Candace
My legs dragged against the marble floors in agony as I limped out of the pack house to the pig sty that was my safe haven now.
First, it had been the dog's kennel, but I had accidentally broken the clasp to Aunt Elena's sapphire necklace even though she had flung it at my face a year ago, so I was moved to the pig sty.
The foul stench of the grunting pigs only made my shoulders shake, dragging heavy sobs out of me. I closed the door behind me.
Dried hay mixed with clumps of pig faeces crunched under my feet as I stalked towards a stack of clean hay and a small bag next to it that housed everything I owned.
I collapsed on the hay, sobbing harder when the brittle hay dug into the fresh wounds I had received today.
This was my life for the past three years. Every day I got new wounds, on my body and on my heart. It was a miracle I was still breathing at all. There was no one who cared about me.
My father was dead. Mom and Stephen, goddess, I didn't even know if they were still alive. The evil forest was home to feral wolves and beasts of nature. It had been three years, the thought of them getting mauled to death by a beast had me curling deeper into myself, sobbing harder.
Why did it have to be us? We were happy. What exactly happened that night? My father would never betray his pack and I would never have… I grabbed my head, gripping it hard. Why couldn't I remember what happened that night?
Every single person had turned on me. The friends I had before that night now all hated me. No one cared if I lived or died except Cookie, the stray dog I had found a year ago.
And maybe one more person but I had no idea who they were. They would sometimes leave food or medicine next to my hay stack from time to time. I knew they couldn't help me outrightly. They would be excommunicated from the pack and I wasn't worth the risk.
And still I couldn't leave.
This was my pack. My father laid down his life for the Gracespring pack. If I left, I would be letting him down and the chance to clear my family's name would be gone forever.
It didn't matter how many times I got burned,beaten and bruised. I was going to find the truth of that night, and clear my family's name. I was going to prove to every single one of them that they were wrong, they were all wrong!
Loud bangs hit the fragile door to the pig sty sending the pigs into a frenzy as they oinked and snorted. I uncurled myself, pushing up from the stack of hay and slowly trudged towards the door, pulling it open.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite little slave," an annoying snicker creased Dylan's ugly face as he leaned against the weak door post. The smell of alcohol reeked heavily on his breath.
My heart somersaulted at the sight of him. He had a bottle of wine that he swigged up, gulping the contents.
A conscious Dylan was already hard to deal with, a drunk Dylan? I couldn't handle that.
The first time he had pounced on me trying to rip my clothes was a year ago. A shudder ripped through me at the memory. It had happened three more times after that and I had only managed to escape every time.
I made the gullible mistake of telling Aunt Elena when it happened a second time, thinking she would at last pity me and warn him to stay off, it turned out to be one of the worst mistakes I had ever made.
"Now that they've proposed to my sister," He belched his hot smelly breath all over my face. "Maybe now you'll stop pining over those guys and let me have a taste?"
I shook my head, turned around and was about slamming the door in his face when he smacked my ass.
I spun around, shoving him away with the little strength I could gather. "Don't touch me!"
He staggered a few steps back and let out a mocking giggle, one that grated my nerves.
"You little bitch. You know you won't find anyone better than me. Those guys in there hate you with every fiber of their being. Heck, your first mate didn't even want to have anything to do with you, he died!"
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to mate with a murderer too," Dylan added with a disgusting grin, reaching for my breasts.
The memory of Kyle reared up in my head but I suppressed it, pushing it back into the recesses of my mind. If everyone believed that I killed the first man the moon goddess mated me with before he rejected me only to wind up mysteriously dead the next morning, that wasn't my fault.
I tried to swat his hands off, but he growled, closing the gap between us and wrapped his arm around my back, pinning me against his chest, his stinking breath fanning my ears. "I'm doing you a fucking favour. No one's going to ever fuck you anyway. Just be a good girl-"
"Let go!" I cried, spitting in his face. His grip only tightened.
"Who are you holding out for? Come on, Cuz, Deidre's going to be Luna and you can just be my sweet little side piece, yeah? You should be grateful the Beta's only son even wants to touch you as disgusting as you look,"
I stomped on his feet hard, angry that he got to flaunt that position in my face when he did nothing to deserve it. He yelled in pain, shoving me away from him. Before I could catch my breath, his fist drove into my face.
I screamed as my swollen left eye burst with blood, blinding it. My hands scrambled on the floor as I tried scooting away from him.
"Dylan please, Dylan please don't do this-" the words died down in my throat when he leaned down to grab my throat, choking me.
My fingers shot up, clawing at his grip weakly. I kicked my feeble legs in the air, no strength in them at all.
"You should have just played along, bitch," He spat, smacking my cheeks. "Eww, look at the mess all over your face,"
No, no, this could not be happening.
"Somebody help!" I screamed but it was in vain, I was far from the Packhouse. Only the distant barks of Cookie filled the air.
Dylan grabbed the hem of my tattered uniform, shoving it up my thighs. I screamed and flailed, scratching at his face, his arm, anything at all that I could find, mustering every ounce of strength that my battered body could afford.
But it wasn't enough. Loud heaving sobs tore from my throat as I cried for help. He pushed his knee between my thighs, brushing his disgusting hands against my panties.
My eyes caught the wine bottle he had brought laying on the floor next to me and just as he yanked my panties off my thighs, my hand shot out, wrapping around the bottle. I smashed it right on his head without waiting a second.
He let out a yelp, crashing to the ground next to me. Cookie rushed through the door, her white fur was now a muddy brown from years of being on the street. She growled, latching her teeth into his calf. A loud groan tore from his throat as he wriggled in pain.
I rose off the ground quickly, driving my feet into his face, hot tears pouring down my cheeks. "You bastard. How dare you touch me? How dare you…"
My cries trailed off into body wracking sobs. He coughed and sputtered as I kicked him harder, all the pain and terror of the past year rushed through my veins, fueling every hit.
How dare he try to rape me!?
Blood streaked down his broken nose and he flailed his arms trying to catch my legs while Cookie sunk her teeth deeper into his foot.
A loud gasp had me pausing mid kick. I spun around to see one of the maids at the door watching the scene, her eyes wide in horror. "What have you done?!"
"He… he, no wait, don't go!"
It was too late. She turned on her heels and ran off screaming, alerting everyone in the mansion.
Dylan groaned on the floor, his face oozing blood and I knew I was done for. I reached for Cookie, carrying her.
"Go, go! You have to run. If aunt Elena gets you, you're in trouble," I urged, making a shooing motion with my hand.
Cookie whined, licking her nose, tilting her head at me.
I glanced at the mansion in the distance, hearing the commotion in the distance and knew it was only a matter of minutes before they all arrived here.
"GO!" I yelled, stomping my feet at her. "Get away from here!"
She finally got the memo and scrambled into the dark just as Aunt Elena, Uncle Nathan, Deidre, the triplets trooped out of the pack house, heading straight for the sty.
I stumbled back into the sty. My heart pounded hard as I searched for words. Dylan was bloodied and battered on the floor, would they believe me?
"Oh my god, she killed him!" Aunt Elena shrieked dashing in with anger coating her naked face.
"My brother," Deidre sobbed in a high pitched voice. "What have you done to my brother?"
"Not again!" Ryker bellowed, his eyes flashing in anger.
"I-It's not what it looks like," I stuttered, "he's the one who came on to me. He attacked me!"
"He attacked you?" Ragnor repeated, arching a brow in disbelief, his lips curling with disgust, his eyes sweeping over the scene meticulously.
"Throw a much more believable lie, Candace and maybe we'll bite. We're in your room. What fool would come on to you in your own room? Your door should have been locked."
His words landed like a blow burrowing into my ribs. Didn't they care at all that their princess was almost molested?
"I don't see any form of forced entry either," Reign added to my scorn, his hazel eyes filled with hate as he hugged Deidre to himself.
"She's a liar and a killer!" Aunt Elena spat, lunging for me.
"No, no," I cried, stumbling out of her reach. "He forced me. He came to the door,he tried to rape me. I was all on my own and he tried to… I'm telling the truth, I swear,"
"How dare you lie against my son?" She fumed, throwing her palms against my face. I hit the floor in a crumpled heap. The pain was intense. How much more could I take before I fell apart?
"I told him to come get you,"
It was a lie. Her left eye twitched whenever she lied and it twitched so hard right now, I could notice it through my blurred vision.
"This is what we get for taking you in?" Uncle Nathan demanded, his entire body shaking in fury. "You tried to kill my heir. Is one death on your neck not enough!"
"You spread your legs everywhere, try to seduce my son and dare blame him for coming on to her. I'm going to kill you myself, you stupid cow!"She screeched, digging her heels into my side. I wriggled like a worm trying to get away from her.
"Oh, I can't bear this," Deidre whimpered, burying her face deeper in Reign's chest, sobbing profusely. "How could she do such a thing? Why try to hurt my twin brother? We've been nothing but loving towards her after everything and-and this…"
"Shhh, it's okay," Reign hushed, stroking her hair. Deidre turned her head in my direction tossing a smug smirk at me.
Tears streamed down my face. Of course. I was the victim here,I was the one who almost got raped and yet somehow she managed to make this all about her. The hatred in my mates eyes only added salt to injury. Was this really how they saw me?
Ryker's boots crunched everything beneath it as he moved towards me. He bent low, picking something up. It was my panties, the one Dylan had taken off, hanging gingerly between his fingers like it was soaked in shit.
"You keep saying he forced you," He rose, looming above me, holding up my panties for all to see. "So why are your panties on the floor and they're not torn by the way?"
I could hardly form words over the agony my body was in. More tears and blood spilled down my cheeks. Ryker's face turned even redder in anger and he bellowed.
"Start fucking talking, you murderer! You almost killed another innocent person."