34- Drowning in Betrayal
POV Lunara Grimwald:
"Your pups?"
She nodded, wiping her hands on a dish towel thrown over her shoulder.
"Andrei and Lyris."
I widened my eyes, absorbing the information. I stayed silent, unsure of what I should say.
"Well, I’ll bring you a beer."
"I... I don’t have money," I confessed, feeling the night turning into pure humiliation.
Some packs used to adjust prices, forcing every member to work so that it could grow and develop further. I didn’t know how things worked in Eldoria, nor if Edric used that same tactic.
She laughed and shook her head.
"Don’t worry, I’ll put it on Edric’s tab."
Hm... that was interesting.
"Then, perfect," I agreed, smiling. Anca stepped away, leaving me alone.
Edric was a bastard most of the time. At the very least, he could support me, since he kept me from leaving and didn’t seem the least bit interested in being better for me, for our turbulent and forced relationship.
If it weren’t for Lyris and, sometimes, Nicoleta, I would spend most of my days alone. No company, nothing to do.
Because he didn’t care.
My damn mate didn’t care.
A broken sigh slipped from my lips.
When I thought about the future, anything related to marriage, I imagined so many things—anything but spending the rest of my days alone, without pups, and despised.
Unless I found a lover who wasn’t sterile, I’d even be deprived of the pups I had once dreamed of.
I shook my head and drew in a deep breath, absorbing the smell of tobacco, alcohol, and so many fluids. It was a fun night; nothing should shake me by making me think of how much of an idiot Edric was.
As if she could sense the shift in my mood, Anca returned and placed the mug in front of me.
"It’s the best in the house," she said, pressing her hands against her wide hips.
I wrapped my fingers around the handle and brought it to my lips, catching the buttery scent even before taking a sip. It had a rich, smooth taste with a sweet touch that reminded me of caramel.
"Wow, this is good," I affirmed, taking another sip.
I wasn’t used to drinking. My father forbade me. He claimed alcoholic beverages weren’t for decent females. I only tried it when I ran away with Elowen, and I was still getting used to its flavors.
"Never had butterbeer before?"
I shrugged.
"To tell you the truth, I know very little about most drinks."
She looked at me for a few seconds in silence, watching me.
"Oh, then I’ll be forced to offer you our most traditional one. Want to try it?"
"I’d love to." I smiled.
Anca turned back inside the small establishment, leaving me alone again. She didn’t take long to return, carrying a small transparent glass with a yellowish liquid—the same one I had seen some people drinking when I first arrived.
"It’s called ţuică, made exclusively from plums."
I took the glass from her hand, the strong scent of alcohol standing out in the small dose. Without thinking too much, I brought it to my lips and downed it in one go.
Heavens.
It was strong, with a fruity flavor, burning its way down my esophagus. I started coughing. Anca laughed and took the empty glass from my hand.
"I think for you, only the butterbeer."
"Please," I begged hoarsely, still coughing, making her laugh even more.
"Well, make yourself at home, Lunara. I have some things to take care of. If you want more beer, just call me."
"All on Edric’s tab?" I asked, to be sure.
"Yes, all on his tab."
"Great." I gave a huge smile.
Laughing, she turned back into the bar, leaving me alone for good.
I enjoyed the music and drank a little more, ignoring the warm feeling still flooding me. I swayed my body to the rhythm and smiled, savoring the moment.
"I’m sure that bitch Thalira is having fun right now," someone said, a female voice coming from the table in front of me.
I turned my attention away from the music, focusing on their conversation when I heard the name of the hateful omega. The two females were sitting with their backs to me.
"I wish I had gotten an invite too," sighed the redhead, sitting next to the brunette who had spoken first.
"Me too. I’d really love to fuck one of those hot alphas."
"And I just wish I had the luck to be invited more often, like that bitch Thalira always is."
The brunette snorted.
"You know she only always gets invited because she fucks Edric. What’s the point of going to a sex party if you don’t bring the she-wolves you most like to fuck?" she mocked.
Sex party?
"She used to fuck Edric, you mean. Now he’s mated," the redhead replied.
The brunette laughed loudly.
"Darling, even mated, it’s at Thalira’s house he spends his nights. And she didn’t tell me—I saw him leaving her house in the morning, with my own eyes."
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. It was like I was frozen.
"Then, surely, Thalira is having fun with him right now, making him forget about his new mate," the redhead said.
I dropped the mug on the table and stood up in a sudden movement, drawing attention and a few stares in my direction. But I didn’t care about any of them.
With wavering steps, I walked away from them, away from the music and the happiness that moment once brought.
I had no clear direction. I just walked, wandering aimlessly.
My heart beat slowly.
I breathed, swallowing air, only to expel it from my lungs, repeating the motion every second.
All I could do was walk, breathe, blink, exist.
I went so far from the village, as if somehow I could leave it all behind, only realizing it when the sound of water replaced that of chatter and melody.
It was the lake behind Edric’s house.
As I neared the edge, my legs gave out, and I collapsed to my knees on the ground. The first tear slipped down my cheek.
The heat I was feeling, the unrest.
It was Edric fucking Thalira. Fucking the she-wolf who loved to humiliate me every chance she got.
It was Edric declaring, not only to her but to everyone, my irrelevance in his life, how little I mattered to him.
"He’s spending the nights at her house."
A sob broke past my lips. I pressed my hands to the cold earth and threw my head back, my lips parting in a loud, broken, sorrowful growl.
He made a point of making my life even more miserable whenever he could. I wasn’t allowed to leave, to follow my own path.
I didn’t even have freedom.
I was never free. Never.