Piece By Piece

NERINE

The second the wooden doors of the hall closed behind me, the smile I had worn all evening fell off my face and I gritted my teeth in anger.

I walked straight to my room without speaking to anyone. The limp I had put on for the elders disappeared the moment I turned to the corner leading to my room and I began to walk normally. 

By the time I got to my room, I shoved the door open, my hands already shaking as I kicked it shut hard enough that the sound echoed down the empty hallway.

I stood in the middle of the room for a second, breathing hard as I tried to calm myself, but it wasn’t working.

The next moment, I reached for the glass vase on the side table and threw it against the wall.

Water, broken glass, and flowers exploded across the floor, but I wasn’t satisfied.

I reached for another vase and crashed it to the floor. A third vase followed, and then the small porcelain pieces my mother had placed on the dresser turned to broken shards too.

One after another, I swept everything I could see onto the floor until the sound of breaking things filled the entire room.

“That bitch!” I yelled, the scream tearing through my throat.

I dragged both hands through my hair, pulling at it until it hurt, and screamed again.

This time, I didn’t care if I was in the pack house or not.

My chest felt too tight… too tight to keep pretending that what had happened in the hall was acceptable.

My eyes burned with real tears this time, and I slowly curled my fists.

She had ruined everything.

She had ruined the first and most important part of the rites after all the care I had taken to stand in her place before the whole council and perform the rite for my son.

She shouldn’t have come. She shouldn’t have made her way to the hall just like that. 

I bit my lip, remembering the crown on her head.  Maelis had not only reminded me that she was Luna, but she had also made it clear that she intended to fight for what is mine.

Panic filled me and I began to pace around the room, caring less about the glass piercing into my feet.

With every step I took, the anger in me boiled harder, drowning out whatever pain I was supposed to feel under my feet.

Caden would be the heir of SilverCrest and that part was already decided. I had worked too long and hard for anything else to happen.

But Maelis… that bitch was still standing in the way, and still holding on to a title she barely had rights to. 

How dare she?

I wished I could wipe that smug look off her face. And what was that authority and aura that had suddenly possessed her tonight?

I stopped in front of the tall mirror and stared at myself. My hair was wild from all the scratching, and my eyes were red, with patches of mascara running down my cheeks.

But I cared less about my current appearance. All that was in my mind was how to make Maelis bow and have Theron eat out of my palm.

“Just watch bitch, I will take him from you,” I whispered to my image in the mirror. “Piece by piece if I have to.”

The memory of the garden came back without warning, and I recalled the way I had leaned up to kiss him, the way he had turned his head at the last second and pressed his lips to my forehead instead.

The indirect rejection still sat under my skin like a thorn.

My fist clenched even tighter until my nails dug into my palms.

Maelis would pay for everything but first, I needed to remind him who he had actually loved all these years.

Inhaling loudly, I forced myself into the bathroom and washed my face with cold water until the heat in my cheeks faded. I didn’t know how many hours I had spent in the bathroom but by the time I came out, the enforcer's alarm had rung to announce the curfew. 

I fixed my hair, then chose a soft nightgown that exposed my chest enough for my breasts to jiggle out if I bent low. I then applied my perfume before leaving my room and walking toward the Alpha wing.

The hallway was empty. Most of the house had already gone to bed after the ruined rites and when I reached his door I slowed down and added a few drops of the clear liquid substance I kept for nights like this into each eye. 

Within seconds they turned red and stung terribly… just exactly the way I wanted them to. 

Gently, I knocked on his door, adjusting the short nightgown. A low, irritated growl came from the other side of the room. 

“Who the hell is disturbing me at this hour?”

I swallowed hard and began to sob. “It’s me… Nerine.”

The door opened almost at once, and Theron stood there in a dark shirt, hair slightly messy, eyes still red from anger. The second he saw my face I let myself fall forward.

He caught me on instinct, his arms locking around me as I pressed my face into his chest and continued sobbing loudly this time. 

“I can’t sleep, Tee,” I cried. “Please… please. Every time I close my eyes I see those whiskers hitting the floor. I keep hearing the elder shout. I think… I think I brought bad luck with me when I came back. The Moon Goddess must be angry with me.”

His hand came up to the back of my head and he began stroking it gently.

“Stop,” he said, his voice rough. “None of that was your fault. The real perpetrator in this house is Maelis. She knocked that box on purpose. I saw the way she moved.”

I shook my head against his chest, still crying. “Don’t say that. She’s still my sister. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe she didn’t mean—”

“It wasn’t an accident.” His tone left no room for argument. “She did it deliberately and she will answer for it.”

He guided me inside and shut the door.  

The room smelled like him… cedar wood and the faint trace of the cologne he always wore. He led me to the bed and sat me down, then told me to stop crying. 

I continued crying and slowly lowered myself onto the bed. I lay there, crying helplessly.  

I heard him sigh, before taking the other side of the bed and lying beside me. I shifted closer to him, sniffling as I rested my head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. 

His arm settled around my shoulders and he patted me gently. “When did you become such a crybaby? It’s okay.”

I let out a loud sigh, stopped crying, closed my eyes, and lowered my head slowly. 

Snuggling closer to him, I pressed my lips against his chest as a small smile crossed my lips.

It was only a matter of time before I had him exactly where I wanted him. Only a matter of time before I start ruling my pack the way I please.