Chapter 6

Now that everything was settled, I had to find my way home but how? As I exited Xander’s room, I realized the pack house was not familiar to me, meaning the original Selene was not very familiar with the place.

‘Grace,’ I whispered in my head for my wolf. ‘Grace!’ I exclaimed but there was no response. I groaned in annoyance, wondering what happened to the wolf.

Thankfully, I found an elevator when I walked away from the room door. It was empty when I got in but two girls joined me on the next floor.

“Good morning,” I greeted them as they kept sneaking glances at me.

“Ah – G – good morning!” They chorused and then huddled away from me like I was an evil witch. I’d have been offended if I wasn’t tired to my bones.

By the time I got out of the pack house, I was ready to crawl into my cloud-like bed and ignore the rest of the world. I knew my new body was pretty but the stares I got were uncomfortable as I walked out of the pack house. They made me feel as if I was wearing my clothes inside out or my pants had ripped. Although the clothes were rumpled, I was sure they were not on the wrong way.

Thinking of the long walk home, I jumped in surprise as a car veered a harsh right and parked beside me. The windows lowered and when I peered in, I came face to face with Ethan who had a blank look on his face.

“Get in,” he said and I was more than happy to.

 “Where were you last night?” He asked, his eyes on the road as he drove.

He was still in his clothes from yesterday so he must have spent the night at the pack house. Why was he questioning me now?

“At the party?” My response was a question.

Although we arrived separately, with me going with Bella, we’d run into each other a couple of times last night.

 “The party, huh?” He turned to me with a sneer. “You disappeared sometime around two a.m. Where did you go?”

I turned my gaze away, looking out the window to hide the embarrassment crawling up my skin. The last thing I wanted was for my brother to know what I had been getting up to the previous night.

“Where did you go?” He asked again, this time, his tone lower.

“Why is it any of your business?” I turned back to him with a glare.

He may be my brother but some aspects of the male lead must have rubbed off on him because this guy was an asshole!

“Coincidentally, Xander also disappeared around that time,” he side-eyed me.

“Did you spend the entire night keeping tabs on people?” I deflected.

“Were you with him?” He ignored my question.

 “It’s none of your business. Leave me alone!” I grumbled.

“I heard some girls saying they saw you sneaking out of his room this morning.” The faces of the girls from earlier flashed in my head. “What did they mean?”

“Why didn’t you ask them?” Taking a defensive stance made my tone sharp.

“You were with him,” he muttered, shaking his head like a disappointed father. “Why are you like this, Selene? You know he doesn’t want you yet you continue to throw yourself at him. Do you think if you – if you seduce him into bed,” he had the decency to cringe at that, “do you think Xander is the type of guy that’ll pay you any attention because you got with him? Wake up and stop embarrassing yourself.”

Every word out of his mouth made me feel more and more embarrassed. What had the original Selene done that made everyone believe she was desperate for this Xander guy and how would I change that image?

“Look, it’s none of your business but I’m not the type of person to try to trap a guy with sex or whatever. I’m over that guy so now, for the thousandth time, leave me alone.” 

Ethan’s head whipped to the side so fast, the car swerved. His eyes were filled with incredulity, and his body language made it clear that he did not believe me. I huffed, crossing my arms as I prepared to make it clear that I was, indeed, not interested in the male lead.

“You admit you were with him last night!” Ethan exclaimed.

I never had siblings but was it normal for them to be so invested in their sibling’s sex life? I didn’t think so because the way his face reddened and he avoided my gaze made it clear that even he was embarrassed to be saying this.

“So now you are over him? Was he no good or what?” He mumbled.

“What a creep,” I snorted. “Do you want me to tell you how your best friend does in bed?”

“No!” He screamed. The car jerked and I flayed around for something to grab onto. “What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t say weird things like that ever again!” He screamed as he righted the car.

“You were the one asking weird questions!” I screamed back.

“I only asked a simple question! How am I supposed to believe you are over your weird obsession with Xander?” It turned into a screaming match.

“It was a weird question!” A vein pulsed on my forehead as I screamed. “And I don’t care if you believe me or not. I am over that jerk!”

“You don’t tell me anything so of course I have to ask uncomfortable questions to know what shenanigans you are up to! How would I protect you if I don’t know what mess you are cooking up? And you better not be lying about being over him!”

“What do I need protection from and yes, I am over him! Stop bothering me!”

“You need protection from yourself and that’s good! Move on from that guy!” He screamed and then we pulled into our parents’ driveway.

“I moved on already,” I huffed, fighting the urge to keep screaming.

“If I have to drag you by your hair as I did when we were kids to get you away from him, then I would,” he warned me. “Have some dignity and protect your pride. I’ve had enough secondhand embarrassment from you to last me a lifetime.”

Rather than respond, I got out of the car and slammed the door as hard as I could. He gasped as if I had physically hit him. Then he let out a blood-curdling scream that had me running for my life.

The first thing I did when I entered my room was to take off my clothes and hop into the shower, washing off the grime and sweat on me. Several parts of my body ached and my intimate area felt a little sore.

I handled my body with care and since the bathroom was luxurious, the shampoo smelt nice and the warm water loosened some kinks in my body, I ended up taking my time, washing as if I was in a shampoo commercial.

After over thirty minutes in the shower, I stepped out to dry my body but then I froze. I had seen some weird red marks on my thighs. I’d been too focused on my shower to wonder what they were but as I grabbed a towel from the rack near a mirror, I almost screamed.

My neck and chest were covered with red bruises as if I had been attacked. In my past life, I would be panicking, thinking it was a sign of another deadly illness but I knew better. These were marks made by someone. With that thought came more memories of the previous night, memories that had me closing my eyes and shaking my head hard enough to make my neck hurt.

“Crazy guy,” I mumbled to myself when I could think semi-straight. “Really crazy guy.”

The bastard had marked every inch of my chest. Like a rabid animal!