Chapter 3

***trigger warning sexual assault***

I tried to figure out whether I was overthinking, so I moved to some different corner. But to my surprise, no matter where I moved in the room, the Lycan still watched me. His dark eyes burned into my skin like a brand, making me feel like the rabbit just before the wolf captured it between its fangs.

The Lycan spoke to someone at his side. A smaller, but broader man with a friendly face despite the serious expression he wore. It seemed like they were friends. His eyes met mine, but they didn’t hold the same power as the lycan’s did. However, the weight of both their gazes on me was too much, and I looked down at my hands as I tried to stay busy.

I glanced up and saw Fiona staring dumbfounded at the Lycan, her eyes turning to look at me, then back at him, before finally settling her eyes on me, her eyebrows pulled together in a frown while she clenched her fists by her side.

I turned around and stepped in the corner, wishing Fiona would forget I ever existed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Fiona whispered harshly into my ear.

I jumped, not realizing she was now standing next to me. Her closeness made my whole body tense and ready for some kind of violence. Hoping to defuse the situation I looked up into her dark, fuming eyes. “Wh-what?” I had no clue what was making her so angry? 

“You know what,” she hissed at me. Her voice was low and her eyes narrowed at me before she stormed off. She was furious which meant all kinds of terrible things for me. My stomach tightened and tried to figure out what I could do to make myself more invisible for her and for the lycan. Assuming the few glances he had made in my direction was what had set her off. Knowing how insane my cousin could be. Her anger could’ve been fueled by a number of things. 

As much as I’d love to just mumble ‘whatever’ and wait for Fiona to get over herself, I knew I couldn’t. Fiona would make me pay for whatever offense I’ve committed and by the look in her eyes, it was going to be a high price for me to pay. 

I tensed, putting up my guard as I watched Fiona walk toward a bunch of her friends. At first she was frowning, then slowly, and manically, it became a devil's smile. My heart pounded and my stomach sank. Every time I saw the smile I ended up hurt and in a lot of pain. 

“Shelia”, my aunt called me. Her voice was shrill and tight with anger. “Why are all the others busy, but you still stand here like a piece of wood?”

“My apologies, Luna. I will get to work immediately,” I said, bowing my head. My aunt loved getting the royal treatment, and I was hoping not to make anyone else angry at me today. 

I went to the back kitchen and as soon as the door closed behind me, one of the wait staff dropped a large stack of dirty dishes into my arms. “Get those clean,” she demanded and grabbed a tray of drinks to serve back in the meeting hall.

I did as she told me then went back out into the hall to gather any discarded plates. I was so busy worrying about Fiona I didn’t see the waiter standing behind me until he cleared his throat. 

I looked up and did my best not to wrinkle my nose. It’s Craig here. He wasn’t a slave like me, but a service member like Nancy had been. He was the classic ‘nice guy’ and all around creep. None of the girls like working around him.

Why was he here now? “Uhm, what is it?”

“The alpha’s daughter wants you to drink this,” he said, holding out a small flute of champagne. 

My brow furrowed and I looked over at my cousin, surrounded by her friends. They all grinned at me evilly. I swallowed, glancing at the delicate glass then back to them. They had obviously done something to the drink and whatever was would be the start of my punishment for my imagined crime. Her eyes narrowed and I knew I would have to drink the drink or risk an even worse punishment. 

With a slight tremble in my hands I took the flute of champagne. The only reassuring thing is whatever was in it, wouldn’t be too crazy because Fiona wouldn’t want me to do anything that would ruin her party. ‘Well here we go’ I thought and drank the glass, setting it down. 

Fiona and her friends started laughing as they turned away from me. Craig smirked at me with a wink” See you later,” he said and returned to his duties. A shudder ran down my spine and I grit my teeth. I don’t know what made him think he’d ‘see me later’ but whatever it was, it wasn’t happening.

Nor would I give Fiona or anyone the pleasure of seeing me embarrassed myself. No matter what was in that drink, I was going to deal with it and stay cool. Or at least that was the plan. 

Only a few minutes passed when I started feeling dizzy and light headed, like I’d been drinking the entire night. I swallowed, but my mouth felt like it was full of cotton. I blew out a breath, suddenly feeling very hot. I could feel beads of sweat peppering my forehead. So this was what Fiona put in my drink? I mentally scoffed as I used my hand to fan my face. ‘I can handle this.’

Yet as the seconds passed the sensations kept getting worse. My vision got fuzzy and I blinked, trying to bring things back into focus. The fogginess grew in density and i had trouble remembering what I was doing or why I was there. My throat tightened and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. 

I looked around the meeting hall. There were too many people here. They were all too close, making it too hot. My stomach churned and twisted nauseatingly. Fearing I would throw up, I had to get out of here.  I turned to leave and the world titled on its axis . I stumbled against the railing of the staircase, trying to find my balance.

“Do you need help?” Someone asked and reached out for me.

I waved them off as I moved around the banister of the staircase. “I’m fine,” I told them. If I could get upstairs where there would be less people then maybe I could get my head to clear. “I just need to rest a bit. My head…it’s…” I wasn’t able to finish, having already forgotten what I was going to say.

“Let me help you,” the person said, my mind vaguely recognizing that it was a guy speaking. He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him.

“I’m fine,” I insisted and looked up at him. Craig. Something inside me chilled as he led me up the stairs. Something was bad about this, but with my brain so fogged over I couldn’t figure out what it was.  

Once up the stairs I pointed to a room, but Craig pulled me to another. He pushed me inside. I stumbled forward a few steps, but managed to keep my footing. I turned to face him just as he was closing the door. Even with my addled brain, I knew this was trouble.

I lifted my hand to tell him to stay away, but the words were so slurred that I didn't even recognize them. Suddenly his mouth was on mine, his hands grabbing and groping me roughly. I tried to shove him off me, but he was too strong. 

He pushed me back and I bounced off a bed. “Relax, Sheila. Let’s just have a little fun. I know you’re going to like it,” he said before falling on to me. His hands continued to grab at me, tearing open my shirt. “This is all you’re good for anyway.”

My eyes stung as tears blurred my vision even more than it was. Again I tried to tell him to stop, but I couldn’t seem to make the words coherent. This couldn’t be Fiona’s punishment… It was too much. She couldn’t be this cruel could she? I tried to push him and his gropey hands away from me, but I was too weak. 

The stark reality that if I had a wolf, I could stop him, made this all the much worse. I had to stop him though, I couldn’t let Craig do this to me. Not this! I’d rather be beaten bloody than this. Shouting as loud as I could, I screamed, "stop! Let me go!"