Chapter 3 I Couldn't Stay Here Anymore

Night after night, the weight pressed down on me, and every time I slipped beneath the covers, something twisted tight in my stomach. I stared at the moonlight spilling through the window, as if it could show me what waited ahead, or give meaning to the change closing in on me.

After that ridiculous trip to the mall with Jessa, who spent the entire time mocking my choices while pretending to help, I stopped going out unless I had to. I went to school. I went to work. Outside of that, I stayed locked into a strict routine, clinging to it like it could keep everything else away.

I gave up what little free time I had and took extra shifts at Beaniverse, trying to make up for the ridiculous debt from that three-hundred-dollar dress. Three hundred dollars, just to keep me from looking like a wrinkled mess, as Jessa liked to put it.

Even Lisa began to drift away. Our conversations turned short and distant, reduced to quick messages about school or work.

At home, the silence between us felt heavy and constant. Still, beneath all of that, something small refused to go out. Maybe I could get through the gala without humiliating myself. In just one week, everything would be decided. Either I'd find a way out of this role I'd been stuck in, or I'd be marked by it for good.

Today felt like the days before it. Quiet. Strange. Like something was waiting. With grocery bags piled on the passenger seat, I drove home, barely breathing.

Phoenix was coming over for dinner tonight. I made sure everything was perfect. I roasted the chicken and covered it in a rich garlic and parmesan sauce. I wrapped Brussels sprouts in bacon and glazed them with maple syrup, finishing them with a touch of balsamic. It was a recipe I found online, simple underneath but dressed up to look impressive.

As the chosen heir of the Blackwoods, Phoenix had always been treated like he mattered more than the rest of us. My mother adored him. My father took it even further. When Phoenix was named heir after Alpha Renard's last son died in a clash with rogue wolves, my father couldn't hide his pride. For an entire month, he walked around like he owned the world.

One day, he would become Alpha Phoenix Blackwood. For now, though, he was still just a Grey.

The grocery bags weighed down my arms, making them shake as I struggled forward. I moved clumsily, unsteady, like something already half broken, as I approached the quiet house.

Maybe the past two weeks of calm had made me careless. I didn't notice anything off. I didn't feel the danger waiting as I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

A sudden breeze grazed the back of my neck. The door slammed shut behind me with sharp intent, and a scent filled the air. I knew it instantly. I hated it.

Todd Mason.

The shadow that had followed me since childhood. The one who never stopped making my life hell.

He was already inside. With me.

And he hadn't come to play.

He stood in front of me, a crooked grin pulling at his lips. I couldn't move, couldn't step back, as his hand reached behind him and secured the lock.

"So, the little dreamer thinks she's finally going to be paraded around for a mate?"

His voice carried that same mocking edge. He stepped closer and shoved me hard.

My back slammed against the wall, and his hand clamped around my throat, forcing me up onto my toes.

The bags slipped from my grip and hit the floor. My thoughts scattered, and somehow, I fixated on the apples rolling across the wood. They would bruise. We'd have to eat them right away.

"You really think you belong at the gala? You think you can just walk away from this pack?"

His breath hit my face, warm and sour, making my stomach turn. I twisted my head to the side, trying to avoid it.

His hand struck my cheek, snapping my face back toward him. His words cut deep. "Who would even want you? A freak without a wolf. You'd be thrown aside in a second."

My heart pounded hard against my ribs, frantic and trapped. His grip tightened, and the air started to slip away from me.

"Defective," he hissed into my ear, his breath brushing my skin.

Nausea surged through me. My chest burned as I struggled to breathe. I had endured the hits, the insults, the stones thrown at me. I knew that pain.

But this was something else.

This was worse.

Rage surged through me. I dug my nails into his forearm, dragging them down hard enough to leave burning lines. I tried to kick him, but he blocked it and forced my legs against the wall.

"Let me go," I hissed, my voice shaking as I tried to ignore the hard, pressing proof of his excitement. "If I show up covered in bruises, Dad won't like it. You really want to deal with that?"

Dad usually didn't care about what happened to me, but with the gala coming up, anything visible would matter.

Todd paused, his grip still tight around my throat. His fingers pressed deeper into my skin. I dropped my gaze.

There was a time I refused to bow. I used to believe things would change, that I'd fight back and win. But that wasn't how the world worked.

If he wanted submission, I would give him a convincing lie. Whatever it took to stay alive. Whatever it took to keep him under control.

"Please," I whispered, letting my voice tremble on purpose. I tilted my head, leaving my throat exposed.

He reacted exactly how I expected. A low, satisfied sound left him, and it made my stomach turn. He leaned in, inhaled, then dragged his tongue slowly over the curved scar on my neck.

I forced the nausea down before it could rise.

"Please," I said again, and this time his grip loosened slightly. His other hand slid to my hip and dragged me closer. I shut my eyes, breathing through my mouth to get past the metallic taste sitting on my tongue. "I need to finish dinner. Phoenix is coming back tonight."

His teeth sank into my shoulder. Pain exploded through me, sharp enough to steal the air from my lungs. A cry slipped out as I shoved at him, twisting hard to get free. "Todd! Damn it!"

He growled but finally released me, though not before leaving a mark behind on my skin. His hand clamped onto my jaw, forcing me to face him. His eyes burned with twisted satisfaction.

I had braced myself for another hit.

But instead, he smiled.

Something passed between us in that moment. He understood. So did I.

"You're not going anywhere," he murmured, his voice laced with venom. "You're nothing but a reject, and this is where you belong. No one's coming to save you at that fancy little gala. Sooner or later, you'll end up as our Omega breeder, wolf or not."

The words hit me hard, stealing the air from my lungs. "Omega... breeder?"

His grip on my jaw tightened as laughter ripped from him, cruel and tearing. "Our little pack bitch, Ava." He didn't bother hiding what he meant. His hand moved lower, brushing past my chest before sliding between my thighs, pressing where he wanted.

"At least you're good for something. We can still make use of you."

Everything inside me went numb. His voice turned the air toxic.

His hands locked onto my hips as he pushed himself against me, his movements rough and possessive. Drool slipped down onto my jaw as he let out broken sounds. "Such a pretty flaw, Ava. Easy to break, easy to shape." He moved faster, forcing my legs around him. "I'll teach you until it sinks in."

Yes. I understand.

My body didn't belong to me anymore.

His breath hit my ear as he kept talking, but I shut it out, retreating somewhere deep inside my mind. I tried to stay there, far away from him, until a sharp blow to my stomach dragged me back into the pain. My knees hit the floor as he shoved me down, his movements turning frantic and ugly.

"Beg," he ordered, forcing my hand around him.

The distant sound of an engine cut through the moment. Todd went still, listening. Then everything sped up. He shoved himself into my mouth, his movements rough and choking. I struggled to breathe, my lips splitting under the force. The taste hit fast, bitter and suffocating. He growled low, urging me to swallow, then quickly fixed himself just as the door opened.

Phoenix stepped inside. His brown eyes settled on us, then drifted to the scattered groceries on the floor. He didn't say anything. A faint smirk touched his lips. "Mason," he said simply.

He knew.

I saw it in the way his nose flared, how he took in everything without missing a detail. Yet he stayed where he was.

He did nothing.

Todd straightened, a satisfied smile still lingering as he dipped his head slightly. "Alpha heir." He gestured casually. "Ava was just telling me you'd be back for dinner. I stopped by to check on her."

I bolted toward the bathroom, his laughter echoing after me. The tears that blurred my vision weren't from fear or shock.

They came from something deeper.

They fell for the one who had seen everything. The one who understood. The one who chose to stand there and do nothing.

Damn it.

I couldn't stay here anymore.

No matter what it would cost me, I had to leave.