Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Bruises

Asher

The bruise is a dark, angry purple and red. It spans the entirety of my neck, as if it’s been slit, except it’s not as thin of a line.

I clear my throat. I haven’t spoken since last night, too nervous to hear what my voice sounds like. I doubt it’s anything good.

“Hello,” I speak into the mirror, my voice barely above a whisper, knives shooting down my throat. “Fuck.”

I wince, swallowing hard. I’ll have to drink a lot of water, but I doubt that’ll fix this. I ought to go to the doctor to make sure no permanent damage was done, but this would be a doozy to explain.

What am I going to do about my voice? People will notice if I’m talking funny. What excuse will I give? A bad case of bronchitis? Screaming at a concert?

And that’s if I can cover the bruise somehow. I can’t pass that off as a rash or an accident falling down the stairs. Anyone with half a brain cell could tell this is a strangle mark.

I still can’t believe it happened. She’s been physically abusive before, but never like this. She’s never tried to kill me. The one time I stood up for myself, this is what happened.

Goddess, I’m such an idiot! Why did I let myself think it was a good idea to grab her hand? I should have sucked it up and let her slap me to her heart’s content. At least then, I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in now, walking on eggshells.

Because now this situation is lethal. She has the capacity to kill me. She wants to. She’s looking for me to give her a reason.

I need a plan.

I can’t stay with her knowing what I know now, but I also know I can’t leave on a whim. She still has control over my family. And if she’s capable of hurting me, her mate, like this, who knows what she’d be willing to do with my family in order to force me to stay.

There’s still a chance to make things better.

You’re joking, right? Make things better? She strangled us, Cato! We could have died!

Yeah, but-

I shut him out of my mind. I can’t sit and listen to his bullshit anymore. It’s ridiculous how he tries to justify her actions.

Rose is right, I deserve so much better.

And what did I do to repay her for opening my eyes? Treated her like shit. Ran out on her and left her alone when she was clearly upset. And for what? To race home to a woman I loathe? A woman I fear? A woman who abuses me?

It's hard to use that word. Abuse. It's a tricky thing to admit. But it's the truth. I can't live in ignorance any longer.

I sniffle, tears brimming in the corners of my eyes from guilt. I feel awful for what I did to Rose. I shouldn’t have let things go that far, but denying the attraction between us is impossible. It’s palpable, but I know I shouldn’t act on it. There are too many loose ends I need to tie up.

But would she understand? Would she wait for me? Does she feel the same way about me, or is it just physical attraction?

Because the way I feel about her is a lot more than superficial lust.

But how do I feel about her? How could I explain it? My feelings are a mess. I don’t know which way is up anymore, let alone why I feel such a magnetic, inescapable pull toward a vampire. We’re genetically sworn enemies, but she feels like a gift from the Goddess in my life.

A life raft.

“Hey, Ashy,” I hear a cheery voice sing-song beside me. Gen opens the bathroom door and walks in. “Are you crying?”

I wipe my eyes.

“Goddess, you’re so fucking dramatic,” she mutters before hoisting herself on the counter. She grabs my chin and lifts it, turning my face side to side to examine my neck. She winces. “That is a nasty color. I can give you some makeup to cover it up.”

I force down a laugh. How can she act so flippantly about what she did? As if she’s doing me a favor by covering up her transgression?

“Y’know, Ash,” she starts, letting out a long sigh. “I am really sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have gone that far with you. My wolf just got so angry when you grabbed my hand.”

“Don’t blame your wolf,” I argue, my voice raspy but strong. “You slapped me multiple times, and somehow I was able to control myself and only grab your hand to ask you to stop.”

“That wasn’t your wolf, though. That was you,” she says with a frown. “Which, honestly, is what hurt so much. You are such a kindhearted, sweet man. I never knew you had that type of aggression in you. It was scary.”

“Scary?” I ask incredulously. “Not scarier than having an extension cord wrapped around your neck!”

“Well, I’m apologizing for that, aren’t I?”

“But you came in here and said I was being dramatic like five seconds ago, Gen!” I cry, but my throat closes before I can say anything else, swelling with pain. I cough. “So, which one is it?”

“Again, I’m sorry for what I did,” she reiterates with a smile. “I was just making a stupid joke to ease the tension.”

I shake my head in disbelief. How did I let it go this far? How did I not see before that there’s something very wrong with her? She’s psychopathic.

“C’mere, babe,” she says, using her finger to gesture for me to come closer.

I comply, and she spreads her legs, yanking me by my belt loops between them on the counter. She wraps her legs around my waist and smiles, kissing my mark. I feel it erupt into fire, but not the pleasant kind.

This is what she does. I can see it so clearly now: The pattern, the cycle. She does something awful, then immediately after, she's sticky sweet with me, using sex as a makeup tool to manipulate me into thinking she'll change. She's nice for a time, but it never lasts long.

“How about we make up?” She asks, palming me through my jeans. I grunt, stepping back, uncomfortable with the contact.

I can't let her sway me again.

“I’m not really in the mood.”

“But I’m so fucking horny, Ash,” she moans, unbuttoning her shorts. “I’d really like for you to go down on me.”

“Gen, I can’t right now,” I answer, hoping not to upset her too much. I have to be careful. If she thinks I want to leave, she may lash out. I have to maintain an appearance of everything being business as usual. “I need to rest. My head still isn’t feeling very good after last night.”

She scowls, rolling her eyes and jumping off the counter with a longing sigh.

“Fine, have it your way.”

She exits the bathroom and rummages through the drawers for her bag.

“Where are you going?” I ask, feeling the tension rise in the room. Why do I have the feeling something terrible is about to happen? Am I picking up on a shift in her energy, or is my mind playing tricks on me?

“Well, I moved around all my meetings to spend time with you this morning, but you need rest. So, I have nothing to do,” she explains with a haughty tone. “So, I think I’ll go have a little chat with Rose since she was so adamant about speaking with you about clan-pack affairs.”

I feel a rock in my stomach.

“She wasn’t being ant-”

“Save it,” she snaps. “I also have to have a little conversation with her about speaking with my mate without me present.” She mutters under her breath, “She needs to learn to keep her filthy fangs to herself.”

I watch the pink glow rise in her eyes and my heart races. I can’t let her speak to Rose when she’s like this. Who knows what she may do? She could instigate a war or worse.

She could kill Rose.

She’s angry enough. Goddess knows I felt her wrath last night.

I need to protect her. I can't allow Gen to hurt Rose the way she's hurt me, not when it's my fault there's tension between them. Fuck, why did I have to meet with Rose behind Gen's back? I'm putting her in danger for my selfish desires.

But I need her...

What could I say that’ll stop Gen from going after her? I tried reasoning with her last night, and look how that turned out.

I could…

“Wait, Gen!” I call after her just before she exits the bedroom. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What?”

“It’s-” I stammer, hoping the Goddess will forgive me for what I’m about to do. Hopefully, I can forgive myself, too. “It’s about River Run.”