Chapter 7

Raven POV

The door bursts open with a loud bang and Marissa comes storming inside, her hands clenched tightly into fists, her expression vicious and filled with pure rage.

“You embarrassed me in front of everyone,” she hissed, swinging her arm and hitting me hard.

She's strong but she also has a wolf, and not just any wolf, a white wolf.

“You embarrassed yourself,” I said scornfully, touching my cheek and eyeing her with disgust. “You chose to hit that girl and draw attention to yourself. Maybe you need to relearn etiquette,” I snarled, standing up tall and challenging her.

Screw it. She was going to punish me regardless; I might as well get a few good hits in myself.

I was sick of her. Sick of her and that crazy bitch ass mother of ours.

She screamed with rage and pummelled me with both hands, even as I dodged the majority of them, her face turning more and more red as time went on. Eventually she grew tired and stepped away. I felt bruises forming on my skin as I ignored the pain, I was long accustomed to.

“I’m the one marrying Hades,” she breathed, “not you. You’re just a goddamn servant. Hades won’t even look at you twice. I’m done playing Raven,” she warned me, chest heaving up and down, “if you keep this shit up then I won’t hesitate to show you a valuable lesson in being obedient to your mistress. I can make your life more miserable than ever,” she whispered, “more painful than you’ve ever experienced. You think just now was bad?” she scoffed, “that was just a warm up to what I’ll do to you if you don’t stop.”

I stared at her. Took in the rage in her eyes, the coldness of her gaze. I looked at the way she glanced at me, her nostrils flaring as though she was smelling something so rank it offended her. Every movement she made was precise, calculated. For so long now, I had tried to be the sister who forgave everything, who tried to see the silver lining in everything but now? Now it was like everything inside of me turned cold. My twin sister was never going to accept me, like me or even treat me as a decent human being. She’d become a bitter, malicious human being who thrived on my misery.

“What did I ever do to you?” I asked quietly, my chest hurting. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?” my voice broke.

My emotions got the better of me. For a moment I stood there, unmoving, my throat tightening. All these years of their hatred of me became overwhelming and too much. I blurted the words out without thinking.

I just wanted answers. Something to explain why they both treated me like garbage when I was meant to be of their blood. Hell Marissa was my twin and she still acted as though I was invisible.

I look at her as though she's some kind of evil monster, because to me, she is.

“You didn’t have to do anything,” Marissa breathed, “you were born. You were a mistake,” she glared at me, “and since you were a baby you’ve been in my way. A threat to me,” she snarled.

“A threat?” I said with a bitter laugh, “All I’ve ever done is try to love you and our mother. I used to look up to you when we were young. I used to play with you and we would run outside and play games together. We used to be best friends,” I whispered, “and then you just changed and started to hate me. I can’t count all the times that you’ve used me as your private punching bag or humiliated me. You left me to die when we were attacked by those traffickers,” I shouted, waving my arm around, “and I still did what I could to protect and save you. Doesn’t that count for anything?” I exclaimed.

Something inscrutable flashes across her face. Her body relaxes slightly and she looks at me with softened eyes. For a moment she looks on the verge of saying something and then she snaps back to her usual cold, vindictive self.

“It means nothing,” she sneered, “you did what you were supposed to do. I was only nice to you when we were kids because I didn’t know…” she suddenly stopped, a stricken look on her face.

She’d let something slip. Something I wasn’t meant to know. I stepped closer, desperation warring inside of me.

“Because what?” I demanded fiercely, “what made you change so much? What made you turn on me?”

“You’re not. You’re not…” she stammered, and then drew her shoulders back.

“I’m not what?” I whispered.

“A slip of the tongue, nothing more,” Marissa dismissed, shaking her head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to get back to. I strongly suggest you keep yourself hidden. Those bruises look quite nasty,” she said with an edge to her voice.

She stormed away, leaving me staring blankly after her. What had Marissa been on the verge of saying before she forced herself to stop?

“You’re not,” I murmured to myself and frowned. “I’m not what?”

It was a secret but one that would not be contained for very long. A sudden twist of fate would suddenly bring everything into light and change my entire world.