Page 142 of Crystal Luna
With a bite of chicken in her mouth, she took a closer look at him. His knuckles were busted open and he’d changed his shirt.
“Once we’ve found a new beta, he will be replaced. Until then, he won’t set foot into our home.”
“No.”
His brow furrowed in confusion.
“You can’t replace him.”
“We can and we will. He hurt you. He violated you,” he protested.
“And if you replace him out of nowhere everyone will want to know why. I don’t need their pity. I don’t want him near me unless it’s necessary, but I won’t be the sad little rape victim.”
She didn’t miss the way he cringed at the word. “No one—”
“Yes, they will. And I won’t be that girl. I won’t be humiliated again by everyone knowing.”
He sighed and ran his hand over his face, his exhaustion now evident. “If I’d known…”
“I never told anyone. Ely himself didn’t even remember. I didn’t want people to know. I was already pitied for being an orphan—I didn’t need anymore.”
His shoulders slumped forward, looking everywhere but at her. “I’m sorry for what I did last night.”
She set her plate aside and leaned against the window to face him. “That wasn’t the same.”
“I forced myself on you.”
“I could’ve said no. I didn’t want to.”
The door creeped open again, this time revealing a timid Asher holding a tub of ice cream. She couldn’t help but smile as he got closer—it was her favourite. He handed the tub to her along with a spoon and sat on the floor with his back against the bed.
“Why didn’t you tell Heath?” Asher asked.
“I didn’t want to talk about it. I was messed up enough, I didn’t need him to think I was totally damaged.”
“When did it happen?”
“A few days before my first shift. I can’t really remember the exact day. I was cleaning up after your party. Larissa stayed the night. She—”
“She commented on your appearance,” Isaiah finished for her.
“Yeah I think so. The days after that are kinda blurred. I was in survival mode. And then I shifted, and I had other things to worry about.”
Asher looked as guilty as his brother. “We would’ve never made him beta.”
“I know. But I never planned on coming back here—I never intended on seeing him again.”
“You thought Renly was Ely at the gas station, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“We assumed you panicked because of nerves,” Isaiah said.
“Well, that too.”
Velora tried to eat her ice cream, but she couldn’t enjoy it as much as she wanted to. After only a few bites she handed it to Isaiah and leaned her head back against the cool glass of the window.
“Do you want us to go?” Isaiah asked, absentmindedly putting a bite of the sweet treat in his mouth.