"Luna. You promised that I can marry." She hears Parker whine and she internally cringe. "I will never attract anyone now, I mean look at my leg."
His injuries are not that bad apart from a little limp and permanent scaring he will be fine. Why is he still adamant on getting her to marry him after what she did? What does he want to do to her?
"Yes, you can get married no one is stopping you." Her mother says coldly and almost dismissive, but it can all be a ploy... her mother loves the validation of man more than the safety of her only child. "Just not to my baby she's not ready."
Alexandria stood perfectly still in the shadowed hallway. Her quiet is calculative and her ears are glued to the conversation that she slowed her heartbeat enough to hear everything clearly. Her presence goes unnoticed, her mother said that as if there was still hope."
And then it hit her, her mother would consider selling her out to her abuser! There is no way she does not know, surely the doctors and police informed her of everything. Does her mother hate her that much? She is barely legal and she's terrified once she is she will be trapped. She needs to take action and save herself.
"Since I don't want my baby to end up alone, I will consider you as a prospect if she does not find her mate."
Her stomach turned. Her fingers clenched at her sides. What? Who the hell did she wrong in her past life? She hates being a victim, but she is too young to be fighting all the battle she has been exposed to this moment. The worst part is that she cannot rely on anyone but herself.
"How long will that blessing be?" he asked, his tone bold, whiny and entitled.
"It's none of your concern. My baby has to grow into her own person. I know what you did. You broke pack law. And worse you hurt my child."
Oh, now she cares. She rolls her eyes disinterest looming. Alexandria's breath slowed. Steady. Listen. There it was. A glimmer of protection from her mother. For the first time, the Luna had chosen her. But it didn't last.
"Honey, we're wolves. Moreover, we're alphas. Parker's-"
"In case you forgot, I am the Luna," her mother cut in, voice sharp. "And my daughter is next on my throne."
That truth rang out like a war drum. Alexandria held onto it. A Luna doesn't need a king especially not one cloaked in cruelty. But then, as if the air itself deflated, her mother faltered.
"We are married. I'm an alpha. The pack needs an alpha to run Umbriel. Parker is also an alpha. I love Alexandria like a daughter, but… I don't think she'll be able to handle an entire pack."
There it was the rot under the surface. Her mother still believed she owed these men her throne. Still clung to the belief that without a man, she couldn't rule. And that… that was more heartbreaking than the betrayal.
"I want her to choose her mate. If she hasn't by the age of twenty-three, then I'll consider an arranged marriage."
Just like that, her fate was being written into someone else's script. Alexandria stepped out from the hallway but didn't say a word. No explosion. No accusations. Her silence was louder than a scream. She walked straight past them both, headed to her room, and began to pack. Downstairs, they sat at the dinner table as if nothing had happened. As if a promise hadn't just been made about her future. As if her life wasn't being bartered like a chess piece.
She sat quietly, spooning food onto her plate without ever tasting it. This was her mother's choice to tether herself to a man who dimmed her light. But Alexandria wouldn't do the same. She was tired. Tired of swallowing screams. Tired of watching love be used as a leash. Tired of pretending she belonged to a world that saw her as a tool, not a person. She wasn't going to fight tonight. Not because she had no fight left but because she had already chosen her freedom.
.
"Alexandria, how are your applications to Callisto Art's?"
And she thinks she still wants to study here? Hilarious she thinks she wants to spend the rest of her life in a terrible hell she's been put through.
"Mhmm... Can I please have all my original documentation, I need those for my application."
Her stepfather's eyes flicked toward her in suspicion, unwarranted but expected. This time, instead of shrinking, Alexandria met him with a sharp glare that sliced through the air like a blade. He leaned back, masking his dissatisfaction poorly. His bloodshot eyes practically burned into her, but she no longer flinched.
Before they'd come into her life, her world wasn't perfect, but it was bearable. Now, it was a slow-burning hell, and if she didn't find a way out soon, she knew she'd never escape. Never find the courage again to break free.
"Alexandria, are you certain about studying?"
Of course, the parasite couldn't resist inserting himself into her life one last time. She didn't even glance in his direction he wasn't worth the energy. Her gaze locked on her mother, who pinched her cheeks lovingly with a tired sigh.
"Okay, love. All your documents are in your dad's safe."
Her heart leapt with hope. She jumped up, but her mother caught her wrist and tugged her toward the kitchen. Of course nothing comes without a cost. Even now, she's expected to playhouse, expected to cater and bend to men who deserved nothing.
"Come on, let's make dinner. Then you can do whatever."
Parker was already gone. Good. He thought he was one step ahead, but she'd already outpaced him. While he scurried off to look for the safe, Alexandria asked her mother to let her wipe the table. She walked over and lifted his phone with a calm hand.
She calmly walked to the bathroom; she clutched the device. She planned for this and every possibility that will come after. Actually, moving in the shadows then did not guarantee she would come to this moment. The puzzle is coming together beautifully. His password, her birthday... 14/03
The screen lit up. She immediately disabled the tracker in his settings, then found the linked app and disconnected it from her phone. Every photo, every sick video, every stolen piece of her deleted. But she wasn't done. She used the "forgot password" function to reset access to his cloud, then wiped it clean. Recently deleted? Gone too. She rebooted the phone, returned it to the table, and strolled back into the kitchen with a smile as soft and sweet as poison.
"Mom, I forgot to mention I took Dad's safe to school the other day. I think I left it in the maths class… no, wait… the headmistress's office. She confiscated it after she punished me. I'll retrieve it tomorrow after my exam."
She spoke loud enough for the parasite to hear. Like clockwork, five minutes passes and the bastard excused himself. Alexandria clicked her tongue. Manipulating him was like steering a child eager and predictable. She headed upstairs. Her stepfather was probably busy with his precious council meetings, and her mother. Still trying to play housewife in a castle built on rotting bones.
She entered the void room. The shrine of her violation. Her hands trembled as she began tearing every photo of herself off the wall, piling them in a corner. Tears slipped down her cheek silent; she will never be her again. Each picture was a memory she never consented to. A life she never asked to live.
She found the camera first and ripped the memory drive from it. Then, the one on the shelf. The one he always reached for the one holding his belt. The belt he used to tie her down. There, she found them. Four hard drives. Two USBs. Seven SIM cards. A case of CDs. She didn't hesitate. Every file corrupted. Every drive reformatted and shattered. Every disc snapped in two. His laptop? Already dismantled. The camera? A tragic accident involving water.
She smiled through the rage. Downstairs, she tossed everything into the fireplace memories, photos, her stolen underwear, a comb, even her perfume. She uncapped it, poured it over the flames, and watched the fire roar to life. She's not done. She dusted wolf's bane across her room, coating it like protection. It didn't affect her, but it would stop him. She knew he wouldn't resist stepping back into her space one more time, sniffing around for control. Let him try.
.
Everything was in place. Weeks passed. She has a new phone. A new account. The healers have taken it upon themselves to be the one who will withdraw all the money through seven different ATMs. That was their idea and her role was to put on a performance of her life until her last paper. She planned this patiently for weeks. Now she will run and after her paper tomorrow, she will never step foot in Umbriel ever again. She has no reason to; she is holding her backpack. It does not have clothes, instead she packed every paperwork pertaining to her, no one will hold anything against her ever again.
The same way, Parker cannot prove she's responsible for messing with his stuff... no one will ever remember she was here. And then she bumped into him. Her mother's husband and she handed him back the black card. Parker crashed out for a week straight and now his sulking and moved out to his friend's house as if he was a collage kid. Too bad she will not see his reaction when he finds out that she's long go. She needs her mother to reflect of how terrible of a mother she has been, so she hopes her disappearance haunts her the most. then there's this guy who she does not regard as anything in her life. She clears her throat her voice calm. Cold.
"Keep your word."
He grabbed her arm. She yanked it free, stepping back with disgust.
"I just wanted to say… take care of yourself. It's a cruel world out there."
She met his eyes, deadpan.
"It can't be crueller than this place."
And with that, she turned and walked away. No fear. No guilt. She refuses to live and die in silence. Fuck this pack. Fuck this family. She was done playing victim. She will be free.