Chapter 118: Kneel down
~ ROSELLE ~
She lunges at me, a feral snarl rips from her throat as she lunges.
I barely have time to register the flash of her claws before instinct takes over. I duck.
Her claws slice through empty air where my face had been a heartbeat earlier.
She stumbles half a step past me, and then I spin on my heel, catching both of her wrists before she can recover. Her eyes widen for the briefest second as I wrench her arms apart, twisting them hard enough to force a gasp from her lips.
"What the—"
I don’t let her finish. With every ounce of frustration, betrayal, and rage that has been building inside me all day, I drive my knee straight into her abdomen.
"Ugh!"
The air explodes from her lungs. She doubles over instinctively, her body folding around the blow.
I shove her backward. She stumbles several steps before crashing into the edge of the bed, the bowl of cherries flying into the air and scattering across the floor.
Red fruit rolls in every direction.
"So much for your graceful entrance," I sneer, my chest heaving. "You wanted a fight? Congratulations."
I raise my fists, glaring at her without an ounce of fear.
"You’ve got one."
Mara slowly straightens, one hand clutching her stomach as her breathing turns ragged.
The smug expression she’d been wearing is gone. In its place is something far more dangerous. Pure, murderous fury.
Mara lets out a furious scream and lunges at me again, every bit of restraint gone from her face as her claws slice toward my throat with the clear intention of ripping me apart.
This time, I’m faster.
Before she can even reach me, my body moves entirely on instinct. I sidestep her attack, hook my leg around hers, and slam her onto the floor with enough force to rattle the room. The impact knocks the breath from her lungs as I drop on top of her, pinning both of her wrists above her head before she has the chance to fight back.
She thrashes violently under me, snarling and kicking, but she’s no match for the sudden surge of strength coursing through my body. It feels unnatural... overwhelming... as though something deep inside me has finally decided to stop sleeping.
My fingers tighten around her wrists. A sharp sting races through my hands.
Before I can understand what’s happening, elongated black claws burst from the tips of my fingers, scraping across Mara’s cheek as I struggle to keep her pinned. Thin lines of blood immediately bloom across her face, and her eyes widen in horror.
"No..." I whisper, my own heart pounding violently against my ribs.
The claws, my Lycan claws. Panic crashes into me.
Without thinking, I tighten my grip, pressing one hand against the side of Mara’s neck to keep her from lifting her head. If she looks... if she sees them... she’ll know.
She’ll know exactly what I am.
My breathing becomes uneven as I force myself to stay perfectly still. I squeeze my eyes shut and inhale slowly before letting the breath leave my lungs. Again. And again. I cling to the breathing exercise Irina had taught me, repeating it over and over as I desperately fight the wild instinct clawing its way to the surface.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Don’t lose control. Don’t let it take over.
Seconds feel like hours before the burning sensation finally begins to fade. I cautiously glance down just in time to watch the black claws slowly retract, melting back into ordinary fingers as though they had never existed at all.
Relief floods through me so powerfully that my entire body nearly gives out.
The moment I’m certain my hands look normal again, I release Mara and shove myself away from her.
She immediately scrambles backward across the floor, clutching at her face as tears stream down her cheeks. Sobs wrack her body while she stares at the blood coating her trembling fingers, too shocked to speak.
I remain where I am, staring down at my own hands in disbelief. The realization is so overwhelming that I almost don’t notice Mara scrambling back to her feet with another enraged scream.
She charges at me again. I don’t even think. I drive my foot straight into her stomach.
The kick lands with enough force to launch her across the room, her body slamming violently into the wall before she collapses onto the floor in a painful heap.
The room falls silent. Mara stares at me with wide, terrified eyes, finally understanding that she can’t beat me.
"If you come at me again," I say quietly, "I might actually kill you."
Genuine fear crosses Mara’s face, she doesn’t say another word as she staggers to her feet, lets out a panicked shriek, and bolts out of the room as though the devil himself is chasing her.
A shaky breath escapes my lips as the silence settles over the room once more. Every muscle in my body aches from the fight, but none of it compares to the chaos raging inside my head.
Slowly, I make my way to the bed and sink onto the edge of it, my gaze falling to my trembling hands as yet another thought pushes its way to the front of my mind.
Ronan. Before everything fell apart, he mentioned going to meet a seer about the curse consuming him. He was supposed to leave after the ceremony, but the attack happened before he ever got the chance.
My chest tightens. Now, he’s somewhere out there, trapped inside that darkness because of a chain of events I helped set into motion.
I squeeze my eyes shut and let out another weary sigh. This is my mess. Whether I intended it or not, my choices helped create it.
It’s not even a minute after Mara storms out that the bedroom door flies open again with enough force to slam against the wall.
I don’t even have to look up to know she’s back.
And she didn’t come alone.
Ravenna strides into the room with murder written across her face, her regal posture doing nothing to conceal the fury radiating from every inch of her. Mara hurries in behind her, one hand pressed against her scratched cheek as fresh tears continue spilling down her face.
"There she is!" Mara cries, pointing directly at me with a trembling finger. "That’s the witch! She’s the one who attacked me!"
Ravenna’s icy death glare settle on me, and the temperature in the room seems to plummet.
For a long moment, she says nothing.
Then her gaze drifts to the fresh scratches covering Mara’s face before returning to me.
"Tell me," Ravenna says, her voice dangerously calm, "why I shouldn’t have you thrown into the dungeon this very second."
I slowly rise from the bed, refusing to cower under her glare.
"Because she attacked me first."
"Oh, don’t lie!" Mara shrieks, tears streaming freely now. "I came here to check on Ronan’s room, and she completely lost her mind! She slapped me, scratched my face, kicked me across the room, and threatened to kill me!"
I let out a humorless laugh.
"Convenient how you forgot the part where you called me a mute, threatened to carve me up with your claws, and lunged at me twice."
"And aren’t you a mute?" Ravenna shoots back coldly. "And you expect me to believe you over my son’s fated mate?"
Her words make me take an involuntary step back. "I already told you to leave this pack," she continues. "Yet you’re still here."
"No, Ravenna." I straighten my shoulders, refusing to let her intimidate me. "I’m officially a member of this pack until Ronan says otherwise. Whether you choose to believe me or your son’s fated mate is entirely up to you."
"The truth?" Mara scoffs through her tears. "Look at my face! Does this look like self-defense to you?"
"It looks like you picked a fight you couldn’t finish," I shoot back without missing a beat.
Mara gasps dramatically before turning to Ravenna as though seeking protection.
"See?" she cries. "She’s completely unhinged! She’s dangerous! Ronan isn’t even here, and she’s already trying to kill people. Imagine what she’ll do next."
"You’re going to kneel down and apologize to her, Roselle," Ravenna orders, her voice leaving no room for argument. "I’m not going to have you ruining other people’s lives after you’ve already ruined my son’s."
For a moment, I think I’ve misheard her.
My head spins as I blink repeatedly, hoping I imagined those words. Surely she isn’t asking me to apologize to the woman who barged into my room, threatened me, and attacked me first.
But the cold look in Ravenna’s eyes tells me she means every single word.
Disbelief settles heavily in my chest.
"You... want me to apologize?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper, unable to hide the shock written all over my face.
"Yes," Ravenna replies without hesitation. "Get on your knees and apologize."
A bitter laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it.
"You can’t be serious."
"I’ve never been more serious."
I slowly shake my head, staring at her as though I’m looking at a complete stranger.
"So, in your eyes, it doesn’t matter who started it. It doesn’t matter that she came into this room looking for a fight. The only thing that matters is that she’s your son’s fated mate."
Ravenna’s expression remains unmoved. "And you’re the reason my son is suffering."