Page 80 of Alpha's Revenge Luna
It’s a cruel reminder of the life I’ve been thrust into, one where freedom seems like a distant dream, while another part of me wonders what freedom is even out there without a family to go home to.Sure, I have my brother and grandmother, but I’d be just another burden on her too; another mouth to feed.And I know that the money I gave her from Dad’s safe is all she has and won’t last long.
Dion, finishing a phone call, glances up from his work, his eyes meeting mine.“So, what did you do all day?”he asks, his voice curious and concerned.
“Sleep,” I reply honestly, feeling the weight of my exhaustion press down on me.“I was really tired.”
“Did Tara come by?She was supposed to bring you breakfast and lunch,” he inquires further, raising an eyebrow.
My stomach clenches at the mention of food, but I can’t bear to betray Tara by snitching or risk creating more animosity between us.I hesitate momentarily, then nod, offering him a half-hearted smile.“She did, yeah,” I lie, silently pleading with myself not to give anything away.He watches me for a second when his phone rings again.He glances at it.
“Good,” Dion says, answering the call.He returns his attention to his laptop and seems to be reading some charts to whoever is on the other end of his call.I let out a silent breath, relieved he had bought my lie.
As he continues to work, I climb off the bed.I hesitantly approach him as he works at his desk.
“Can...can I sit with you?”My voice trembles slightly as I speak, fearing his rejection.“Could you grab me a drink from the fridge?”he asks, and I nod, ignoring the fact he didn’t answer my question.
I make my way to the small fridge hidden in the wall, retrieving a bottle of water before returning to his side.
“Thank you,” he mutters, taking the bottle from me and setting it on the desk.He sighs, pushing his chair out when I remain where I am, wondering what he is doing.I climb onto his lap.Dion’s fingers move across the keyboard, his attention focused on logging into the council portal.
“Wh-what are you doing?”I ask, leaning in to get a better look at the screen.In doing so, my elbow connects with the water bottle, knocking it over and sending its contents spilling onto the laptop.
“Damn it, Emery!”Dion snaps, shoving me off his lap as he scrambles to dry the device.I stammer out an apology, but it only seemed to fuel his anger.
“You’re being so clingy, like a bitch in heat!”he spits, his gaze drilling into me.
His words slice through me like a knife, leaving me feeling humiliated.The hurt swirls inside me, mingling with the ever-present pain from the burns that mars my body.I grab a towel from the basket and try to help mop up the water with it, but he snatches it from me.“Just get away from me,” he snaps, and I take a step back from him.He picks up the ruined papers and growls.
Leaving him to clean the mess I made, I move to the bathroom and run a bath, knowing the cool water will ease the sting of the carpet burn I just received from being shoved off his lap.Filling the tub, I turn, shutting the door where I can hear him muttering under his breath about my clumsiness.Shaking his words off, I climb into the tub.
A few minutes later, the sound of the bathroom doorcreaking startles me, and I peer over the side of the bathtub to see Dion’s tall figure silhouette in the bedroom.Guilt gnaws at me as he steps into the room.
“Did I break it?”I ask, wondering.He doesn’t answer; instead, he steps further into the room so I don’t have to crane my neck to see him.
“Emery, I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier,” he began, his voice softer than before.He leans against the tiled wall, arms folded over his broad chest.“But you can’t be clinging to me while I’m working.”
His words sting, but I understand, so I nod, my body sinking lower into the bath.
Dion sighs, running a hand through his short black hair.“Just, hurry up and finish bathing.We have to go down for dinner with the pack.”
The mere thought of facing the pack makes my stomach churn.“I don’t want to go,” I admit, gripping the tub’s edge.
He shakes his head.“Fine,” he relents, pushing off from the wall.“I’ll send someone up with your food.”
“Can’t you just bring dinner up when you return?”I suggest.
He pauses.“It’ll be cold.I’ll send Tara or the guard up because I don’t know how long I’ll be.”I nod, my appetite warring with my fear of the pack.“Maybe you can bring some snacks up,” I ask hesitantly.
“You can’t avoid them forever,” Dion tells me, his darkening eyes holding mine for a moment before he turns to leave the bathroom.The door clicks shut behind him, and I am left alone once again with my thoughts and the ever-present ache of my burns.
The moment Dion’s footsteps fade, a familiar pain claws at my insides, and the withdrawal rears its ugly head.I curl in on myself, gritting my teeth against the discomfort.Time escapes me here, so when the door creaks open sometime later, I hesitate.
Is it Dion?I wonder, but instead, the guard who has been stationed outside my room enters with a plate in his hands.Hisexpression is cold and unreadable, his eyes avoiding mine as he sets the plate down on the counter before leaving without a word.
I can’t help the spark of hope that flares within me, despite my fear of the pack members.Hunger gnaws at me.I climb out of the bath, wrapping a towel around myself as I approach the plate.But when I lift the cover, there is nothing just a empty plate with a small piece of paper.
My hand trembles slightly as I pick up the note, my heart sinking as I read the words across the page: ‘Our men didn’t get a last meal.Why should you?’
I feel tears prick at the corner of my eyes, my chest tightening.With a shaky breath, I crumple the note and toss it into the trashcan near the bathroom sink.
