I spin quickly, thinking there is some kind of threat, I’m on high alert. “What?” My wet ponytail whips around and wraps around my neck, hands at the ready for a fight.
“What is on your back Skylar?” He hasn ‘t used my full name in months, since I started hanging out with him and the guys regularly. He looks like he is trying to hold in his temper and his eye color is swirling, letting me know his wolf is pissed and close to the surface.
I reach back and realize my shirt has been pushed all the way up to my bra, exposing my whole torso. I didn’t even feel it move in the water. My eyes widen and I know what he can see, the bruising around my ribs in various shades of healing and the pink and mottled scars along my back from the whip and silver. The make-up Sierra put on the exposed parts must have come off too, not helping the case.
“It’s nothing, just training injuries, that’s all.” I ramble out a little too quickly to be believable, more concerned with getting my shirt down.
“You’re lying. Why are you lying to us, Skylar?” Cam
and Kota ask in the crazy twin unison that happens sometimes. Again using my full name, not the nickname they gave me as they climb out of the pool and begin to move closer to me.
“It’s not a big deal. Some people go a little more rough since they know I can fight now, that’s all. That isn’t a total lie. My attackers have gotten more rough now that they la-low I can actually fight. Trying to bait me into fighting them back And when I don’t they try to get paired with me during training so I have to.
I have abandoned the idea of getting a drink and now just want to get out Of here and lock myself in my room for a few days. Pm disappointed, they should have never seen this and I was careless. enough to let my guard down, and now they won’t let it go. Using my peripherals, I’m looking for the best way to escape.
“You don’t fight anyone, but us and Sierra at group training and the Luna and a few warriors during advanced training. None of us have sparred with you in a way to leave marks like that and some of them are older, before we started training with you. You wanna try again, Skylar?” Oliver’s deep voice and menacing look stalls my breathing as he stalks towards me, the rest of the guys have followed suit. He was built to be
an interrogator.
“It’s nothing really, let it go. I’m pleading now, not even trying to come up with another excuse. I move towards the side of the house closest to mine. I am just as fast as all of them, but getting into my house is what will slow me down for them. Think Sky, think.
“Sky, we aren’t going to let it go. Who put their hands on you? We need to handle this and deal with them. Let them know they can’t mess with any of us and get away with it. The question from Sam came out growly and he had that same look as when we were at the mall talking to Kaley.
Deal with them? What? I stop trying to walk away and look at all of them. These raging fuming boys who had no idea what they were even mad at. They all of a sudden noticed something was wrong and got protective. Well, they are too late, way too late.
A hot boiling builds inside me and something snaps. Now I am pissed and my rage flares the minute that one phrase falls from his lips. For years I have been dealing with this, years, because they believe in survival of the fittest and looking the other way when kids are being roughed up or pushed around. And my particular bully thinks she’s untouchable because of her dad and the rumors she’s spread about being the
next Luna. They have heard all of them and just ignore it, do nothing, or at the very best not enough to stop it. Because when you ignore things they go away in their world. I see red and my wolf is fired up too, she knows what I have gone through, but we have kept her a secret, I am already a freak for the fighting skills I have that “came out of nowhere’ and the grades and schedule I keep, I don’t need “weirdo early shifter’ to be added to the list.
I give them my own death glare. “NO!” I roar, and they all stop wide eyed. “You. Will. Let. It. Go! You will let it go, because said so. You will let it go because wthile all of this has been going on,” I gesture to myself, “I still did everything that was ever asked of me. I showed up, did the work, became the best at everything. The perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect warrior and no one took notice then. You never gave a sh*t before I was a part of your friend group, until you deemed me good enough.” I looked at my brother pointedly. “Delta Kyle and the Luna noticed eventually,” I looked at Sam and the twins with my best glare. “and that was just as instructors. They respected my wishes and let it go. Sierra noticed the first day we met, she didn’t even know me, and she respected my wishes and let it go. You five have known me MYWHOLE F*CKING LIFE and didn’t notice or give two sh*ts until right now. You don’t get
to be protective now, it’s too late. I don’t need you to step in now. I spit out, letting years of pent up anger flow from my mouth, not caring who I hurt with my words. I wanted someone to hurt as bad as me for once. TO understand the isolating and suffocating pain.
