You Wouldn't Dare (Khaos Trilogy Book 1), стр. 29
All day she would make excuses to touch me, wanting to be close to me, and I couldn’t take the stupid grin off my face the entire time. Our fathers had been busy with talks of some fight or other, an ambush they were planning on an enemy attack, and we had been free to swim and play all afternoon. Louisa proudly displayed her body and refused to allow me to skulk around in the shadows, as was my usual way. In such a short amount of time, she brought me out of my shell and gave me some belief in myself.
When our parents called us to dress for dinner, she didn’t back away from me like I had expected. She linked her hand with mine and walked to the packhouse with me, happy to be by my side. My heart had soared, and I already hated the thought of being apart from her whilst we washed up and prepared for the meal between our two families.
I stood in front of my mirror as I dressed for dinner, for the first time taking in my appearance, trying to see myself as Louisa would have seen me.
It wasn’t the prettiest of sights.
My arm had still not healed, my face still held the tinge of faded bruises, and my smile was crooked from the teeth that hadn’t aligned correctly because of the constant punches to my jaw. Louisa had a stunning smile. I knew her braces made her feel self-conscious, but to me; she was perfect. I wanted to be perfect for her.
I was practising the best way to smile without drawing attention to my teeth when the door flew open. Before I could react, I was kicked in the stomach with a force that had me falling back into the mirror, glass stabbing through my back as I crashed to the floor on top of it.
“What the fuck did you do to Louisa?” My dad roared, raining blow after blow down on me as I curled up to protect myself.
“N-nothing father, I promise! Please!” I begged, starting to cry as I tried to figure out what hurt the most. He showed me no mercy, kicking me in my gut before he grabbed my shirt and brought his face close to mine, spitting his words at me.
“Liar! She’s told us you kissed her! That you swam together and forced your dirty hands on her! She bears a handprint on her chest! A handprint very much the fucking size of yours! She’s untouched Khaos you foolish fucking bastard! For years she’s been betrothed to the Alpha son of a remarkably close alliance and he wanted her as pure as fucking possible, and you’ve ruined it!” He threw me away from him and stomped down on my back, forcing the shards of glass to penetrate me further.
“I didn’t! She kissed me, father, she kissed me!”
He hauled me up, and I stood before him on shaky legs, sobbing loudly and openly.
“We’ll see about that!” He dragged me out of the room, taking me straight to Louisa’s father, who glared at me. I was pushed to my knees in front of him and instinctively I bowed my head in respect to him, trying hard not to let him see the tears pooling in my eyes or the trembles that wracked my body. How had this gone so wrong, so quick? Where was Louisa? She could make this right, she would make them stop, I knew it. She would explain it all.
“This! This is the worthless mutt that has defiled my daughter?” I finally saw Louisa behind him, her face streaked with tears, and I pleaded with my eyes to get her to tell the truth. She shook her head slightly, moving to stand further behind her father, refusing to look my way.
She let out a heart-breaking sob, clutching at his sleeve and he wrapped an arm around her, tucking her head into his chest to protect her.
Her father took a deep breath, speaking in a calmer tone now that Louisa was wrapped up against him, “you do understand, Drake, that this will ruin the planned choice mating I had for my daughter? Her fiancé won’t want her now, he’s as jealous as they come. He wanted his mate completely untouched. It’s why he never wanted to find his true mate, knowing he would have no control over her previous lovers.” He took a deep breath as his temper rose, “I’ve spoken to Louisa and she would be happy to be mated to your son once the time comes. She made the very reasonable point that your pack is not only closer but you’re also stronger, bigger in numbers and have a lot more wealth. My daughter has millions in her name, it makes me comfortable to know her chosen mate would bring the same wealth to the mating.”
My head spun as I realised the game that had been played.
Louisa hadn’t ever wanted to be my friend, she had played her part well, wanting only to secure herself a wealthy mate and stronger pack to reign over as Luna. The mate her father picked out couldn’t offer her everything that she would get as my mate. Even if I was the rejected heir, I was the only choice my father had, and she knew that. She was a wolf with ambitions, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that my dad hated my very existence.