Chapter Three

Blake

I sat there at the dining table, texting Mary like my life depended on it. I wanted to explain everything and beg for her forgiveness for what had happened yesterday. I had no idea how Shawn had known I was heading to that art event.

I needed that visa, I needed to win. But after yesterday I was afraid I had been disqualified. Not even forgetting the fact that he had shot a man's leg in the process of carrying me out.

I sent multiple text messages to Mary, apologising and hoping she could give me another chance. Hoping I could still compete after my stepbrother had ruined the signings.

But it ticked double with no response. Out of frustration I slammed my phone on the table, pressing my head against the table, thinking of how to get over this.

I thought of my mom, how this was meant to free her. And now we might get stuck here. Oh, if I saw Shawn right now I would give him a piece of my mind.

I checked my phone and Mary hadn't responded. I crashed on the chair in frustration.

I sat at the table for hours, trying to think of something, when I met the last of the four stepbrothers.

He walked in with a hoodie, his hands tucked into the pockets. I didn't notice him at first until I raised my head to see someone had entered the room.

Leo, the last of the four sons. I didn't want him to notice me, certain he'd hate me like the others. But before I could turn away, he caught my eyes, and for some reason, I froze.

Brown silk hair, brown eyes, pink lips I couldn't ignore framed a face I'd just met along with the rest of Mr. Cody's sons. Yet this one made my chest tighten the same unexplainable way Shawn and Gaige had, a pull I couldn't shake.

"You don't have to run," he said to me, which startled me a bit. I remembered Shawn warning me some days back, telling me how all three of his brothers hated me, and I felt like this could be a trap.

"No. It's fine, I was going anyway," I said, trying to disappear.

"I said sit." His voice was very demanding, and my body followed without hesitation. I wasn't necessarily scared, I was just uneasy because standing up to one of the brothers could lead to them eventually ganging up on me.

He approached me in a subtle way that made my skin jolt, and sat opposite me, looking at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. I thought maybe if I said something it would break this awkward tension.

"I... I'm Blake," I stuttered.

"Oh, I know who you are. The daughter of the woman responsible for our Luna's death." The accusations again. They all hated me for the same reason, and I didn't know how much more I could take. Mason, Gaige, and Shawn had each found their own way to humiliate me. I feared Leo would do the same.

"Look. I don't want any trouble," I said, trying to sound calm.

He laughed.

"Do you like pack gatherings?"

"What?" I asked in confusion. He pulled back and looked at my body with a disarming smile.

"Get up. We're going to a pack gathering."

"What? Look, please, I don't do pack gatherings."

"I wasn't asking," he said with a raging look in his eyes. He was so muscular that it was enough to make me not want to argue. But he wasn't finished.

"And you're not going dressed like that," he said, pointing at my clothes. Seconds later he pulled out a skimpy gown and threw it at my face, the kind of thing that barely covered my body but exposed me completely.

"Please. I can't wear this."

"Wear it," he said with a grin. And I had no choice. This was his own way of humiliating me.

Seconds later I was in the gown. My breath shot out tightly, my curves were exposed enough to seduce a wolf. The gown barely covered my thighs, making me have to try to pull it down every few seconds.

He forced me into his car and we drove off.

Then I began to wonder, were we really going to a pack gathering or did he have something even worse for me in mind. I gripped my seat tightly. Then we arrived at the venue.

It was a pack gathering, and I looked like a stripper. I already felt humiliated before we stepped out.

"Get out, let's go," he ordered.

"Please. Why are you doing this? Me and my mom are innocent." No sense of sympathy flickered in his eyes.

"Just get down."

He said it, and I obeyed, feeling uncomfortable as he held my hand and dragged me into the gathering. I kept trying to tug my skimpy gown down over my thighs, but it was no use. Before we even entered the main hall, his brother Gaige bumped into us.

Oh my God, my high school crush. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"What is she doing here?" he asked Leo, as he held me.

"Just, you know, using her while we have her."

They both laughed. I tried to hide my face, but when Gaige looked me over, that disgusted look wasn't there. Instead, lust and something deeper flickered in his expression, sending heat crawling up my neck.

"Okay bro, I'll see you at the gathering."

He said it to Gaige and they shook hands, but Gaige's eyes still followed me as we entered the gathering.

It was loud, exactly what you'd expect from a pack gathering. As we entered, approaching the bar, we bumped into Mason, and my body reacted immediately, remembering what he had done to me days back.

I tried to hide my face but he saw me and smiled. It was like they all enjoyed the humiliation I felt.

It was like their Alpha was destroying my mom's life and they were destroying mine. That was why I needed to get my mom out of here.

"You brought her," Mason said, smiling.

"Of course, she's our new toy." They both laughed. And seconds later Shawn entered.

Was this planned? Had they all agreed to meet here just to humiliate me? I tried to stay calm as the gathering grew wild around me, the brothers drinking and howling while I shrank into a corner. I just wanted to go home, but they'd warned me not to go anywhere, so I sat there and watched them drink.

Until Leo walked over to me, slightly drunk, and pushed up against me. I tried to put space between us, pulling back, but he was relentless. His lips crashed into mine, and beneath the panic was that same confusing pull from him, something in me responding even as I hated it. I pushed him away, my cheeks flushing red in embarrassment.

He forced himself on me again, giving me another kiss, and I pushed him away and slapped him. Gaige and Mason saw it and decided to torture me with it.

The next thing, Mason dragged my hair and kissed me so hard my tongue was on fire.

I pushed him away, already going insane.

"Please, guys. Stop." And then Gaige pulled me from behind and kissed me harder. They all laughed, they enjoyed it. And then Shawn came.

Shawn, who I thought had a little decency, Shawn, who I thought would stop them, dragged me and kissed me till I felt dizzy.

It was too much. Being kissed by all four of them should have only made me feel like a thing, but underneath the shame was a pull toward each of them I couldn't name, leaving me confused and disgusted with myself. Soon after, I passed out from exhaustion.