Chapter 2

SIX MONTHS EARLIER

VICTORIA

“Do you realize the implications of what you have just done?” Juliet, my mother, asked with calm anger.

“Mom, it is not that serious,” I replied nervously, pretending like fear did not have me in a chokehold.

“It is not that serious? You let a beta stare you down, child. In the presence of the whole pack! Do you realize whose child you are?”

“Mom, by now you should know I do not give a rat's ass about the hierarchy,” I said in a sudden fit of rage, regretting it immediately.

“You had better watched that tone, Victoria,”

“I am sorry, mom,”

“Sorry? What would that do for me? What would that do for you? The shame remains,” My mom asked in exasperation, running her palm down her face.

“I really am, though,”

“I do not have any idea why you have chosen to be weak. I simply cannot fathom it. But I know you are not weak. There is more to you than you realize. I just know it,”

“Thank you, mom.”

“Just leave my sight this instant, before I lose what is left of my patience,”

I walked away, feeling the hot eyes of the pack members in my back.

**********************

“How bad was it?” Asa asked.

“Very bad. Very, very bad, Asa. Mother is highly disappointed. She expects so much from me, and I always appear inadequate,”

“I believe you must understand why that is. You must see the expectations and responsibilities are reasonable,” Asa said imploringly.

“But I do not want any of it! I did not ask for any of this!”

“Are you raising your voice at me, Victoria?”

“I am sorry, I didn't mean to, it is just that…”

“See that right there? That's the problem! You need to stand up for yourself, Vee! This is why things with things with Dave did not work out, “

“I love you, Asa, but do not bring Dave up!” I said, flaring up.

“Or what, Vee? You will give up on me like you did Dave?”

“Asa, stop!”

“What exactly are you scared of? Why do you always settle for less?”

“I do not settle for less,” I said trying to be strong, but a whimper betrayed me.

“Oh, but you do! That is the only reason you are still with that… that… boy, Daniel!”

“Leave Daniel out of this! He has done nothing wrong,”

“What? Are you serious? He shits all over you! Only you do not see it, deliberately or otherwise,”

“I will not proceed with this discussion, Asa,”

“Yeah, sure! Give it up, just like you give every other thing up! Oh, I can smell your “boyfriend” coming,”

Asa left but her presence was still loud. Her words are tangible and give phantom blows.

I was wiping my tears when Daniel walked in.

“Hey, buttercup! Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am fine,” I lied through my teeth.

“That is a big lie. I can smell the tears,”

“It is fine, really. I am fine,”

“Was it that bitch? Asa? What did she say to you?”

“That is my best friend! You have no right to say that,”

“Fine, whatever. I am going into town, you are coming along?”

“No, I am not,”

“Uh, yes you are,”

“No, I am not. I will not,”

“Ah, I see! I should have known why you were crying. It is because of him right, Dave? I heard that bitch call his name,”

“I am not crying because of him! And don't ever call Asa a bitch again!”

“Or what? What will you do? Hide away? That is so scary,”

“What?” I asked, wide-eyed in disbelief.

“I do not have the time for this. If you won't be coming, you can keep crying here. I will just go with Veronica,”

I know I should not have called him back, but I did. I do not know why I did, but I did.

“Wait, Daniel! Let me get ready,”

“I will not be waiting for you, if you cannot catch up, that is on you,” with that he left me with shame I'm my throat.

**********************

I do not remember when I fell for Dave, but I knew it was total. We officially met when I bumped into him during my rendezvous to Rockville.

“Oh my goodness!” I was so busy wiping the spilled drink off my jacket that I did not notice the apologies coming from the culprit in front of me.

“Ugh! It is fine! I will wash it off when I get home,” I looked up, and my wolf growled in approval.

“Wait, you are Victoria?”

“How do you know my name?”

“We are literal enemies, our families”, he said scratching his head.

“Dave? Dave De'ville?”

“Present ma'am!”

“Oh, hell no!” I turned on my heel and left abruptly, before I did something I would regret.

“Can we just talk? Please?”

I wanted to go, I knew I should have, but I couldn't.

“Just for one minute,”

“Just one minute,” he said, smiling.

Two hours later we were in a booth at the back of the bar laughing and talking like we had known each other for years.

“There is no way your dad did that to you!”

“Yes, he did! I was in the UV ray room overnight,”

“But, isn't that like, supposed to kill you?”

“Not when it has been set to minimum radiation. I felt like I was on fire, but I did not burn,”

“That is proper mental!”

“I know, I know,” he chuckled, but I saw sad memories dance across his eyes.

“Enough about me. Tell me, does Victoria Harper have any sob story?”

“Well, not really. Except being forced to fight the strongest member of our pack at fourteen to prove my worth, if that counts as a sob story,’

“Wait! You fought your mother?” His eyes almost left their sockets.

“Oh, no! No, no, no! I would have been dead,”

“So, you fought your father?”

“Goodness, no! My mom's right hand man,” the memory flashed and I winced at the images of me sprawled on the floor covered in cuts and slashes.

“Igor? You fought Igor at fourteen?”

“It was not much of a fight to be honest. It was over before I could even throw a punch,”

“I am so sorry, Vee. Can I call you Vee?”

“Oh, it is alright. You cannot tell me you never fought with your father's consort. And you can call me Vee,”

“I never fought Anika in that way,”

“Guess what mother said to me?”

“Tell me,”

“‘I am not proud of you, Victoria,’”

“Guess who says that on a daily basis?”

“Your father?”

“Ten points to Gryffindor!”

It was all laughter that night, and he laughed his way into my life, until the event that made me realize I had to let him go. Sometimes I think Asa is correct. I gave up a lot of things - my smile, my life, my happiness… my freedom. In retrospect, I regret it deeply.