Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 209

Chapter 209

AELIANA

“Stay the night, it’ll be just like old times. All my kids together.”

Those words unnerve me.

I don’t want to stay the night, I don’t want it to be like old times. Those times were creaking hell, those times need to stay in the fucking past, I hate my past.

I want to go home, but the rain is pouring more heavily now. It started to rain just around the time Kingston left the house with Audey, and it hasn’t stopped since. It’s been close to four hours, which means he must have made it to West End patrol station, dropped off Vittoria at his parents’ house, and is now driving back to the packhouse. I still can’t believe I let him go with her, leaving myself trapped here with my family. I wasn’t thinking clearly, I was triggered, and I just wanted to help Vittoria, and all I could do was tell him to leave me, but I’m slightly regretting it now. I feel I should have tagged along, not because I don’t trust him with Audrey, but because I’m feeling lonely now. I’m getting too emotionally dependent on him.

“I’ll go to bed,” I clear my throat. “I’m pretty tired.”

Sera throws her arms around me, quick and perfunctory, her perfume and that of her husband choking me. I’m immediately disgusted, everyone seems to be in a very touchy mood tonight. There are five of us by the staircase so I have to hug Oakley, Gareth, and one of my sisters-in-law. Before I can slip away, Brandon steps forward, grinning from ear to ear as his arms come around me, warm and familiar in the worst way.

“Goodnight, Luna Aeliana,” he says, his voice cheerful. “Don’t let the bed bugs crawl on you.”

Fuck the bed bugs.

My skin crawls.

I force myself to stay still, his hand lingers on my back a second too long when he hugs me. Seraphine moves out of the way, and I slowly walk up the stairs, leaving them talking about game night. My composure is intact up until I enter my room.

The moment the door closes behind me, I fucking lose it. My stomach churns so violently that I barely make it to the toilet before I’m violently throwing up. I choke a few times, my throat burning and tears streaming down my face as I empty everything I barely ate at dinner. My hands shake against the cold porcelain.

I don’t know how long I cling to the toilet bowl, but when I finally flush, my whole body feels feverish. I’m gasping, silently sobbing and utterly disgusted with myself for reacting this way.

It was just a hug. A normal brotherly hug, right?

But my body remembers can’t seem to note the difference, and no matter how many times I try to convince myself it was innocent, I can’t shake the disgust.

I move to the sink, rinsing my mouth and splashing cold water on my face. I’m fine, I’m just startled, I can— fuck

The room starts spinning when I see the words written on the mirror. ‘Little tease’ etched in cursive red ink. I pause, those words weren’t there before, or did I not notice?

I immediately try to wipe it off, but it sticks, I try a few times, unsuccessfully, leaving my hand heating up from the friction.

1/2

+25 Bonus

I back away, throwing the nearest shampoo bottle at the mirror. It fractures, but the words remain, staring back at me, taunting me. I hate it. I hate how fast the buried memory finds me.

That demon is all I can see now, the picture so clear I can almost feel him the same as I did eight years ago. I see the camera that ruined my life, the camera I begged him to hide. I hear him laughing, telling me how much of a tease I’ve been, complimenting me in insults, telling me how he’d like to share me with his fellow demon friends. I feel their hands on me, his disgusting scent flaring up my nose while he told me how pretty I looked when I cried. I hate it, I hate it!

I can’t breathe, the words on the mirror are haunting me. I can’t stay in this house another second, I need to calm down, I need to wash it off me, I need to-I run.

“Ellie,” Seraphine frowns, looking me up at me from the wall where she seems to be smoking? I don’t know, I can’t… “Wow, you look like shit, where are you going?”

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