothing. She was just trying to make me angry, telling me how I wasn’t worthy. The same thing as Layla told me.”
“God,” he groans and takes me upstairs from the second staircase, which is away from everyone. “I should’ve seen it coming.”
My throat stings, but it’s starting to go, the pain, the wound, everything. Aron takes me up to the room and lays me down. He heads inside to grab a wet cloth and returns with it.
He presses the damp cloth against my neck, wiping off the blood and then across my arm.
The healing is quick, far too quick, and he notices that.
“I told you, it’s fine,” I say, looking up at him.
“You shouldn’t have gone through that.”
“I’ve gone through worse,” My hand wraps around his. “But I didn’t lose it. Even when she kept going. Isn’t that good? Doesn’t it mean that I’m getting better? I can control myself.”
He’s quiet for a moment too long.
“You did good.” he nods.
*But?”
His hand moves across the side of my neck while his eyes are lost in a haze. “But nothing…”
* still doubts me. There’s still something inside of him questioning me. And I don’t think that’ll ever change, unless it’s not him in control.
