The Abused and Rejected Tribrid Luna Queen

Violent Repercussions

     I came to in the school infirmary; Rob was seated next to the bed with an icepack pressed to his face. It was apparent he'd been fighting, but he didn't appear to be too severely injured.

    "What happened?" I croaked, forcing myself into a seated position.

    "I kicked that good for nothing future Alpha's ass is what happened."

    Panic ripped through me, and I began to hyperventilate.

    "Hey, hey. Calm down." Rob whispered, moving to sit beside me and rub my back.

    "You shouldn't have done that." I choked out between breaths.

    "It's fine. I promise. He was saying some pretty awful things, and I couldn't just stand by and let him say them."

    I focused on Rob's face while getting my breathing back under control. His hands were trembling slightly still, though his expression made it clear it was from anger rather than fear.

    "What did he say?"

    "That he - that you-"Rob started before setting his lips in a grim line and turning to look at me. "Chastity, tell me the truth. Did he hurt you?"

    Tears began to stream down my face, and I kept my eyes firmly on my hands clasped together in my lap. All of the feelings I had tucked away in my fog after the assault came rushing back. I nodded meekly before moving to vomit in the small trash can situated beside the bed.

    "You should tell the Alpha," Rob said firmly. "Surely, he wouldn't let something like this fly."

    Wiping my mouth on the back of my arm, I straightened up and looked at my friend. "The Alpha doesn't care what happens to me."

    "I hate this pack so f*****g much." Rob snarled. "We're supposed to look out for each other, not turn a blind eye at this shit."

    My response died on my lips. The nurse poked her head in the door before either of us could say anything else.

    "Oh, good, you're awake." She groaned. "I checked you over; you're fine to go back to class. I suggest you don't make this a regular occurrence. I'd hate to have to tell the Alpha that you've been playing sick to get out of class. As for you, young man, your parents, and the Alpha are waiting for you in the office."

    Dread at what was waiting for my friend settled in the pit of my stomach. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, leading me out of the infirmary.

    "Please don't tell anyone why you attacked Billy." I begged.

    Rob considered me for a moment before his decision flashed across his face. "I'll keep the why to myself, but only because I don't want things to get worse for you, Chas. I don't care what the Alpha decides to do to me, but I couldn't live with myself if I made things worse for you."

    "Thank you," I whispered.

    Rob moved to embrace me, but the memory of Billy's assault was too raw. I flinched, causing my friend to drop his hand with a funny look before he turned toward the office. I made my way to class, trying to ignore the growing worry in the pit of my stomach. I knew my friend would be in trouble, but I hoped that my involvement in the matter being kept quiet, it wouldn't be as bad as it could be.

    The day dragged by in a sea of not-so-quiet whispers. Everyone had witnessed the fight between Billy and Rob. Some of the students were in awe that an omega had bested the future Alpha; others were speculating about why they had both looked to me before the fight broke out. I didn't see my friend at lunch, nor did I see him in our few shared classes. The gnawing sensation in my stomach continued to grow with each hour that ticked by without him.

    The next few days were much the same, though, by some miracle, Billy didn't sneak to the basement to bother me again. I tried to put the incident from my mind, focusing on my work instead, but I couldn't shake the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I lived in a constant state of dread waiting for the Alpha to call me to his office and dole out punishment for being the cause of the fight at school.

    By the following week, Rob was back at school. He seemed in better spirits than I would have expected, but there wasn't any opportunity to ask him about it. He promised to come to the packhouse that night and find me when everyone else was asleep to fill me in on what had happened. With his return to school, I let myself relax a little. If Rob had returned and I hadn't been called to the Alpha's office, my secret had to be safe.

    Around one in the morning, Rob finally appeared in the basement. He had called out to me softly to wake me rather than shaking me awake like he would have done before finding out about my assault. Groggily, I sat up and accepted the tiny bits of food he had brought with him. He gestured to the bed beside me, one eyebrow raised in question, and I nodded.

    "I'm leaving after the Yule Ball." He spoke as he sat down beside me. "The Alpha wasn't angry about the fight, but my parents were."

    "I don't understand. Why wasn't the Alpha mad you beat up his son?"

    "He said that any omega that could best a future Alpha had the makings of a warrior." Rob shrugged sheepishly. "He offered me a place in the warrior training program. That's where I've been. My parents couldn't exactly turn him down, but they did get permission to send me to live with my aunt after the ball. My father told the Alpha that some time away would teach me to respect my betters."

    "Oh."

    "Chastity," Rob sighed. "I won't be here to protect and help you anymore. I think you need to run during the ball."

    "I'm too weak to get far." I snorted, pointing at the silver around my neck. "Alpha made sure of that."

    "They're not going to keep you silvered for the ball. They need every omega to make sure it goes off without a hitch. Besides, once the thing is in full swing, everyone will be too wrapped up in the party to think about you. It will give you a head start."

    "How can you be sure?"

    "You forget, Chas, I'm seventeen. My parents made me go to the summer and Yule ball last year. I know how they work." He chuckled dryly. "My aunt is bringing my cousin, and I'll be going back to their pack with her whether I find my mate this year or not."

    "Will you at least be in school until the ball?" I asked softly.

    "No, my parents sent me to gather any work I had missed, and I had a document from the Alpha I needed to turn in to be excused from attending. The adults decided that I was going to spend my last week in the training program." He sighed.

    Sadness coiled around my heart at the knowledge I would be losing my only friend. We sat in silence for a while, neither of us wanting to broach the subject of goodbyes. It wasn't until my lids became too heavy to stay open on their own that we finally parted. Rob was careful not to touch me during our farewells, his sensitivity to the assault I had endured only driving the dagger of sadness further through my heart.

    I woke for school the next day feeling sick. Convincing myself that it was due to gorging myself on the food Rob had brought the previous night, I struggled through my morning duties and headed to school. First period was halfway over when I felt bile rise in my throat with the tale-tell mouth-watering and knew I would vomit. The teacher ignored my raised hand, waving desperately in the air. She was too immersed in her lesson to see my face paling and understand my need to excuse myself. I did the only thing I could think to do and raced to the trash can in the front of the room to vomit up the contents of my stomach. Groans of disgust rolled through the other students, and the teacher glared at me in disgust.

    "Chastity!" She scolded. "You should have said something if you needed to be excused. Take that can and get yourself to the infirmary before you get anyone else sick."

    I complied without argument, picking up the small wastebasket and exiting the room. Dizziness set in, and I paused twice on the way to vomit again. I was pale and shaky by the time I made it to the infirmary. The nurse took one look at me, her face pinched in irritation, and jerked her thumb toward the exam table for me to sit.

    "Take this and pee in it in the bathroom over there." She ordered after reviewing my symptoms.

    I did as she instructed, returning a few moments later with the small cup of urine. My eyes widened in shock when she pulled a home pregnancy test from her medicine cabinet, unwrapped it, and dipped the end into the cup. The next three minutes felt like an eternity with my eyes glued to the small results window.

    "Well, it looks like you've got a pup on yourself." The nurse griped. "I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, given the things I've heard about your w*****g around."

    My face blanched at the insult, but I bit my tongue. It wouldn't do any good to argue with her. I knew that the only person in the pack that wouldn't believe I hadn't been sleeping around was Rob, and he wasn't attending school anymore. I felt myself collapse inward, the realization that Billy had gotten me pregnant with his assault sinking in.

    "You'll want to take these, and I can give you something for the vomiting." She barked, handing me a small bottle labeled prenatal vitamins.

    I had barely accepted them from her hands when Billy strode through the infirmary door. His eyes narrowed when he saw me seated on the exam table. He glanced between the nurse and me, catching sight of the small bottle of pills in my hand. Rage flashed across his face before he quickly replaced it with a brilliant smile. Quietly, I thanked the nurse and raced from the room.

    Somehow, I managed to avoid the Alpha's son for the rest of the day. My mind had settled on trying to figure out what to do about the pup. Rob had told me to run during the Yule ball, but that was a week away. I wasn't sure I could avoid Billy for that long; he certainly had no issues sneaking to the basement in the middle of the night.

    As if in answer to my unspoken prayers, I found myself summoned to the Alpha's office just as I was finishing the last of my work.

    "Chastity, good." He smiled, moving from behind his desk. "You've done well preparing the packhouse for the ball."

    I hadn't noticed when I first entered his office, but his hands were gloved as he moved toward me.

    "As a reward, I've decided to remove the collar and lend you out to one of the hotels. Some of the lesser ranked wolves from the distant packs are starting to arrive, and they find themselves a bit short-staffed."

    I breathed a sigh of relief as the weight of the silver collar was lifted from my neck. I did my best not to giggle in relief as the Alpha told me that I would be staying in the hotel until the day of the ball. I was to return early on the day of the Yule ball to collect my assignment and begin work. Without realizing it, the Alpha had provided me a reprieve from a confrontation with his son.

    Packing what few things I would need, I headed to the hotel he had instructed me to assist. The receptionist wrinkled her nose when she realized that I was the help the Alpha had sent but didn't utter a word as she led me to the office with a small cot that would serve as my room while there. I spent the week leading up to the Yule ball attending the last few days of school before break and returning to the hotel to provide maid service. The small office combined with the work's lightness seemed almost luxurious, and I had nearly forgotten about the predicament I found myself in. That was until I arrived at the packhouse the morning of the ball to find Billy waiting for me outside.

    "Come with me, you stupid slut." He snarled, jerking me by the arm and dragging me to the side of the house.

    Billy shoved me against the side of the house, leaning back to check that nobody was within earshot. Grabbing a fistful of my hair in one hand, he slammed the other into my stomach, knocking the air out of me in a whoosh. I bent forward, gasping like a fish out of water, only to have his knee make impact with my face. I didn't cry out as I dropped to the ground. I couldn't have if I wanted to with my lungs working so hard to catch wind.

    "You thought you could trap me and improve your status, you stupid b***h?" He growled, his foot making a shattering impact with my ribs. "You thought wrong. That bastard pup will never take its first breath."

    He continued to kick my body, not caring where his foot made an impact. I could feel my ribs break under the impact and was sure that I had to be bleeding internally. I cried out as my nose crunched from a stray kick, only to have Billy stoop down and begin pummeling me with his fist. He focused his assault on my stomach until he felt sure he had accomplished his task. My eyes were swollen nearly shut, my entire body battered and broken when he finally walked away, leaving me in a crumpled heap on the ground.