the rejected luna/cursed mate

CHAPTER THREE

Ethan's hand made contact with my face slapping me so hard it nearly knocked me on my ass. The sting made my eyes water and I forced myself to clench my jaw and hold my breath rather than cry out. I’d learned long ago that when I reacted it made things worse.

Ivy giggled. Well, since she’s not meeting your needs, you know where to find me if you want a real wolf.

Out, Ethan repeated.

The girl left the bathroom and I pulled free of Ethan's grip. What do you want, Ethan?

You shouldn’t be here, he said. My father should have kicked you and your w***e of a mother out the day your grandfather crossed that witch. Better yet, he should have let you starve in caves.

I swallowed hard the worst punishment in our pack was being locked in the caves on the south end of town, right near the border. Locked in without food or water with other criminals meant that wolves often went feral and fed on each other. It was gruesome and had only been used once in my lifetime, but the threat was always there.

Only this was the first time Ethan mentioned it. He’d told me I shouldn’t be here in previous encounters, but he’d never talk about the caves. Ever since his first shift, he’d been more emotional and less stable. I was grateful he wasn’t the alpha yet.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be out of here soon and you’ll never have to look at me again. I glared at him. Before I saw it coming, his hand was around my throat and he pushed me back, slamming me against the wall. I heard the cracking of my head as it made contact and hoped it didn’t mean I had another concussion. Pains blurred my vision and I winced despite myself.

He was faster and stronger than he was before his first shift. When we were younger, I had a chance against him. As we got older, he got stronger feeding off the energy of his wolf. I didn’t have that advantage. It was hard to tell if the beating had gotten worse or if he’d gotten stronger.

When we were in elementary school, he teased me but in middle school, things turned physical. In the last year, I learned I didn’t stand a chance of fighting back anymore. What I wouldn’t give for some of the strength and power that come along with a shift.

Ethan scowled at me. His expression reflects pure hate. I never knew what I did to make him so mad, but it had gotten worse recently. Beating me up had always been a sport, something he did with a laugh to show off to his friends.

That’s when it hit me that we were totally alone. My heart pounded faster. In all the years of dealing with Ethan, he’d always had others with him. There are always witnesses. He liked the audience and there was always someone to pull him back if he took things too far.

We’d never actually be alone before. For the first time during one of our little torture sessions, I was worried this wasn’t just a game anymore.

Let me go, I demanded

Like I said, you shouldn’t even be here, little wolf. He squeezed harder, making me gasp for air my vision blurred, growing darker around the edges. For a moment, I wondered if this was it. If he took me out, I would be free of this place, done with the pain. I considered it for a heartbeat. A flicker of anger urged me forward, I wasn’t ready yet.

Risking retaliation, I kicked Ethan right in the nuts, he let go, groaning as he grabbed his manhood. I sidestepped him and then bolted for the door, sucking in the air as I fled. The hallway was empty. His friend was nowhere in sight.

Whatever Ethan had been after, he didn’t want any witnesses. If he hadn’t already had his mind set on murdering me he probably did now. I might have just signed my death warrant. f**k. Surviving for the next six days was going to be harder than I thought.

Kicking Ethan on the nuts was probably a really bad idea but in all the years of abuse, he’d never come at me alone like that. And he’d never put his hand around my throat. I wasn’t sure what snapped to cause him to up the ante, but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

Maybe it was the thought of losing his favorite victim that was pushing him to the edge. Maybe he didn’t want me to be happy and figured he’d kill me before I could leave. Worse, what if his shift has unlocked some kind of violent streak? I mean, he’d always be violent, but this was insane. I had no desire to see what he would be like with power. The whole pack was f****d when he took over as alpha.

Whatever the reason Ethan had crossed a line I didn’t even know existed I couldn’t let him get me alone again.

Nola, those boxes aren’t going to unpack themselves; Jude, my manager called. I shook myself out of reflection and got to work pulling cans of beans out and putting them on the shelf. I’d managed to avoid Ethan for the rest of the day, but my head was still fizzy and achy from our encounter.

I probably did have a concussion. Asshole. At least I hadn’t thrown up this time. Maybe I was getting better at hiding my symptoms. Ugh, my life sucked so hard. There was no way leaving this place was going to make my life worse.

Working my way through the boxes of beans, I moved on to corn and beets. I wrinkled my nose. How did we sell enough beets that we had to restock them every week? Did wolf shifters develop a secret craving for beets? It was the oddest thing. I’d never had them in my life but every week, I had to restock them.

The mindless work was a good distraction. None of the customers made eye contact with me at all. I was the broken wolf and I was used to being treated like I was contagious. I suppose it was better that way. There were no ties to this place for me to break when I left.