CH 7 - Persefone
1723 Words
PERSEFONE POV
Oh, I was mad.
No.
I was f*****g furious.
Eden was right there with me, pushed to the front of my mind, pacing and snarling and fully ready to tear the fuckers apart.
Unfortunately for both of us, we were still in a human school.
Meaning full force wasn’t exactly an option.
Yet.
So I settled for violence with manners.
I swung my fist with everything I had straight toward Aiden’s solar plexus.
Rachel’s shaky voice was still ringing in my ears. Her tears. The way she kept trying to defend them even while trembling like she was about to collapse. Penny had finally gotten a confession out of her in the bathroom and I heard everything through our link.
I knew something fishy was going on around them… but this? This level of derangement? Just proved once again rogues could never be trusted.
And if these three assholes thought they could intimidate my pack members without consequences, they were about to learn a very important lesson.
But—
my punch never landed.
A hand caught my wrist mid-swing.
Firm.
Unshaking.
My breath hitched for half a second as icy blue eyes locked onto mine.
Completely calm.
Completely focused.
Like stopping me had cost him absolutely no effort at all.
Which was impossible.
I’d been training since I was a toddler.
“What did I do to earn the pleasure of your wrath?” Aiden asked smoothly, one corner of his mouth lifting. “Or is this your kind of foreplay? Because I can handle a kinky brat, you know.”
What the actual f**k?
Hot, boiling rage exploded even harder inside my chest.
I swung with my other fist immediately, aiming straight for his stupid perfect nose—
—and he caught that wrist too.
My eyes widened.
Not because he blocked it.
Because he blocked it easily.
No struggle.
No effort.
Nothing.
Fuck.
Had training this morning tired me so much? Could I be getting mushy?
And suddenly I was trapped, both my hands pinned in his grip while he looked down at me like this was entertaining.
How?
How the hell was he this strong?
Aiden smirked slightly, dark hair falling into his eyes.
“Feisty,” he murmured.
Oh, I was going to kill him.
I leaned forward slowly, feigning defeat.
“You have no f*****g idea,” I whispered back with a grin.
Then drove my knee upward toward his crotch.
That one would’ve landed, he was too focused on my face to see anything below—
unfortunately two strong, tattooed arms had suddenly wrapped around me from behind, locking around my waist and stopping my leg mid-motion.
“That’s enough,” Keres grumbled against the back of my neck, breathing heavier than he should’ve been and making my skin prickle. Fucker. “Now you’re gonna stay still and tell us what the f**k your problem is.”
I struggled immediately.
Hard.
But between Aiden holding my wrists and Keres locking me against his chest, movement became nearly impossible.
Which only pissed me off more.
“Do you really want to pick a fight with three rogues that double you in size?” Keres muttered near my ear.
He had a point.
Technically.
What he didn’t know was that size had never really mattered to me.
I could handle them.
All three if needed.
Just not here.
Not where humans could see what I really was.
Keres tightened his grip slightly when I twisted again.
“Now,” he drawled, voice turning mocking again, “be a good girl and tell us what crawled up your pretty ass.”
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw hurt.
Totally unimpressed.
Or at least I tried to be.
“If either of you ever goes near one of my pack members again,” I hissed, glaring straight at Aiden, “I’m going to rip your heads off.”
Something shifted in Aiden’s expressions instantly.
A flick of shock followed by his usual smirk. Just more… curious.
“And trust me,” I added coldly, “size doesn’t matter at all with me.”
I let power curse through me, pump in my veins, frizzle in my fingertips. Hot, spreading like wildfire in my chest. And I aimed, just like my mother taught me, to their balls.
That landed.
Aiden let me go instantly cursing and cupping his balls, while Keres doubled over behind me with a sharp moan, his grip loosening just enough.
I slipped free immediately.
Aiden tried to reach for me again—
too slow. Too in pain to actually do anything but cry.
I dropped beside him before he could recover, grabbed a fistful of his dark hair, and yanked his head back hard enough to expose his throat.
His breathing turned shallow instantly.
“What the—” he hissed.
“You scare Rachel again,” I whispered sweetly, nails digging slightly into his scalp, “and I’ll show you exactly how creative I can get with my aim.”
—---------------------------------------------------
By the time I got back to the pack house, I still felt…restless.
Like my skin didn’t fit properly anymore.
Like something under it kept shifting every time I stopped moving long enough to think.
Eden was no help either.
She’d been pacing in the back of my mind for hours now, alert and agitated and weirdly focused on absolutely nothing.
Or maybe not nothing.
Maybe I just didn’t want to admit what kept dragging my thoughts back to those three assholes.
I kicked my bedroom door shut behind me and dropped onto the bed with a groan, dragging both hands down my face.
Peace.
Finally.
“OH MY GOD DON’T MOVE.”
Never f*****g mind.
I cracked one eye open just in time to see Penny burst into my room carrying at least four dress bags and enough excitement to power a small city.
“You’re smiling,” I deadpanned.
“That’s because unlike you, I actually enjoy happiness.”
She dumped the bags on my bed dramatically before pointing at me.
“Get up.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’d rather fight a bear.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Fair.
Unfortunately.
I sighed heavily and forced myself upright while Penny kept rambling about flowers and guests and music and goddess knew what else.
I caught maybe ten percent of it.
The rest of my brain was still replaying:
Aiden’s hands around my wrists.
Keres breathing against my neck.
Thane staring at me like he wanted to either kiss me or bury me in the woods.
Potentially both.
Horrifying. Also—
not entirely unpleasant.
Which was probably how girls ended up murdered in crime podcasts.
Fuckity f**k.
Penny shoved a dress into my chest.
“Try it.”
“I hate this already.”
“You haven’t even worn it yet.”
“Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might detach permanently.
Five minutes later, I was standing in front of the mirror questioning every life choice that had led me here.
The dress fit perfectly.
Too perfectly.
Which was honestly offensive.
It hugged my body in ways I wasn’t emotionally prepared to process and showed way too much skin to be considered practical in any universe.
I crossed my arms instinctively.
Penny gasped behind me.
“You look hot.”
“I look uncomfortable.”
“You can be both.” she said waving her hands like a magician “or you can just suck it up and embrace your holy feminine”
“that’s it. I’m calling Dr Pedro to check on you” I grumbled “you may still be suffering after that concussion you got falling from the crib”
“I never fell from the crib” she countered, narrowing her eyes at me, with a way too satisfied smirk.
“if you say so”
I narrowed my eyes at my reflection.
The girl staring back at me didn’t really look like the version of myself I recognized most days.
Less hacker goblin.
More… Alpha daughter.
Which felt weird.
Wrong, almost.
“You’re nervous,” Penny said softly behind me.
I looked at her through the mirror.
“No, I’m not.”
“Persefone.”
Damn her and her emotional intelligence.
I exhaled slowly, looking back down at the fabric gathered around my waist.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow everything could change.
Because tomorrow was our eighteenth birthday.
Meaning tomorrow we could meet our mates.
And considering our parents had invited half the young Alphas allied to the pack—
yeah.
The odds were pretty high.
My nose scrunched automatically.
Penny noticed immediately.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
I hesitated for a second before shrugging one shoulder.
“I just…” I started slowly. “I don’t think I’d do well with someone who expects me to be…” I gestured vaguely at myself. “Normal.”
Penny frowned slightly.
“You are normal.”
I snorted.
“I literally spent two years hacking trafficking networks and growing illegal rose hybrids in the greenhouse.”
“Okay, fair.”
“I’m serious.” I turned toward her fully now. “What if I’m too much?”
That landed harder than I expected.
Because Penny’s expression softened instantly.
“I’m not like you,” I admitted quietly. “You were born for this stuff. You smile at people and they immediately trust you. Mom says you’re basically Grandma reincarnated.”
Penny beamed proudly.
“I knew it.”
I ignored her.
“But me?” I continued. “I’m basically Mom with anger issues and a caffeine addiction.”
“That is terrifyingly accurate.”
“And not many Alphas enjoy being challenged.”
Physically.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
Especially not by a girl.
Penny stepped closer then, wrapping her arms around me without hesitation.
“You’ll see,” she murmured softly. “The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”
I wished I believed that as much as she did.
That night, sleep didn’t come easily.
I tossed.
Turned.
Sheets tangled around my legs while Eden paced endlessly in the back of my mind.
Restless.
Waiting.
And every time I finally drifted off—
icy blue eyes followed me into my dreams.
- Writer
