Chapter 6

Ariana’s POV

“Look at her, she tried to run yesterday!” one of the sweetbutts cackles, pointing at me while I’m on my knees scrubbing grease off the stove. The whole kitchen erupts in ugly laughter.

I grit my teeth and keep scrubbing. “Mind your own fucking business and get back to work.”

“Mind your own fucking business and get back to work,” another mimics in a high-pitched whine, “coming from the Prez-killer pig.”


A dirty bar rag smacks me in the face. Then another. Then a whole rain of them.

“Whole kitchen’s yours today, murderer,” Aliera sneers, dumping a bucket of dirty water over my head. “Punishment for being a worthless cunt.”

They leave me soaked, shivering, and alone with a mountain of filth.

By the time the moon’s high, my hands are raw, my back is screaming, and my eyes burn from crying into the sink. I don’t even have a room anymore, the sweetbutts and prospects took it, threw my shit in the hallway, and told me to sleep on the floor like the dog they think I am.

“You think you have a place here?” Aliera laughed out loud mocking me.

My lips trembled. I turned, dragging myself out the back door, needing air that doesn’t stink of bleach and betrayal.

I’m halfway across the yard when my boot slips on loose gravel and I slam straight into a wall of muscle and leather.

I stumble back, heart jackhammering, and look up.

Liam.

He towers over me, rain dripping off his blond hair, green eyes cold as winter steel.

For one stupid heartbeat I remember how those arms used to feel safe.

Then his lip curls.

“Ariana,” he spits, like my name tastes bad. “The fuck do you want?”

I swallowed, hard. I didn't know what to say, but I had one question in mind.

The silence lingered on for a few minutes, and with both of us staring at each other, I broke it.

“I… I just want to know why.” My voice cracks. “Why her? Why throw me away like trash?”

Yes, I wanted to know why. I had thought we both had a thing for each other.

He laughs, sharp, mean, nothing like the laugh I used to love.

“You really are pathetic. You think you ever deserved me? You’re weak, Ariana. Nothing. Elena’s the one who belongs on the back of my bike.”

The words hit harder than any fist.

I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes hearing him say that, but I refused to let tears fall as I quickly blinked it away.

“You’re not the Liam I loved,” I whisper. “That Liam would’ve died before he hurt me.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes at me. "You are indeed gullible, Ariana. That Liam never existed. You were just a stepping stone to the gavel.”

I step back, tears I can’t hold anymore started flowing down my cheeks. “So all of it, the promises, the nights you swore I was your forever was bullshit?”

“Every second,” he says, stepping closer, crowding me, his eyes filled with contempt. "You really thought you deserved me, Ariana? You're weak, pitiful. You can't even stand up for yourself."

"S-stop!" I shuttered, sobbing, not wanting to hear his hurtful words anymore.

I hated how my voice was shaking, and how weak I sounded, I tried to appear unaffected but it wasn't working. I really loved him and I was committed to him.

"Hurting you? I don't care if you're hurt or not, Ariana," He hissed, and I felt a deep pain pierce my heart as if he had stabbed me with his words. “You’re not First Lady material. But I’ll give you a choice, baby.” His voice drops, filthy and cruel. “Be my sweet-butt on your knees whenever I want or get the fuck out of Valenti-moon club territory forever. Go rogue. See how long a pretty little thing like you lasts without a pack.”

My stomach turns.

"What?" I muttered in disbelief, "You won't do this to me, would you?" I staggered back.

“I can,” he cuts me off, smirking as his eyes dance around my body devilishly. “Future President, remember? My word is law now.”

I subconsciously attempted to touch him, but he recoiled away from me, his eyes deepened with a sense of disgust.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” His eyes raked over me, disgusted. “Be grateful I’m offering you a collar instead of a coffin. You're weak, pitiful. No one else would want you."

I felt a deep pain pierce my soul as if he had torn out my heart with his claws. But I knew I had no choice. I loved him, despite his cruelty, despite his mockery. I loved him enough to accept this humiliation, just to be with him, even temporarily.

I drop my gaze, fists clenched so tight my nails draw blood.

If that’s what he wants, so be it.

“Fine,” I breathe, hating myself. “I’ll be your sweet-butt.”

I can't leave the club because leaving means I would go rogue, and that would make my life even uglier. The worst that could ever happen to a wolf is if it goes rogue.

Liam’s smirk widened, in triumph I discerned.

His grin is pure predator.

In the blink of an eye, I saw him right in front of me, and with his face lowered to my neck, I felt his hot breath hitting the shell of my skin, sending chills down my spine.

I shivered involuntarily, and through the corner of my eyes, I saw a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes.

“Good girl. I’ll send for you when I’m bored of Elena. Don’t keep me waiting.”

I shiver, rage, humiliation, the ghost of a bond that never existed.

I nodded, unable to speak, but deep inside me I felt sick, as tears glistened in my eyes.

“What the hell are you doing with her, Liam?” Elena ’s voice came out as she approached us.

“Nothing, babe,” he says, turning, catching Elena by the waist and kissing her deep and dirty right in front of me.

She moans into his mouth, then smirks over his shoulder at me like she just won the war.

“Come on, let’s go”, Elena pulled Liamaway. They walk off, her laughter echoing, his hand sliding down to grab her ass.

I stand there until they disappear, sweat plastering my hair to my face, washing blood and tears into the mud.

I’m not the girl who walked into this yard five minutes ago.

That girl just died.

What’s left is something colder.

Something that’s done begging.

I’ll wear his collar for now.

But one day I’m going to wrap it around his throat and pull until he chokes on every lie he ever told me.

I swear it on my father’s grave.

Then, I remembered the box I was given by the biker and immediately reached for it. I opened it and found a pendant in it, the same pendant I had seen dangling on his neck, that felt oddly familiar.

I subconsciously opened the ball pendant and to my surprise, a picture of my mother and I was in it.

How?

How did he get this?

I wanted answers right that instant, but there was none. I was back in the club where security was now tighter.

There was a small paper in the box too, and it claimed that my mother was still alive.

The hair on my body instantly stood up and I wondered who he was. How did he know so much about me?

“Move!” A squeal echoed from a clubmaid, bringing me back to my consciousness.

I hid it back in my pocket so no one would suspect anything.

This was just the beginning, I thought within myself as I moved to get work done.