Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 184

Chapter 184

AELIANA

I hate this school.

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I don’t know when I started to loathe the place that once was my sanctuary, but I wish I could go back to those days. Lately, everything feels like a stimulation, an impossible one to escape, but still, I need out. I’ll be out soon, when Kingston returns my sunny days will return too, he makes me happy.

Today, Gareth dropped me off. I didn’t have to ride with Sera, Audrey, Rita, and Hannah. That itself felt like a breather. A much, much, much-needed breather. Having avoided them all morning, I keep to the quiet corners for the rest of the day, but somehow, like always, tragedy strikes when I escape to the gymnasium during free period to write my best friend a letter.

I sit on the floor and begin scribbling.

Dear Kingston,

Hi, it’s Aeliana again. I’m not sure if you received my last letter, but…

“Just the rat I’ve been looking for,” I hear my sister say, her voice echoing the walls.

I scramble off the floor, hiding my letter behind my back. Audrey and Seraphine step forward, looking equally irritated by my presence. But I didn’t do anything yet, I never do anything, my existence in itself is a problem for them.

“So this is where you’re hiding while I’m looking for you?” Audrey asks, “What’s that?” She nods behind my back.

I crumple the paper in my hand, shaking my head. “Nothing, just a stupid drawing.”

Seraphine grabs my hand and pulls, she’s always been stronger than me, and I’ve found it easier not to fight. She takes the paper from me and hands it to her friend who laughs upon reading it. “Stupid is right,” she laughs. ” You’re here writing letters to Alpha Kingston, such a waste.”

“Come on, Drey. She can’t help it,” Seraphine laughs. “My darling little sister is a hopeless idiot who can’t take a hint. Seriously, Squeak, what is wrong with you?”

“She’s pathetic,” Audrey rolls her eyes. “Somehow in her little fantasy world, Alpha Kingston chooses her.”

“That’ll be a cold day in hell,” Seraphine shakes her head, staring at me pitifully. “You caught feelings for him didn’t you? I’ve warned you so many times to keep your eyes off him, he would never choose you, Aeliana. Why do you insist on hurting yourself?”

“So the reason I got a C on my art project is because you’ve been writing love letters to a man you will never be able to attain?”

“No,” I swallow. “I worked hard on it, Mr Warren must have made a mistake.”

“He called me out for plagiarism,” she grits. “Not only that, but you turned in the wrong essay for were-history. You are ruining my perfect record,” She says, slapping before she can fully get the words out. “And all for what?” She snaps, “To write letters to someone who is glad he got rid of you. You are nothing, Aeilana. He took pity on you once, and you’ve clung to him since.”

I shake my head, “Kingston is my friend.”

“No, you’re just a charity case he picked up. Because that’s the kind of man that Alpha Kingston is, he is kind to

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everyone, even undeserving mutts like you. He likes to pick up strays and give them a little affection,” She glares, her chest heaving. She’s right, Kingston is that way, but we really are friends, he cares about me, we’ve been friends for over ten years, and I checked, he doesn’t feel sorry for me, he cares. “But five seconds of his attention has you thinking you’re better than us right?” She asks, shoving me. I land on the floor with a thud, my head stinging from the impact. “You’re not better,” she says, her voice low, and venomous. “You’re nothing.” She says, kicking me with disdain on her face, like kicking me dirties her shoe. I don’t understand it, I’m just like her, my Father is a Gamma too. “You are not special.” She repeats, switching legs, and hitting me while my sister watches with absolutely no emotion on her face.

“Sera,” someone calls, making them freeze. Audrey steps away from me, and I see the boy Seraphine was flirting with over the weekend standing by the door with his four friends. Two from this school, the other two aren’t even in uniform.

Audrey stares at me, “You’re so desperate for male affection, why don’t I help you out?” She asks. “Boys, show my dear friend some attention.”

I shake my head, but she crouches down beside me and pulls a Swiss blade from her jacket. She tears my shirt open with it, the blade bruising my skin. “Don’t,” I beg, finally discerning what is happening. She tears through most of my uniform. “Maybe once you’ve been touched, you’re going to be more focused on doing things right.”

Two of the guys come close, one of them crouches near me, and the sharp smell of sweat and cheap cologne flares up my nose as his hand slides under my skirt. I scramble backwards, my palms slipping on the polished floor. I kick, I scream, my eyes closing, I can’t look, simply I can’t.

“No, please.” I shake my head. “I’ll do better, please Sera? Sera…” I cry out. “Seraphine!” I scream my throat is raw and closing.

I jolt awake with a crashing force, the sheets soaked beneath me. The darkness in my room doesn’t help, I reach for the spot beside me where Kingston would be and when I find it empty, I slip out of bed, my legs shaking. It’s not until I unlock the door that I remember he’s gone. Kingston left two days ago, I spoke to him before I went to bed.

That fuels my panic.

I feel like I’m fifteen again, I can’t breathe, I’m scared, suffocating, and alone again. The memory feels so fresh, the faded scars and wounds on my skin left behind deeper prominent scars on the inside. Seraphine helped me that day, she took me home early, put me under the shower and asked me to keep my mouth shut so Audrey didn’t get in trouble for scaring me. I kept quiet, and an even bigger hell soon befell me.

My eyes desperately wander around the room. “See, smell, touch, feel, hear,” I mumble to myself, my voice trembling.

It’s not working, I’m losing it.

I stagger to the bathroom, fill the tub with water, not bothering to undress, and I slip into the water with my big t- shirt on. The nightmares had stopped, I haven’t had one in a long time, not since Kingston found me that night.

However, they’re back, they’re haunting.

I am not fifteen anymore. I know that, but my brain seems to have forgotten, there’s nothing more than panic to me right now, and I hate it. I hate it, I hate Audrey, I hate Seraphine, I hate their fucked up sense of humour.

I grab my wrist, rubbing over my Luna mark, it’s real, I earned that, it’s proof that I’m here and everything is okay. The tattoo dimly lights up like it often does and somehow that calms me a little.

My nightmare continues to replay in front of me, and this time, I’m a spectator. I see everything I could have done

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