CHAPTER FIFTY TWO - MARICELA

CHAPTER FIFTY TWO - MARICELA
For a while, I eat without engaging. It’s not that I’m meaning to be rude but there are a lot of personalities in this room, and I guess I just want to gauge how they all interact with one another. 

Rosalie and her mates seem to be having some private conversation through their mind-link. All three them have blurred eyes and are continuously looking at each other. 

Orion is talking to Connor, and from what I can gather he’s giving him some sort of advice on his training.

Dante, Clay, and Finley are half arguing, half joking about which of their Lycans is the faster in a head to head competition.

“You know I’d kick all your arses.” Khloe says. 

They all laugh loudly.

“Yeah, right.” Clay says. 

“Wanna make a bet?” Khloe replies.

“Nah ‘cause you’d only sulk when you lost.” Finley states and the three of them laugh again.

“My siblings and I used to race each other all the time.” Lia says. “Of course, Luca was the fastest but he’d let me win every now again.”

I snort before I can stop myself. 

And everyone looks at me.

“Luca never let Lia beat him at anything.” I state. “They were way too competitive with each other for that. Besides, it was Jace who got on best with Lia, not Luca.” 

Lia stares at me, her eyes narrowing and then she turns looking at Adriel like she’s daring him to do something, to say something.

And Adriel acts like he doesn’t even feel the heat of those glances. Instead, he’s staring right back at me again.

I drop my gaze, focus on my food, trying once more to pretend that the Lycan sat at the end of the table isn’t all but transfixed on me.

Everyone else continues eating and Lia starts talking as if to cover herself. I don’t speak out again. If anything, I try to ignore it because the way she talks of my family, the lies she’s spinning, because it makes me more than furious. But there’s nothing I can do, is there? Until Adriel realises what this is, I’m stuck playing this ridiculous game.

I let out a low breath, glancing at everyone around me. Our family used to eat almost every meal together. My mother insisted on it. The only times that didn’t happen was when my father was too busy managing the Pack but even then, the rest of us would still sit and eat, as a family. 

Just like this one.

They all seem to fit so well. They all seem to know their places. As I watch I can see how they’ve all bonded, Finley, Clay and Dante were all born at the same time so it’s logical that they act like a threesome. Khloe was a litter of one, and I guess being the only girl amongst so many boys means she’s had to learn to hold her own. Connor is the youngest and less muscular than his siblings, in fact you could describe him as overweight, but no one seems to mention or even blink when he goes for seconds. 

The only person missing from this table is Levi. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen him once since I got here. I glance at Ryker and he gives me a quizzical look.

“What is it?” He says quietly.

“Where is Levi?”

He tilts his head. “He was sent on an errand.”

“By your brother?”

He nods.

“What errand?” I ask.

Ryker glances up the table then back at me. “Adriel sent him to your Pack’s lands. He wanted to find out if what you were saying was true.”

I frown. “What I was saying about what?” 

“Your family. About you burying them.”

I look away, shutting my eyes, trying to force back that vision of them all laid out and the knowledge that they deserved so much more than what they got. 

“You okay?” Ryker asks.

“I’m fine.” I say, forcing a smile. 

Thank the Gods this meal is almost over because suddenly I feel like I want to be alone. I need to be.

When the plates are cleared, I make an excuse and slip out. I don’t want to have a grand goodbye anyway. It’s easier if I disappear into the night and don’t have to face Adriel.

But as I’m walking away someone grabs me and I’m slammed into the wall.

“Keep this up bitch and you’ll be sorry.” Lia snarls.

She’s got a whole foot more in height than me and I hate the fact I have to lift my head up so much to meet her gaze.

“Let me go.” I reply.

She tilts her head. “Did you not get the message last time? I’m not afraid to fight for what’s mine.”

“He is not yours.” I say before I can stop myself.

She lets out a laugh. “You really want to do this? You really want to take me on? You won’t last a day against me.”

“Wanna bet?” I say. “I survived worse odds than that already.”

She narrows her eyes. “No one cares what you survived, slut. Adriel is mine.”

“No, he is not.”

She tucks my hair behind my ear, leaning right in. “Then why is it me warming his bed every night? Why is it me he’s so eager to fuck? While you, he can barely look at without feeling disgust.”

I know it’s a lie. I haven’t felt them touching, haven’t felt them doing anything in days but it still twists like a knife because he has slept with her, he has been with her after he met me.

I shove her off. I guess she lets me because we both know she’s the stronger. 

And then I walk away, past the stairs that lead to my room, past the corridor that leads to the main Packhouse and down, out the back entrance to outside. To fresh air.

It should feel like a win. It should feel like I achieved something tonight because I was there, and I know Adriel felt it, that our bond was more alive than ever.

And yet he kept her beside him. He sat there, hearing her lies, they all did, and even when I refuted them, it still didn’t feel enough.