EIGHTY-EIGHT

EIGHTY-EIGHT
DRAKE’S POV
Fuck my knuckles were bleeding again.
The cuts had opened up for a second time when I threw an angry punch at the innocent wall as soon as Rayna left to her room. I was mad as fuck at myself, at Aiden, at Isabel damn, I was mad at everybody except Rayna of course. Rayna has always been there for me when I was dealing with my shit; when my daughter acts out, she was there for me. It only made sense that I be there for her too especially since she lost her dad.
I swore and glanced at my knuckles again, the blood had formed a crazy pattern on my knuckles.
I didn’t regret hitting Aiden.
I regretted stopping.
The audacity in his tone, the way he looked at me like I was some rabid animal for putting Isabel in her place, it was fucking hilarious.
Isabel was my Luna not his, and his actions were quick provoking; he has pushed me past the edge.
He had no right. No reason to speak her name like she was his to defend.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, and grabbed a cloth to clean the blood off my hands. The room was dim, silent, but my mind was chaos. Isabel’s face flashed through it again and again, the fear in her face when she saw me kill someone, the tears in her eyes when I threatened her mother, the way she paled when I threatened to kill her, and hurt everyone she loves.
Gosh why am I even thinking about that bitch?
She was getting too close.
And I was letting her.
She was crowding my mind every second, making me me restless, making me even envy my brother.
I am making  a terrible mistake and I don’t know how to get out of it.
The door slammed open.
I didn’t even have time to curse before Isabel stormed into the room like a lit match in a room full of fuel.
Fire blazed in her eyes. Her fists were clenched, her jaw tight.
‘You bastard!’ she shouted.
I blinked. Slowly.
That wasn’t the quiet, obedient Isabel I was used to. Isabel was fierce and crazy but she wouldn’t just walk up to me and talk to me in that tone.
What the fuck is happening? Am I losing my authority?
‘Excuse me?’ I said, voice low and dangerous.
‘How dare you lay your hands-on Aiden like that?’ she snapped, walking straight up to me. ‘You don’t want my happiness, but Aiden does. He was defending me! And you nearly killed him for it!’
I scoffed.
I couldn’t believe it. What audacity? Isabel was talking to me in this manner all because of that fool Aiden.
I stood, towering over her in an instant. ‘Watch your tone, Isabel.’
‘No!’ she snapped. ‘You don’t get to order me around like some pet you keep on a leash and then become a coldhearted bastard when someone actually stands up for me. What kind of a monster are you?’
I stared at her. The words hit deeper than they should have.
‘The monster that actually owns you that’s who I am. Don’t you for a single minute forget who you are talking to you little bitch. You think roaming around with Aiden gives you the audacity to talk to me in that manner, I will fucking end you if you try me’ I replied in a cold, dominating tone.
‘So that’s what this is all about’ she shot back. ‘You don’t want me. You have made that crystal clear from day one. But the second someone else shows me basic human decency, you lose your mind!’ she yelled.
I laughed ‘I told him to stay out of what doesn’t concern him’ I snarled.
‘Well, you know what? I concern him!’ she shouted.
That did it.
The fury cracked something inside me. I stepped closer, so close we were almost touching, chest to chest, fire meeting fire.
‘He has no idea what you are to me,’ I said darkly. ‘He doesn’t know I own you. He doesn’t know you are indebted to me’
Isabel scoffed. ‘I signed a contract, not my soul. I’m a person with emotions and I deserve to be treated with respect. Aiden is the only one who has shown me respect since he came here’
‘You signed your place in this pack, and in this room,’ I said coldly. ‘So, don’t act like you have a say in what I do with my brother. That is not your concern Isabel’
‘You think that makes you powerful?’ she hissed. ‘You think beating him will make you feel better? It will never make you feel better, look in the mirror and see the monster in you and…’
‘And what, Isabel?’ I snapped. ‘Wait, you think he is your savior now? How pathetic’
‘I don’t think, I know he cares for me’ she screamed.
A sharp inhale cut through the air, and I turned to see Rayna standing near the doorway, arms folded, expression unreadable but her eyes gleamed with something sharp.
I didn’t expect her back here, she was looking at me with confusion and I know why. She must have heard Isabel talk about the contract, and it was something I didn’t want to tell her, but now she knows, she fucking knows all because of Isabel’s loud mouth.
‘Wow!! That’s a huge revelation’ she said finally, voice smooth as silk.
Isabel turned to her like a whip ‘And what on earth are you doing here?’
Rayna arched a brow. ‘It’s my man’s room’
Isabel laughed mockingly ‘It’s our room Rayna’  she said pointing at herself and me.
Rayna tilted her head. ‘Our room?’
I could feel the temperature drop ten degrees.
‘You know I know what you are doing here, you are just here to spread your legs for him to remind him of what you used to be to him’ Isabel went on, walking towards her with fire still burning behind every step.
I gasped.
Rayna’s jaw clenched.
‘Careful bitch, I can hurt you in ways that you cannot even imagine’ she said.
‘No,’ Isabel said, her voice shaking with rage. ‘You be careful. You waltzed in here like you own the place, looked me up and down like I’m beneath you, and now you’re eavesdropping on a fight that has nothing to do with you.’
Rayna looked to me then, lips pressed tight, waiting for me to speak. To take her side. To shut Isabel up.
I didn’t.
I was surprised myself at the scene unfolding in front of me, I was surprised at this version of Isabel I was seeing.