Chapter Fifty-Six Hers

I lay on the couch, trying to calm myself far longer than I should have. Having sex with Ollie helped to avoid a full-blown panic attack earlier, but now I felt drained. Sated and happy, but so tired. My body felt heavy as reality sank back in. My mother was a shifter, and she sold me off to Chad, a sadistic and possessive shifter. The image of Chad's disgusting face flooded my thoughts. His touch still felt gross on my skin. I closed my eyes, focusing on how good Ollie's lips and fingers felt on me. He gave me what I needed at that moment, erasing any trace of Chad. Even as my body slightly trembled, I felt pride well up. I had defended myself. I confronted Chad, Bernie, and Ollie. I stuck up for myself. I was able to be myself even with the threat of violence against me. A tiny flicker of confidence sprouted in my brain. The sound of a door creaking open filled the quiet room. Without looking up, I asked, "Did you forget something?"

"I think you have forgotten your place, my daughter." I sat up on the couch only to find the door Ollie left through was still closed. My eyes flicked over to my mother standing near a hidden door. Instinctually, my body snaps into a poised sitting position. After years of practice reinforced with violence, these habits came as naturally as breathing. In a sterner tone than I intended, I asked, "Why the fuck are you here?"

Mother stared at me in shock. I don't think I've ever talked to my mother that way, but the anger that simmered deep down was too much to contain. Not with the feel of Chad's perverse touch still burning my skin. I was so tired of being abused, manipulated, and treated like property. I lowered my gaze and silently begged her not to make a scene. I felt my chest rising and falling heavily as I waited for her to act. She seemed to snap out of whatever dumbfounded trance she was in and critically asked, "The more important question is: Why are you here?"

I stared at her, "I'm here with Ollie."

"Bernie told me." Mother's fiery gaze landed on the Claiming mark on my shoulder, "Do you know what you have done?"

I looked down at the floor, my eyebrows knitting together as my expression grew tight. I could feel the flicker of confidence struggling against the wind that was my mother. My anger faltered under years of fear. I gripped the edge of the couch as she approached me. My voice barely sounded as I asked, "What have I done?"

Mother huffed and folded her arms against her chest. Her voice seethed with contempt, "You ungrateful half-breed! Do you even realize who that man is that you have allowed to defile you?"

"Defile me???" I squeaked, wetting my lips before I spoke again, "Are you joking? I know exactly who he is, and Ollie has done nothing but love me!"

"Love?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Love is nothing compared to power. That man is holding onto a power that is not his. Everything I've done has been to protect you from those people!"

"Those people?" My voice came out shrill, and Mother narrowed her eyes, making that flicker go out entirely as I cowered under her stare. Almost my entire life, I'd been conditioned to expect pain for the slightest infraction, so I lowered my tone, "Those people mean everything to me! You stole my entire life and convinced me I was insane!!"

"You are insane! That filthy Lycan has been filling your head with lies. You must understand, darling, that you possess the favor of the moon goddess! You will produce the perfect offspring for Chad. Then the true Alpha King can take his throne using your power."

My stomach dropped; I could see the greed and wickedness in my mother's eyes. Were this my mother's true colors? I'd known all my life that my mother's love was conditional, but seeing the indifference and manipulation in her features snapped something in my brain. The words tumbled from my mouth in desperate breaths, "So you really did keep all of this from me. You knew the whole time that I truly was seeing wolves. You knew and still let them torture me."

She shrugged, "Torture is a little dramatic. I needed you broken. You kept running off to find that stupid Lycan prince. I couldn't allow that mongrel to have your power. So I made a deal with the mutt's father to kill you. I figured I could steal your power before it returned to the moon goddess and try to create another child. However, that stupid beast got in the way and activated your deity powers to save your pathetic life."

My body trembled, and I felt a panic attack coming on. All of the happy feelings I had just moments ago faded. I flabbergastedly glared at my mother, "You sent someone to kill me? To kill my father?"

"Did you die? No!" Mother threw up her hands in frustration. She rolled her eyes and replied annoyedly, "Luckily for us, they managed to kill your pathetic sperm donor and leave you damaged enough."

Disbelief caused my jaw to drop, and my eyes widened. Suddenly, everything made sense. Another string snapped in my brain. I couldn't do it anymore. I stood, turning away from her. I needed to escape this insane woman and go home to Ollie. Go to where I was safe.

"Wait," Mother called. I looked at her. "Child, can you tell me one thing?"

I ran my hand up my arm, feeling every bit the small child who is afraid of that tone and hating myself for it. Why was I still here listening to her? It still didn't compute that my own mother made a deal to have me murdered.

"Clearly, you two have slept together from the look of you and the smell of you." She scrunched her nose in disgust, "And, of course, that hideous incomplete Claim mark."

I waited for her to ask a question, knowing that if I interrupted, she would physically lash out. "Did you, by chance, use protection, or have you just been whoring it out to anyone who has a dick?"

I was taken aback. I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but my emotions were so raw from everything that happened tonight. I let out a resigned breath, "Why do you even care?"

A sinister smile spread across her lips, "Well, my dear, in order to prepare you for the night Chad was to take you, I replaced every one of your birth control pills. So I'm wondering if you already have a half-breed bastard in your womb or not. If so, I must devise a solution to remove it."

I stared at this monster before me in stunned silence. How could anyone be so cruel to their own flesh and blood? Not only did she order my death, but she also set up the attack at my shop. She knew what Chad had done and tried convincing me it wasn't real. I felt tears prickle the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. I refused to cry in front of her. I had years of practice slipping into my obedient mask, and it served me well as I forced the tears down. But that was before I knew myself. I was capable and had people who loved me. The tiny flicker burst now with a rage only anger could fuel. I glared at her, "You would kill your grandchild because of who its father is?"

Mother's cackle bounced off the walls, and her cruel eyes danced with an emotion I couldn't place, "Any Lycan bastard would be no grandchild of mine. Werewolves are pure and the way the Moon Goddess intended us to be. Plus, your death or your mangy mutt's death makes no difference to me as long as the power remains."

"You are beyond stupid," I said, shaking my head as another snap in my brain. The fear that I had of this woman dissipated into the air. Mother's eyes blazed, and her hand twitched at her side.

"What did you say?" She seethed, stepping closer to me.

"I said you are beyond stupid. Do you truly believe there is a superiority of one being over another? They are the same fucking thing! All this pain, death, and suffering for a perceived power play?" I scoffed, shaking my head and biting my lip. This was what my father and Ollie had been fighting against—this bigoted ideal of superiority.

Mother's face turned bright red as she angrily screamed, "You will learn your place."

A commotion outside distracted me momentarily. Mother charged at me, her hand slapping me across the face. My head flew to the side as I tried to regain my balance. I let my anger surface, feeling a sudden hollow blackness in the pit of my stomach. When Mother moved again to hit me, I reared back and punched her square in the nose. She fell backward, screaming—shock apparent on her face as blood trickled from her nose. I shook out my hand, feeling the pain run down my pinky finger into my wrist. I saw Hugo enter the room, his body tense and ready. My mother scrambled to her feet. She let out a shrill whimpering noise.

"Luna?" Hugo's voice gave me some strength. She would never hurt me again.

I glared at her while squaring my shoulders and planting my feet. "I'm done, *Gloria*. I'm no longer your daughter. I am The Alpha King's Luna."

I turned and walked with my head held high to Hugo. He observed me, escorting me to the waiting car but not saying anything. There was so much to process that I sat still in the car's back seat, staring out the window. Letting my brain jump from one thought to another, I felt my body shutting down from the shock. I saw Ollie with his men outside the car at some point, but I couldn't retain anything. I felt numb, even as Ollie slid into the seat beside me and pulled me into his embrace.

"Nyx? I'm here." Ollie whispered. I didn't cry or panic. I just let his warmth be the glue holding the pieces of me together.