HERLO: Romare Vitale

“I’ll go.”

The words felt bitter on my tongue and my father, Roger Varlat scoffed, straightening. “That’s it, girl. We could have cut to the chase if you didn’t decide to be a little stubborn.”

He turned to the door and began heading towards it.

“Emilia, hand those suppressants to her and ensure they wash her up properly, we leave in three hours. Also…make sure those stupid cuts all over her wrists are covered up.”

I cowered back, hiding my wrists under my sweaty striped shirt.

My older sister, Emilia shut the door after our father and her blue eyes lowered to me.

I extended a shaky hand out, expecting her to give the bottle to me, but she slapped my hand away and snorted at me. “Are you stupid?”

“Huh? Dad said you should give it to me.”

“And so?”

“Emilia—“

“Dad said to give it to you, but he never said anything about messing with you a little before handing it over.”

My hands balled to my side and I chewed my bottom lip. “Emilia, please give me the suppressants, my condition isn’t good, you know that.”

She rolled her eyes and dangled the bottle in my face. “All the more reason you need to earn it from me too. Your life depends on this thing, right? And If I don’t give it to you, you might not even make it till tomorrow.”

“You’re crazy.” My stomach rolled with unease. “Dad will never—-“

“Oh please,” she cut me off, laughing obnoxiously before squatting in front of me. “You’re in heat…you’re weak. I can do anything to you and you wouldn’t be able to fight back, but I’m your sweet sister, alright, so I won’t hurt you. But you’ll also do something for me. Look at this.” She pointed at the bottle. “If you want this, you’ll have to kneel right before me, Herlo, and kiss my feet. That’s all you have to do and I’ll give it to you.”

Bile burned the back of my throat, my stomach twisting and turning with nerves. “Are you trying to humiliate me?”

“Humiliate you?” Her beady eyes looked me up and down, assessing me, before she gagged. “Don’t flatter yourself. Being in this sort of disgusting heat already paints you as a walking humiliation.’

“It’s not my—“

“Listen,” she grunted under her breath. “Do what I say or forget about the damn pills. You can die for all I care! So what will it be? I don’t have all day.”

I stared at her and swallowed subconsciously. What difference would it even make?

“Fine!” Blinking away the sting at the corner of my eyes, I slowly leaned down, but a gasp fled my lips, the second I watched her kick her shoe off, baring her feet at me.

“Go on, do it,” she urged.

I trembled and brushed my lips against her feet, drowning the shame that crawled up my spine.

Her sudden laughter was all over the place before something solid dropped to the floor, rolling over to me. “This is really where you belong. On the floor, just like that. It fits you really well.” She landed a painful kick to my stomach and left, slamming the door shut.

The stinging tears I’d been trying to suppress, finally broke free and I uncapped the bottle, popping the pills into my mouth. However, the taste made me gag, coughing and hunching over. What is this? It was the correct suppressant, the bottle said so, but there was just something weird about this particular pill she’d given me.

It didn’t taste…right…

I shook my head and took them like that, ignoring whatever suspicion I might have.

By midnight I was standing in the middle of the massive hall in a red fitted dress and a clean bandage neatly wrapped around my wrists. I was surrounded by hundreds of enthusiastic guests.

The room itself was vast with high ceilings and crystal chandeliers

Everything was pristine.

It was paradise, but with so much marbles.

Yet, I was in danger, I knew.

My breath instictively caught in my throat, the moment the loud murmurs suddenly died down and I quickly turned, noting the way every single guest within that hall had bowed, keeping their heads down.

The alpha had arrived.

But there was another distinct smell that had me raising my head.

I stared straight ahead, my eyes landing on a man I’d never seen before. Bright green eyes darkened, fixated on me. My heart pounded and I shook my head, noting the sudden weakness of my body and rapid heartbeats. That couldn’t be right. I was under suppressant. But…my heat, I was beginning to notice it slip through the effects of the suppressants little by little.

What is going on?

My gaze crossed over to my sister and I flinched, watching the way she was grinning at me knowingly, almost as if she knew what was going on with me at that moment.

“Hope you live, baby sis,” she mouthed at me, having figured out I’d noticed what she’d done and wiggled a bye-bye fingers at me.

The pills were low quality, just as I’d suspected!

Emilia had swapped the fucking pills! What the heck did she give me?! Even low quality suppressants shouldn’t be this bad, It—

“You!”

And I turned immediately to look at him, the alpha’s son, storming towards me. Was that…anger? Rage? It made me shudder and I wanted to turn, to run, but my heart was racing instead, a kind of pull I’d never felt before growing inside of me.

He knows!

Run Herlo!

Run!!

I took steps back at the voices in my head, yet I was still tempted to move on my feet, to approach this man. However, I was beaten to that, because by the next step I took, this man was right in front of me, his sudden grip on my shoulders, tightening as if to crush my bones.

He was beyond angry, but he wasn’t letting go despite all eyes now fixated on us. Instead, he leaned in closer till I could feel his breath against my ear, his fingers digging into my flesh and giving me no chance of escape.

“How dare you?” he whispered and I jumped. “How dare you come here in heat?”

My world crumbled.

He really knew!

“How dare you?!”