Chapter 3

Ophelia

“Spill the tea, girl. I know Kim-Kim’s done a thing or two in her past.” Diana smacked her glossed lips as we sped down the blackened highway into Eclipse City.

Chloe, the bubbly blonde in the back seat, laughed loudly.

“We won’t tell a soul!”

The surly, narrow-eyed Gemma mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key. I knew what I told them would make the rounds throughout the entirety of Lunar Isle.

I rummaged around, sorting through memories that bubbled in my gut like acid. Without warning, they began to spew from my mouth. Word after word, I told Diana and her friends all about the kind of person Kimberly was.

Each transgression lingered in the air, and for the life of me I couldn’t stop talking.

First grade she’d pelted me with rocks and clumps of mud on the walk to school. Third grade she’d chopped my hair off and laughed as I cried. Fifth she shredded every article of clothing I owned, leaving them in tatters. Seventh and she’d already rallied the entire school against me.

On and on it went, and each time Lucille found some way to punish me for her wrongdoings.

None of the girls seemed the least bit phased. It wasn’t until I started spouting blatant lies that they seemed to hear me at all.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, “She didn’t stop wetting the bed until she was seventeen.”

A chorus of dramatic gasps melted into the wind slithering over the convertibles windshield. I knew I’d eventually get punished for saying such a thing, but there wasn’t enough energy in my body to care any longer.

What could they do that they haven’t done before?

I blinked and we were no longer cruising down the winding backroads but were now traversing the narrow streets of Eclipse City, stopping at traffic lights as dozens of young adults passed in drunken groups.

How many were mere Lycan’s? How many possessed the gift of both magic and a wolf?

The clusters of skyscrapers, each shoved close together, began to distance themselves from one another. Within those small gaps were boutiques, restaurants, and other locally owned businesses.

“That’s the club, La Stella. It’s Italian, obviously.” Diane said, pointing a slender finger at a two-story brick building on the outskirts of Eclipse City.

There was something odd about the structure. It was too angular, too large to have originally been a nightclub.

Chloe leaned in from the back seat, her golden curls smelling of saltwater and floral perfume. “It used to be the old high school. Alpha Ryker bought the place from his old man and turned it into a nightclub.”

“Not just a nightclub,” Gemma chimed in, “the nightclub.”

The three girls shared a laugh, their giggles quickly fading into the night. Diana flicked her ebony hair over her shoulder, “It’s super hard to get in. Wearing an outfit like that would get you banned, but you’re with us.”

“Diana’s dad owns every gun range and shop on the island. Alpha Ryker and his enforcer show up at least once a week.” Chloe all but sighed dreamily, the apples of her cheeks going pink.

I watched through a haze of melancholy, ignoring the sharp ache of the dark bond on my wrist, as Diane handed a valet driver a wad of cash and slid out of the driver seat.

“His enforcer?” I asked.

Chloe ran her tongue along her lower lip and nodded, “You know, the one who does the Alpha’s dirty work. Gets rid of his enemies and what not. Funny enough, he’s also the Alpha’s brother.”

“Half-brother.” Diana corrected.

Following closely behind the group, I trailed my eyes down the long line of patrons, separated by a velvet rope, that wrapped around the side of the building. Chloe’s words quickly faded from mind.

Girls in bodycon dresses and razor-sharp stiletto’s sneered as I passed, their judgmental gazes bouncing off my icy skin. Each one had a full face of near-flawless makeup.

“Are you even listening to me?” Gemma snorted, those thick brows of her gnashing together as she scowled.

Two bouncers, whose scent I couldn’t discern for some odd reason, let us pass through a set of glass double doors. If they thought my outfit was strange, they didn’t let on.

“What?” I asked with all the grace of a raging bull.

I was pretty sure she said something about a basement level, though I’d quickly tuned her out when she started talking.

We stood in an antechamber, blocked off from the club by a wall of concrete and glass. A film lined the windows, making it all but impossible to see through, layered in graffiti that glowed beneath the black lights. The ground trembled, vibrating from the deep bass I could hear pulsating through the thick walls.

Gemma flashed me a smile that was all teeth. “You know what, forget about it. I’ll let you figure things out on your own.”

My reply was smothered by a thick mist sprayed into my face by a darkly dressed bouncer. I sucked in a breath and gagged at the chemical taste. Tears sprung to my eyes and my lungs burned, crying out for fresh air.

“It’s scent-blocker.” She said in a tone that told me it should’ve been obvious.

Chloe hid her snicker behind her hand. “The last thing anyone wants is to find their mate while they’re mid hook-up. This place is dangerous enough without adding all that into the mix.”

Out of curiosity, I lowered my head and sniffed my shirt. Sure enough, the tart scent of cherries was gone, buried beneath a layer of that chemical stench.

With a grunt, the bouncer opened the door to the antechamber, unleashing the deafening music within the club.

Lights of all colors flashed from the ceiling, spilling down the muraled walls and illuminating the black-light paint within the heavy strokes.

It was easy to tell the building had once been a school. The walls where the lockers would’ve been now held long bars, framed with shelves of alcohol. The lights behind them danced, making the bottles glow an array of colors.

I took a step toward Gemma and the others when Diana turned around.

“Look, it was great chatting and all, but we can’t exactly be seen hanging with you. I mean,” She dragged her eyes down my hole riddled t-shirt, to my torn jeans and beat up sneakers. “It would be downright embarrassing. You understand, don’t you?”

Gemma, who had been sour from the moment I’d slid into the passenger seat, laughed loudly. The three melted into the crowd, heels clicking quietly beneath the hurricane of music.

I quickly pulled out my phone and ran my finger over the large crack in the screen. After checking my bank account and confirming I had enough to afford a cheap cab back to the house, I released a sigh and walked head-first into the chaos.

The main level of the school consisted of a large circular corridor that branched off to the left and right, narrowing into smaller halls.

Classrooms without doors lined the wall, broken up by the strange mural splashed along the brick. Couch’s full of people filled the little rooms. Some drank from bottles of expensive looking liquor, while others smoked or snorted foreign substances.

I held back a cough as a plume of the herbal-scented smoke spewed into the hall. Whatever it was left my head spinning. A surge in the crowd sent me stumbling forward, towards the end of the hall where a staircase sat, enshrouded in a heavy blanket of darkness.

I didn’t spot the two bouncers plastered against the wall, scanning each soul brave enough to approach, until a hand shot out and grabbed hold of my wrist.

A screech roiled away in my throat; the dark bond carved into my wrist igniting in agony. The bouncer narrowed his beady eyes, scanning my own with the intensity of a bloodhound.

Without a word, he released me and gestured to the blackened stairwell.

I scurried towards it, too shaken up to bother looking back.

An aching sort of hollowness took root in my chest. There had once been this light inside of me, burning bright. Every year I spent with Lucille and my sisters that light began to dim.

That evening on the hill of the Goddess, when the mate-bond snapped in two, it had finally been extinguished. Now, I was slowly melting into the darkness that enshrouded me.

I didn’t realize someone was talking to me until they waved their hand in front of my face.

“Hey, you! Pretty girl, can you hear me?”

I blinked. A male, somewhere around my age, stood in front of me. His eyes were glazed, a bright amber shade that contrasted well with his tanned skin. Freckles covered his nose like flecks of cinnamon.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

“Got a lot on your mind, huh?” The guy nodded as though he understood, but how could he? How could anyone?

No longer interested in talking, I scanned the lower floor of the nightclub. Much like the upper level, groups of people danced wildly, flitting between the bar and dance floor.

The only difference was the massive metal cage at the far end of the room.

A fighting cage.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

“Hey, pretty girl.” The guy tapped my shoulder, once again dragging my attention back to his swaying form. “My friends and I are sitting over there. Did you want to join us?”

A mop of chestnut hair hung over his forehead, seeming to get in his way as he stared me down. Flicking it back, he nodded to a cluster of sofas not too far away from the fighting cage.

“Not really.”

He rubbed his chest and hissed in pain. “Aw, come on. I promise to keep my paws off you. I’ll even buy you a drink.”

I ran my dry tongue along my teeth and sighed. A drink did sound nice. I couldn’t afford anything until I started working again.

“I’ll take a bottle of water.”

Doing a victory dance that had my eyebrows lifting, the guy strutted over to the bar and slapped his hand down dramatically. I watched, wondering if there was something wrong with him, when he turned and gave me a quick wink.

Once the bottle was in my hand, he nudged me along like a puppy with a new toy.

The moment my ass hit the velvet sofa; I was hurled a slew of names that I’d undoubtedly forget within the next hour.

To my left were two girls, one dark-skinned and the other milky white, currently exploring each other’s mouths with their tongues. A guy with a shaved head and lip piercing sat to the right of them, too busy staring at his phone to notice our arrival.

Coop, who had bumped into me, introduced the girls as Arielle and Sarah.

Clicking his beer against my bottle of water, he leaned into my shoulder and said, “The meathead on his phone is Denver. I’ll admit he looks scary, but he’s really just a little pussycat.”

I snorted. Denver didn’t look up as he flicked Coop off.

Unfazed, Coop drawled, “Don’t let his attitude fool you, I’m almost positive he’s in love with me.”

This time Denver did look up.

“Eat shit, Coop.”

Coop shook his head, and leaned back on the sofa, stretching his arms along the back. “One day he’ll be brave enough to admit it.”

He plucked something from behind his ear and leaned over my lap to wave it in the lip-locked girl’s faces. A faint whiff of something herbal and bitter flooded my nostrils.

The girls broke apart, wiping the stray hints of lipstick from around their mouths.

“Light it up already.” Denver grunted, slipping his phone into his pocket.

He stared me down, his golden eyes almost molten beneath the flashing lights. Reaching up to toy with his lip piercing, he sank deeper into the sofa, arms draped over the sides.

“What’s your name?”

“Not interested.” The words slipped out before I could stop them, bland as they rolled across my tongue.

Coop snickered. Denver flicked him off a second time. “Duly noted.”

I caught another whiff of that bitter herbal scent and looked over to find Coop rolling a joint between his fingers. Well, it looked like one.

Arielle, having caught me staring, flicked her fingers in Coop’s direction. “You smoke?”

“No.”

I hadn’t done much of anything, really. An entire life spent lying low, avoiding attention in fear Lucille or Kimberly would retaliate.

She settled into Sarah’s arms, allowing the fair-skinned girl to play with the thick braids trailing down her back. Pursing her plump lips she shrugged, “You look like you could use something to take the edge off.”

Coop snapped and I flinched as a tiny burst of flame exploded from his fingertip. For a long moment, all I could do was stare.

He had magic. Actual, honest-to-Goddess magic.

The tiny spark of wonder fluttering in my chest was quickly devoured by pain when the mark on my wrist began to throb relentlessly.

Sooner or later, I’d have to contact Hunter and update him on how things were going here. The mere thought of hearing his voice had my palms clammy.

Coop dipped the tip of the joint into the flame, holding it there until it caught fire. A thin tendril of smoke curled into the air, carrying that bitter herbal scent.

He took a long drag and released a sigh that was swallowed whole by the pounding music. Holding it out to me, he quirked a half-smile that spelled trouble.

“Go on, pretty girl, take a hit. It won’t kill you, I promise. You might even like it.” He waggled his brows.

In the back of my head, my wolf’s tail twitched. All her presence did was remind me of what happened. The rejection, the shattered mate-bond, the dark bond I was now trapped with.

All of it rolled over my head like an icy, salty wave.

I blinked and found myself staring down at the burning joint, clutching it between two trembling fingers. Would something like this help ease the pain? Would it help me forget?

What was the worst that could happen?