The Price Of One Night

Ava's POV

 "Fuck.”

  Everything hurts. My head was pounding, my mouth tasted awful, and my body felt sore in ways that made my face heat up even through my panic.

I forced my eyes open.

  White ceiling. Definitely not mine.

  I blinked a few times, trying to think through the fog in my brain. The sheets beneath me felt strange, too soft, too expensive. Nothing like the thin blanket on my bed back at the pack house.

  "Where the hell am I?” I thought.

  I started to sit up but froze immediately. An arm wrapped around my waist…one that definitely didn't belong to Vera. A man's arm. Muscular and heavy, holding me against the bed like I belonged there.

  Oh goddess, no.

  Bits and pieces of last night started coming back. The party. The music. Vera dragging me onto the dance floor. And then... him. Those dark eyes staring at me from across the room like he wanted to eat me alive.

  My stomach twisted, I needed to throw up.

  I turned my head slowly and saw sunlight pouring through huge windows. Bright, golden sunlight that meant it was well past dawn.

 Morning. It was already morning.

   A fresh wave of panic hit me like a punch to the gut. I finally looked down at myself and my heart stopped.

  I was naked. Completely naked. And all over my skin, my neck, my chest, everywhere, were dark purple marks. Love bites that anyone could see. 

   "No, no, no," I whispered, my hands starting to shake. “What did I do?" I thought.

  "I'm sure it's the best thing you've done in your life, man is a beast…a beautiful one.” Rhea replied, but I ignored her as I gently moved away the arms around me, also ignoring the traitorous part of me that wanted it to remain there.

   My clothes were scattered all over the room, my bra was dangling on the standing fan and I was choosing not to think about how it got there in the first place. 

  Taking one last look at the sleeping man, I made my way out of the room as quietly as my hungover self would let me. The living room was empty and scattered, bottles everywhere. Vera was nowhere to be found.

   “Lucien is going to kill me!" I thought, my eyes settling on the large wall clock. 

   Concluding that Vera left when she didn't see me, I pushed the door open, making my way through the familiar path that Vera and I passed the previous day, before shifting into my wolf to get to the Pack faster.

  About thirty minutes later, the Pack house came into view and maybe because I could already picture Lucien's angry face, the atmosphere in the Pack felt different and a few minutes later, I knew why.

   "Where the fuck are you coming from?” His loud voice growled, stopping me in my tracks.

  His eyes were blazing.

  Lucien stood a few feet away, arms crossed over his broad chest, jaw clenched so tight I thought it might crack. His scent slammed into me a second later, rage, dominance, and something darker underneath that made Rhea shrink back.

 I swallowed hard and forced myself to straighten my shoulders. I wasn’t a child. Even though my pulse was racing like I’d just been caught committing a crime.

 “I-I…" I started, avoiding meeting his eyes. “I just wanted to…” I trailed off, I didn't want to drag Vera into this, “I needed some time alone." 

 “Alone?” He laughed, sharp and humorless. “Then explain this, you fucking whore.” He cursed, and only then did I notice the pictures in his hand.

   Cold sweat broke across my forehead, as I knelt down to check the pictures. It was me, dancing with a man, kissing him and although his face was barely visible, I knew it was the men I'd slept with. But how?

 My neck burned instinctively and I dragged my dress which barely covered anything.

 His gaze dropped.

 I watched his pupils dilate, watched his hands curl slowly into fists. The silence that followed was worse than his shouting.

 “Who,” he said quietly, dangerously, “touched you?”

  

   “N-Nobody, I fell…”

  "Don't fucking lie to me, Ava.” He growled. "You let another man touch you? You're my fucking wife.”

   I felt something snap inside of me. "You made it clear I wasn't when you marked Seren.”

   He grabbed my neck, pulling me to meet his eyes. "Did you enjoy it? Did you like his hands on you…tell me.” He asked, his voice coming out rough. “Was he good enough to make you forget who you belong to?" 

   The answer was at the tip of my tongue, but I was already struggling to breathe to add to it. “I-I c-can’t breathe." I managed to say, and only then did he let go of me.

   Before he could say anything, Seren appeared beside him, a smug look on her face. “Darling!" She called, her voice sickly sweet as she wrapped her arms around him. “She's not worth it…and you have me now.”

    "Yea,” Lucien replied, "you're right.”

   She kissed him, her eyes not leaving mine. "If this is your way of getting attention, you need to try harder.” She mocked, "our parents would be so ashamed of you.”

    Her words barely did anything to me, since the day I got my wolf, I was already a disappointment, so what was one more thing.

   "Take her to her room…she doesn't leave until I say so.” Lucien said to the warriors lurking in the corners.

   "Luc…Alpha, I'm sorry please." I heard myself apologize, despite how wrong it sounded. “I'm sorry." And I wasn't sure why, but tears streamed down my face like he just pronounced the death sentence on me. But seeing the cold look in the eyes that used to be full of love, it might as well be.

    My plea fell on deaf ears as the warriors led me to my room, which was way better than the dungeon he put me in the last time I disobeyed him.

   I didn't bother changing out of my dress, as I made myself comfortable on the bed with both warriors not taking their eyes off me.

   "Is Vera okay?” I asked after a while, but was met with silence. And for whatever reason, I couldn't mindlink her.

   After a while, my mind went back to the man. The memories of last night finally making sense. "Who was he?”

  I was still trying to come up with answers when I felt myself drifting up to sleep, only waking up when the sound of people arguing reached my ears.

   “She's an embarrassment, Alpha. There's no use keeping her around." The familiar voice of my dad said.

  I stilled, every muscle in my body going tight.

 "He's right, Alpha.” My mom added. “Your mating ceremony with Seren is in a few days and with the Alpha king coming, we don't want her ruining anything." 

  “It's not like anyone would miss her." My dad said, dashing whatever hope I was clinging onto.

   The next thing I heard were footsteps before my door flung open. “I know you're not sleeping." Lucien said, and my eyes slowly opened to meet his gaze.

   “Why did we ever find him attractive?" Rhea asked.

   “Are you ready to apologize?" Lucien asked before I could reply to Rhea. My head snapped upward. “What?" 

  At this point, I could feel steam coming out my ears. “Apologize? I didn't do anything wrong." I snapped, tired of being the weak daughter and ex wife.

  He took a step closer, “you let another man touch what's mine…”

   "No,” I said slowly. "I stopped being yours months ago, I can do whatever I want.”

   He was beside me in an instant, "say that again.” His voice low, sending a shiver down my spine. I knew I should stop talking knowing it wouldn't do any good but my mouth had a different plan.

   "You can threaten me, Lucien but it doesn't change the fact that I don't belong to you…not anymore.” I told him, "and if you must know, I had the best sex of my life last night.”

   That did it, one moment I was sitting on the bed and the next, I was being held down. "Bind her.” Lucien ordered, "take her to the training ground.”

   My heart stopped beating, "Lucien, no!” I begged as the warriors dragged me out of the room, but he wasn't listening at all, "I didn't mean it.” The lie tasted bitter but being taken to the training ground was the worst punishment for any werewolf.

   “Lucien, I'll behave, I promise." I screamed to no avail.

  Pack members stood at a distance, nobody offering to help…not like I expected them to. 

   Once we arrived at the training ground, my body had gone weak from crying and begging. So when they positioned me in the centre, I didn't have it in me to struggle anymore.

  Lucien stood near the Alpha’s chair, hands clasped behind his back. He didn’t look at me as I was positioned, didn’t acknowledge the way my hands trembled or how my eyes were pleading with the one who once promised to love her forever.

 I searched the crowd anyway.

My mother. My father. Anyone.

No one met my eyes.

  “This is it.” I thought, closing my eyes, my breath catching as the air moved behind me.

 The whip came down–

    The next time I opened my eyes, I couldn't feel my body and Lucien was standing beside me. But I was done, done caring about anyone that wasn't me, for people who watched me receive judgement for a crime I didn't commit. But nothing prepared me for his next words.

  “I, Lucien Winston hereby banish you from this pack,” he declared, his voice carrying across the training grounds, sharp and absolute. “From this moment forward, you are no longer welcome here. If you return, you will be met with death.”

  I swallowed hard, the weight of his words settling over me like stone. The whispers of the crowd, the eyes of the warriors, everything faded.

  I drew in a slow breath and lifted my chin. My voice was quiet but steady. “I, Ava Night, accept banishment and reject Lucien Winston, as my Alpha.” I managed to say as everything went dark.