Father locks me in the storeroom to "reflect," fearing I'll taint Annie's mating ceremony to Jason.
Through the splintered door, their laughter mingles with the clink of goblets.
I curl in the shadows, scratching their names into the floor with a broken nail: Jason. Annie. Father.
The slap on my cheek still stings, but it's nothing compared to twenty years of hunger, of being beaten with silver-tipped canes.
Killing them would be too kind.
No-they must howl as I did, taste the same despair.
Exhaustion drags me under.
Half-dreaming, I feel hands groping my body-memories of asylum orderlies with silver coins in their pockets.
I jerk awake, fangs bared, meeting Jason's whiskey-clouded gaze.
His breath reeks of bourbon and... arousal.
"Jason Davis-what do you want?"
I snarl, slapping his hand away.
He blinks, wolf eyes clearing to reveal lust and scorn.
"You lured me here, Yuki. Still playing the innocent pup?"
His fingers brush my electrocution scar.
"Guess I need to teach you manners-again."
Three years, and he's still the same.
He forgets he wasn't drugged that night; he forgets he begged for more.
Now he reeks of lies, trying to pin his sins on me.
But I'm not the weak she-wolf he remembers.
My hand slides toward a cracked vase.
I almost spared him, once.
Recall the day he saved me from Annie's lackeys, when they held my head in a gutter, forcing me to lick her shoes.
He threw his coat around my bleeding shoulders, said: "Come to me if they hurt you. I'll protect you."
That promise bound me tighter.
Even after he took my virginity, even after he tossed me in the asylum, I clung to it.
No more.
Now I want to tear out his heart, see if it beats with remorse or just more lies.
Jason's fingers tighten on my wrist, eyes fixed on the scars crisscrossing my chest.
"Why... so many wounds?"
Moonlight filters through the window, highlighting each silver burn, each bite mark.
He mutters: "I told the director to be gentle..."
Gentle?
As if "teaching rules" didn't mean electroshocks and broken bones.
As if they didn't relish hurting a pup without a pack.
Before I can strike, the door bursts open.
Annie stands there, fake tears in her eyes.
"Jason! What are you doing with her?"
Jason jerks back as if burned by silver.
All concern vanishes.
"Yuki seduced me! She'll never accept we're mating."
Father storms in, cane raised.
"Filth!" He strikes my spine. "
Should've let you die in that asylum!"
Annie pretends to pull him back.
"Father, she's not worth it. Send her back before the wedding-we can't have her shaming our packs."
Father nods, dragging Jason away.
As they leave, Jason glances back-for a second, his gaze flickers with doubt.
But Annie tugs his arm, and the moment dies.
I laugh softly, retrieving a rusted hammer from under a tarp.
Jason had his chance to see the truth. To choose mercy.
Now, the only mercy he'll get is a quick death.
