Aysel
After leaving my parents and Damon, I drove straight to check on Skylar.
The healer had already cleaned and bandaged the gash on her head.
Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared.
No concussion.
She’d be healed by tomorrow because of our supfor a few days, but by tomorrow she’d be back on her feet.
Relief settled heavily in my chest.
When I told her what I’d done to Damon, instead of scolding me, she grinned.
“You actually told them that?” she asked, looking almost impressed.
“Yeah.”
A laugh escaped her.
“Finally, you’re bringing the bad bitch out.”
I laughed at that.
She convinced me to spend the night with her, insisting I shouldn’t be alone after everything that had happened.
The next morning, I drove back to Lunahill, my family’s home residence in our pack.
The moment I pulled into the driveway, my stomach tightened.
Celestine’s car was parked in front of the house.
I stepped inside, and my feet came to an abrupt stop.
Every family photo that had once held my face was gone.
In their place stood Celestine, smiling brightly.
In some of them, she was even wearing my clothes.
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.
I rushed upstairs and pushed open my bedroom door.
It had been cleared out.
Every trace of me had been erased.
My books, my blankets, my keepsakes, gone.
The shelves I’d decorated, the curtains I’d picked, everything had been replaced with Celestine’s belongings.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
They hadn’t just pushed me out.
They had replaced me.
I walked back outside before I did something I’d regret only to meet Celestine standing by the porch with her arms folded and a smug smile on her face.
Why was she even here?
Hadn’t she been pretending to be weak just yesterday?
“I was wondering when you’d show up.” She said, “I wanted to say good bye.”
I ignored her and walked past without a word.
“Oh, don’t leave yet.” Her heels clicked against the pavement as she followed me.
“You haven’t seen everything.”
I clenched my jaw and kept walking.
“Did you like the pictures?” she asked, laughing softly.
“Your parents thought it was time for an upgrade.
I have to admit, I do look much better in them than you ever did.”
I stopped for a split second, then forced myself to keep moving.
“They even gave me your room,” she continued.
“Your mother said it felt wrong leaving it empty when she already had a real daughter.”
She smiled wider when she noticed my shoulders stiffen.
“Does it hurt?” she asked sweetly.
“Knowing how easy it was to replace you?”
I reached my car and yanked the door open.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Oh, I know.” She shrugged.
“What could you possibly say?
You lost.”
I slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut.
But she wasn’t finished.
“They don’t miss you, Aysel.
They never did.
They finally have the daughter they’ve always wanted.
Beautiful, kind and perfect.”
“You were always the mistake.” She shouted at my retreating back.
I got into the car and stared at her as she gave me a smile filled with mock sympathy.
Anger flared inside me and I slammed my legs on the accelerator.
Her face went white as the car roared toward her.
She screamed and stumbled backward, tripping over her heels, and I waited until the last possible second, until I could see the terror in her eyes before I slammed the brakes.
The bumper stopped inches from her knees.
“ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?”
I stepped out and calmly walked towards her.
“Yes, I am.
And you just offended a crazy person.”
She scrambled for her phone with shaking hands.
“I’m calling Mother.
I’m calling…”
“Run along, then.” I gestured toward her car.
“Go get your little army.”
She practically dove into her vehicle and sped away.
I guess she was not brave without all her loyal supporters.
I stared at the house for goddess knows how long and I had no idea when I began to cry until I heard the sound of a car behind me.
I quickly wiped the tears away and turned, ready with a sarcastic remark but instead I saw a vaguely familiar man step out of the latest BMW.
He was a tall, broad-shouldered man, with dark hair that swept back from his face and black eyes that seemed to pierce through me even from where he was standing.
His presence was so commanding that I almost forgot to breathe.
“It’s you again,” I scowled.
He walked towards me, a slow smile spreading across his face.
“You seem irritated to see me.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, crossing my hands.
He inclined his head, his eyes sweeping over me.
“I was invited, remember?”
“The wedding is in Moon valley.” I crossed my arms, studying him.
“This is Luna Hill, Alpha Magnus.”
He only shrugged in reply.
And it dawned on me.
“Are you stalking me?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
I scoffed, “What the heck do you want?
Why are you following me?
And more importantly, why did you help me last night?”
Magnus raised his hands.
“You are pretty smart.
How did you know that I had you followed?”
I eyed him.
“Your scent left an impression on me that night too.
I noticed it following me in the human world more than a hundred times.”
Magnus raised his eyebrows.
“And you didn’t say anything?”
“I wanted to know why you were stalking me.
I thought you’d slip up eventually, but you can be quite meticulous.”
He laughed at that, “Impressive”
We stood in silence for a moment and I looked back at the house.
Magnus followed my gaze, “Want me to help you light it?” he asked casually.
I blinked, stunned.
“What?”
He turned to me, his expression perfectly serious.
“The house.
You want to burn it down, don’t you?”
“How….”
“Plenty of people covet what belongs to me, too,” he continued, “And I’d rather destroy it myself than hand it over to them.”
He stepped closer to me and I could smell the scent of cedar.
“We’re the same kind of person, Aysel,” he murmured.
“You and me, we’re the kind of people who burn bridges and salt the earth.”
He turned and walked back to his car.
He opened the trunk and brought out a can of gasoline.
I watched, frozen in place, as he walked to the edge of the house and began pouring the liquid around the perimeter.
He moved methodically, unhurried.
When he was done, he walked back to me and held out his hand.
In his palm was a silver lighter.
“I believe this is yours,” he said.
I stared at it before reaching out to take it.
He stepped back and nodded towards the house.
“Go on.”
I flicked the lighter on and stepped back before tossing it to the ground.
The flame caught instantly, igniting a trail of fire that snaked around the perimeter of the house.
I stood there, frozen, unable to keep the excitement thrumming in my blood.
Magnus stepped up beside me, “You sure you don’t have anything you want to keep?”
I watched as the fire burnt the house down.
“No, I don’t.
And besides, even if I did, it’s kind of late now.”
Magnus reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my face.
“It’s not late.
Everything that belongs to you should be reclaimed,” he said.
“Not just the things you can hold, but the things they stole from you.”
“There’s something I should probably tell you,” he said.
“Something I’ve been meaning to say since yesterday.”
“What?”
He smiled and went down on one knee, bringing out a box from his pocket.
He flicked it open to reveal a golden ring.
“Marry me.”