Thirst woke me up.
My throat felt terribly parched and my whole form craved liquid in any form, it was so sudden. Rubbing the fragments of sleep from my eyes, I pulled my night dress closer and made my way out my door.
My steps were stealthy and noiseless, I didn't want to bring any attention to myself, more so when I should be tucked in my bed asleep. I had only just fallen asleep when my thirst woke me up. Half of my night had been spent turning and tossing on the bed, my mind going haywire with cluttering thoughts that came together to make no sense.
Sleep was an illusion far from me, unattainable. The moment I shut my eyes and the hands of unconsciousness pulled me in, with abruptness, the scenes changed and too many things began happening at once.
From afar I would hear the background noise of the tavern, it would almost be as though I was there again even though my subconsciousness screamed at me that I wasn't, attempting to pull me away from the nightmare, it held on still, tighter and for longer until my heart couldn't take it anymore so I would wake up with a start.
Trying harder to get sleep after that would be a different scene and this time I would envision Grace, the anger in her eyes, I would hear clearly the resentment in her words, and even now that I was awake, it still hurt where her nails dug into my skin.
As I slowly made my way down the stairs, I could feel a small throb on the side of my head from both the lack of sleep and how I was forcing myself to think too hard about the earlier events.
How possible could it be that my decisions affected people who weren't associated with me?
My feet came to a startling halt - was she talking about herself?
Bits and pieces of some form of realization began to dawn on me. Grace was a soft-hearted person, timid, and shy but most importantly, Callan’s sister.
I, like everyone else, knew she wouldn't do this but in the face of the glaring evidence against her, no one would question anyone else about being behind Claire’s actions and the fact that Grace was Callan’s sister would mean she was likely to get away with this which could only mean one thing; someone smart was at play here.
Someone who could easily manipulate things their way, someone who had a strong effect on Grace enough to slide her into this mess.
Amelia.
Radley.
Or both?
My heart rate picked up with excitement and I continued on my way. I felt it in my bones, I would be able to get to the bottom of this, maybe if I spoke to Grace and convinced her I knew she was being manipulated and made her feel seen, letting her know she didn't have to do this, she would probably feel at ease enough to talk to me.
It was wishful thinking but it was the only thing I had to hold on to now.
A large pitcher filled with water was sitting in the middle of the kitchen table and immediately, I filled a tumbler with it and drowned its contents before filling it up again and decidedly returning with it to my room.
The house was completely engulfed in silence and even when I moved as quietly as I could, the soft sound my footsteps elicited still reached my ears which was why it was easy for me to immediately catch the faraway sound that reached me.
I paused, my eyes running wild scouring for its source.
That was when I heard it, a soft cry, and shortly after another voice, and from its baritone and hum, I inferred it would belong to a man and my eyes landed on the only place I guessed it would be coming from - the drawing room. The doors were slightly parted, which would explain why I could hear small bits of the interaction of whoever it was behind it.
'C’mon,' my wolf prompted, 'you know you're curious.'
“Still, it would be wrong,” I whispered even though all of me wanted to walk right there and see who was behind the door. It would be wrong to invade people’s privacy so blatantly.
'Wrong? Wrong is all of the manipulation, poisoning, and conspiracies going on here, Sophia, eavesdropping is the only right thing to do now.'
So my curiosity got the better of me and I found my feet leading me towards the large doors that led into the drawing room. I drew in a breath before pressing my face in the space between the two pairs of doors and the scene before me sent a shiver down my spine, bile rose in my throat, and I could feel my eyes stinging with rage.
Grace was against the wall, Radley, that bastard pressed against her, his hands under her shirt, his mouth on hers kissing and whispering comfortingly to her.
“It’s okay, I promise I would never do anything that would put you in danger…”
The tumbler fell from my grip, shattering into pieces at my feet. The crashing alerted them to my presence and Radley turned his attention toward the door, his wide eyes crammed with such panic as I never thought he was capable of feeling.
I pushed open the door and marched inside.
Disbelief ran through my veins at what I had just witnessed. Radley and Grace? Were they mates? But the apprehension that thickened the air at them being caught told me otherwise. If they were mates, there would be no need for this sneaking around, meeting at midnight, speaking in hushed tones.
Before now, I had never seen Radley and Grace interact in any form of any sort.
“Sophia…” she called, her voice breaking off. She placed a palm over her mouth, dismay swimming in her eyes.
“How much lower can you stoop, Radley?” I yelled at him. “Why would you do this? What the hell is wrong with you?”
The sight of him was revolting, he was the most pathetic person I’d ever seen. If she wasn't his mate, he shouldn't be here and doing this with her. Grace was still young and naive, she could easily be manipulated into -
And at the thought of manipulation, it hit me. Of course.
He was the one behind it, this was how it had been easy for her to take responsibility for what she had no hand in because of this bastard here.
“Sophia, please,” Grace said, inserting herself between me and Radley. “Do not speak to him like that. I know…” her voice wavered once more. “I know it might be hard for you to believe but we are in love, I love him and everything is with my consent.”
“Including taking the fall for Claire’s death?” I snapped. Anger blinded my vision, disdain burning my throat. This was a new level of brazen, one too much for even Radley.
He had seduced an innocent girl just to get her to do his bidding. I didn't even think anymore that Amelia was behind the tavern incident, it had to be Radley, all of it. He had never hidden his hate for me and to see him clearly breach common human decency just to get rid of me was disgusting.
They were both taken aback by my accusation and it took Radley a shorter time to get over his shock. He pushed Grace aside to stand in front of me, his jaw clenching, anger lines creasing his forehead.
“I’ve had enough of you! You should learn to know your place and it is obvious no one ever taught you proper lessons and…”
“And how about you? Should anyone have taught you common sense? Should you have also been taught how to be a proper person? You disgust me, Radley, you have no idea how much I wish I could kill you myself.”
Grace released a gasp.
Radley chuckled. “Kill me? You?” He gave me one of those looks he had mastered, the one that said with his gaze that was utterly belittling, one that conveyed his thought about how irrelevant he found a person's but I was beyond caring about what he of all people thought about me.
“Oh, it was just a wish, Radley. Callan would do much more than that when I tell him about this disgusting act of yours.”
The terror returned to his expression.
Grace spoke up this time in a frightened tone. “No, no, please. You can't do that.”
I glanced at her. “Believe me, I am doing this for you.” and I turned to Radley. “This bastard is the last person you would want to be with and one day, you would thank me for it.”
“He would kill him!” she cried. “Callan… Callan wouldn't understand so you have to.” and she grabbed me by the wrist. “I love him, I love him so much and I promise that one day I am going to tell my brother but please don't…”
At her pleas and cries, I could only remember her sitting on the cold floor of the dungeon crying while words flew around concerning her crime, and my irritation with him for coercing her into doing that surged.
“How long have you had to do this to her? To brainwash her with the illusions of love?”
“You would not say a word to Callan!” was his response instead. He yanked me by the collar of my night dress, pulling me towards him.
“I promise,” he began in a dangerous voice, “you do not want to make an enemy of me. I would be your ruin, I would make you suffer so much you would realize what Alpha Alexander had done to you all these years was goodness compared to the hell I would rain on you…”
I cut him off with a slap. The sharp sound of my hand contacting his face resounded in the silence of the room, sending a jolt of pleasure through me.
“Don’t you ever threaten me again, Radley! You hold no candle next to who I am and it will do you well if you take your own advice and know your place when you are next to me!” I stared up at him boldly, my gaze holding enough venom. “A mere Beta does not speak to his future Luna in such a tone, you clearly are too stupid to know that too.”