로그인Ruby's POVI did not know what to say to that so I did not say anything. The room was quiet for a moment. Then Malcolm's eyes dropped to my wrist. He looked at it the same way he did before. That focused, still look that lasted just a moment too long.I had been waiting for the right time to ask about it and I decided that the right time was probably not going to announce itself so I might as well just do it now."Why does the mark bother you so much?" I asked.He looked up at me."Every time you see it you get this look," I said. "You went through my room because of it. You have been staring at it since you first noticed it. I want to know why."He exhaled slowly. He looked at the mark again and then back at my face."Do you know what it means," he said. "To be marked by a man."I blinked. "What?""When a man marks a woman it means something. It is not casual. It is a claim. It is saying that she belongs to him."I felt something go cold in my stomach. "And you thought someone had ma
Ruby's POVI drew for a long time after that.I was not thinking about what I was making. I was just letting my hand move and seeing what came out. That was always how the best stuff happened for me.I was maybe thirty minutes in when I looked down at the page and stopped.I had drawn a girl. She was tall. She had slim, long legs and a small waist and the kind of proportions that people described as willowy without making it sound like an insult. She was standing straight with her chin up and her arms loose at her sides like she was comfortable just existing in her own body. I stared at her for a while.She did not look like me, or she did not look like the me I saw when I looked in the mirror. She looked like the me that sometimes appeared in my head when I was not paying attention. The version of me that I defaulted to when I was imagining myself doing things, taller, thinner, taking up less space.I had read about body dysmorphia once. About how your brain could show you a version
He smiled at that. "If I were you, I would still chase my dreams. Contract or no contract. Whatever arrangement you are in with whoever you are in it with, that is separate from who you are as a person and what you want for yourself. You should not have to shrink what you want because someone else is uncomfortable with it."I did not say anything."That is just my opinion," he added."I've heard you," I said.He nodded and then reached into the bag he was carrying. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out to me. I took it and unfolded it. It was a flyer, printed on good paper, not the kind people made on a home printer. It had a photo of a large open gallery space at the top and bold text underneath.ARTISTS CONNECT. ANNUAL ART EXHIBITION AND COMPETITION.I read further down. It was an open competition for artists at any level. You submitted a piece or a series of pieces. A panel of judges reviewed them. There were different categories—Painting, sculpture, mixed media, di
Ruby's POVI could not sleep properly. I kept waking up and then lying there staring at nothing and then almost falling asleep and then waking up again. By five in the morning I gave up and just got out of bed. I sat on the edge of the mattress for a while doing nothing. Then I got up, brushed my teeth, put on my gym clothes and decided to just go. The gym was quiet that early. That was the thing I liked about going before the rest of the world was awake. There was nobody to look at me. Nobody was doing that thing where they glance over and then look away too fast. It was just me and the equipment and whatever was playing through my earphones.I started on the treadmill. I was not pushing it, just a steady walk to get my body moving. I had my playlist on and I was looking at the wall in front of me and trying not to think about the email I had sent last night.I had quit a job I actually liked after one day because a man I was contractually tied to did not approve of it. When I put
"Name a number," he repeated. "Whatever you think that job is worth to you. I will pay you that. Every month. You do not have to go anywhere, you do not have to stand on your feet all day, and you can stay here and do whatever you want."I stared at him."You want to pay me to quit my job," I said."I want you to be practical," he said."That is the same thing.""Ruby, think about it logically," he said. "You just started today. You have not even built anything there yet. It is easy to walk away now before you get attached.""I already like it there," I said."You were there for one day.""And I liked it," I said again.He exhaled and sat back. He looked frustrated in a quiet way, not yelling, not aggressive, just a tight expression around the jaw and the eyes."I do not understand why you are making this difficult," he said. "I am offering to solve the problem for you.""There is no problem," I said. "I got a job. That is not a problem.""It is when you are ignoring my messages all d
Ruby's POVThe rest of the day at the museum went fine. Andrew showed me a few more things after lunch. How to handle the loaned pieces when they came in. Where to store the packaging materials. How to fill in the condition report for each item before it got logged into the system. It was all straightforward and I picked it up quickly.It was a quiet, normal day where nothing went wrong and nobody said anything mean to me, not even my wolf and I just did my work and went home.I did not think about the painting again. I did not think about the mark on my wrist. I did not think about Malcolm or my father or any of it. I just worked. By five o'clock Linda came back from her meetings and did a quick check in with me. She asked how the day went and I told her it went well. She seemed happy with that. She told me my official schedule would be sent to my email and that I was expected at nine the next morning.I said goodnight to Andrew. He was wrapping up some paperwork at his desk and he ga
The front door slammed hard enough for me to hear it. Malcolm had headed outside.A second later, I heard his car start. I glanced through the window. The engine revved once, then again, before the car disappeared down the road.He did not look back.I stood where I was for a long moment, staring a
“That mark isn’t ordinary.”I raised a brow and studied my hand, where the mark was etched.I tightened my arms around myself, instinctively shielding my wrist even though he had already seen it.“You’re overreacting,” I said, forcing a steadiness into my voice that I did not feel. “I told you. It’
“I’m…I'm so sorry.” I stuttered as I shifted underneath him and he got up from my body.“Damn Ruby,” I scolded myself, feeling like a total slut. Why did I even do that?He smiled lightly in a way that looked like he was blushing. “It's totally fine.”I looked at the floor as I felt too shy to rais
He held me close to his chest, while patting my back gently and whispering words that I barely even listened to. My nervous system was in a frenzy. I asked myself if it was really a bad idea trying to meet my father in crimson jail even after knowing he was in a place where grave offenders lodged.







