I'm immersed in a mystery novel when the bedroom door is swung open, and an amused Lexi walks in. I look up then to see the smile on her face as her eyes land on the cuffs on my wrist. Even after pleading with Reagan, he still left the damn thing on. I swear I just wanna wring his neck till he chokes to death sometimes.
"I see you've settled in comfortably." She says in an amused tone. I glare at her in return as she bounces on the bed beside me. "It's a shame to see you this way."
"Don't you have some class to be at or something?...unlike me who's been deprived of her rights," I mumble the last part, but I can bet on anything that she heard me perfectly. I flip the page of my novel, pretending to still be captivated by it so she would leave. Lexi isn't a bad person, but she's related to the asshole, who cuffed me to the bed and bosses me around like he's my father. Hell, my parents were never this bossy to me. They always asked me what I want.
I hear Lexi sigh beside me as she shuffles to get comfortable, leaning her back against the headboard with her legs crossed over the other.
"Regan is just a bit pissed about the whole thing. No beast will be happy to see their mate almost being marked by another. I mean, what would you have done if you saw Reagan about to sink his claws into another female?" She shrugs, causing me to pause in my reading.
The scenario she painted flashes in my mind, and I imagine Reagan pinning Joanna down to the bed, lapping at her neck as he gets ready to mark her. It makes me sick...and also angry. Very angry. I grit my teeth as I violently flip the page of the novel I had in hand, causing it to tear slightly. I stare at the torn page unblinkingly as I run my fingers across the tear lines.
I would firstly rip out that lady's tongue and force her to swallow it before running my claws over every feminine part she has. I'm shocked by the violent thoughts I have.
"See what I mean." Lexi points out beside me. I huff and close the book before dumping it on the nightstand beside me with a loud thud.
"It still doesn't give him the right to cuff me like he has and make decisions in my life that are so important. I'm still a person with rights!" I cross my arms over my chest as I stare at the grey walls opposite me.
"You have to understand, Ellie, that Reagan wasn't born in the century. He's used to women being silent beside their men and only speak when spoken to or nod when addressed. You're the one who has to show him that you're not like that. That you're different." She places a hand on my shoulder for me to face her.
"How am I going to do that if he doesn't allow me to even leave the damn bedroom!" I wave my hands in the air, frustrated. She chuckles slightly in return before pausing to stare at me.
"You know, the royal residence wasn't always in Canada." She suddenly announces, making me turn to stare at her in question. I'm surprised by the change of subject. "We originally resided in England, Derbyshire, to be precise. But in the late 1800s, there was a war, a blood bath between most werewolf packs in North America over territories and boundaries. And considering this was where most werewolves resided in, it was...monstrous."
"The war of the beasts," I say, and she nods in agreement. I had read and heard about the war that had happened in the 19th century. Those who are still alive from it are mostly old now and about to eat the dust, though. But they told tales about it. Humans hadn't been aware of it, but if a werewolf ventured into another pack's territory, they were immediately captured, and a ceremony is held where they were brutally slaughtered in front of the whole pack. Then, no werewolf could leave theirs unless they were on a suicide mission.
"The council's along with my uncle, the king, decided to move to North America and had a meeting with all pack Alphas. Territories were divided, boundaries were given, and freedom to move from a pack to another was announced as long as they caused no trouble. To make sure the peace was kept, the royal residence was moved to Canada so they could keep an eye on them. Also, werewolves and beasts in England were depleting. There wasn't much there anymore."
I don't know much about our history, so it's fascinating hearing this from Lexi. Yes, werewolves are mostly seen in North America, so it made sense why they moved here. This way, they could monitor the packs better in case another war was coming. Werewolves are very territorial creatures. They won't think twice about clawing through others just to keep what they thought was theirs. And since there are so many packs in North America, there's always a fight about boundaries somewhere.
But we in Lunar Pack hardly have that problem as we're one of the biggest. Instead, other packs try to get on our good sides just to earn favors from us and not be an enemy.
Lexi shuffles beside me to sit straight and look clearly at me. "Now, I was going somewhere with this. You see, in the twentieth century, the idea of girls going to school wasn't still commonly accepted. And for us Lycans, it was worse. We still lived way behind humans and didn't accept the new customs so quickly. My dad was also a strong believer, and thought my only job was to learn how to cook, clean, sew, and to please my future mate. We Lycans don't even wait for our mate's anymore as it's almost impossible to find one for us. We're not as lucky as you werewolves.”
"Before I knew it, a match was found for me, and I was to be mated to some councilman's son without my opinion being asked for. But do you wanna know what I did?" She leans closer to me, a teasing smile on her lips as her voice lowers.
I nod my head in anticipation, already immerse in her story.
"I ran, just like you." She proudly announces with a grin.
"No way." I chuckle, my eyes twinkling in amazement. "From your dad? Didn't you get caught?"
"Of course, I did." She shrugs. "My uncle's a king, of course, it would be easy to find me. I was locked in my bedroom and chained to my bed until my mating ceremony began."
"How did you get out of it?" I ask with eagerness to know more. She had me hooked.
"Simple. By not giving up." She states like it's an easy task. I stare at her in curiosity, wanting to know more. "I paid a maid of mine to spread a rumor about me having slept with a ton of human boys during the time I ran away."
My jaw drops open at her words. Lycans rarely associated themselves with werewolves, not to talk of humans. And for people to hear that she'd slept with a ton of them, they would all look down on her like dirt.
"You did what?! Wouldn't that tarnish your reputation?"
She shrugs once more like she doesn't have a care in the world. "My mission was so that I wouldn't get mated to another so quickly. And I achieved it through this means. I didn't care what it would do to my reputation, just so long as I won. My dad was furious, of course. But he knew the deed was already done and couldn't keep me locked up forever since no one was coming. My mum pleaded with him to release me, but when he did, he threatened to disown me, and that's when I left to live with one of my relatives in New Orleans. I spent a lot of years there, and when I came back, the rumors had died down. Well, of course they would have. I'm a princess after all. Everyone wanted to get into my good books." She flips her hair while flashing a charming smile.
"You're crazy." I giggled while also staring at her in awe. She really was something else. I know I wouldn't take that risk for anything. It was too...crazy.
She laughs along with me as she leans back on the headboard. "My point is, don't hold back in getting what you think you deserve. You're a smart twenty-first-century girl. Act like it."
I ponder over her words for a while as we remain in silence. I had thought running away for a few days would get me what I want, but it only made things worse, so I had to go with a different approach. So far, Reagan has made it clear that he's never letting me go. And me going against his wishes only gets him more fired up to cage me. It's like a game of cat and mouse. The more Jerry seems to escape Tom's clutches, the more Tom's determined to catch him. And Reagan's a beast. The more you run, the more he's excited to put you in your place. So what if I don't give him the run he so loves? What if I turn the tables around and make the game easy for him. This would surely catch him off guard.
"Ohhh, I can see the wheels turning in your head," Lexi smirks, and I turn to wink at her. I already had the perfect plan to turn that beast into a puppy. Then I'll be able to get out of these cuffs in no time.
I glare at the said cuffs, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are already red lines around my wrist from me pulling too hard.
"I can help with that," Lexi says before moving around the bed while also taking a Bobby pin out of her hair. She takes hold of the cuff and jams the Bobby pin into the lock. After three minutes, I hear the click of the handcuffs opening on my wrist. And as cool air blows onto the red spot immediately my wolf begins to heal the skin. I stare at Lexi in disbelief as she uses the hairpin to hold her coiffure hairstyle back in place.
"How'd you do that?" I gasp.
"A lot of practice." She shrugs, nonchalantly while I rub and stare at my wrist and the cuffs in awe.
"Well, you've gotta teach me." I gasp in awe, causing her to laugh out loud.
We sit in silence for a while when something comes to my mind.
The image of a bloody Brad with his canines being brutally pulled out of his gums as he howls out loud in pain, makes me go rigid on the bed. I still don't know what had happened to him after the whole ordeal.
I realize that the only emotion I feel right now for him was pity. His parents would be devastated at the news, and he won't be able to take up the position as an Alpha. And as for Stacy, well, she's lucky he has already marked her. Otherwise, how would he without canines?
"Um... Lexi?" I turn to her, making her raise her eyebrows at me in question. "Where's uh...where's Brad?" I was afraid to ask because I was scared of the answer. Her eyebrows slowly droop down as a dark look takes over her face. Her eyes divert to the floor, and she begins to answer when a knock is heard at the bedroom door.
"Ellie?" I hear the familiar voice ask as she slightly opens the door to peek in. Her eyes light up as they land on mine and a huge smile spreads on my face.
"Lana! Thank God you're okay." I said before standing up to drag her into the room.
"I brought pizza!" She announces as she shakes the pizza box she has in hand.