Addal pov

My head feels like someone smashed it with a hammer. The comfort of this huge bed covered In layered blankets has not eased my discomfort. Soon, I notice the morning's sunlight pouring into the white room from the balcony window. Where in Hell am I?

"Good morning, Sunshine!" My Demon says a little too cheerful.

I try to get up but my back down to my waist are throbbing in pain. I quickly realize I am naked with colorful bruises, hickies, and scratches proudly displaying themselves on my brown skin. What in hex's happened last night? Then I feel the bed slightly rock from the shift of weight beside me. I pause.

"It must be nice waking up to someone warming your bed on your eighteenth birthday?" She throws me a wink before dodging the pillow I've throw at it.

"I guess you don't like my gift," She giggles before vanishing into thin air.

My attention turns to the girl sleeping next to me. Raven's long hair is a bird nest sitting on top of her head, which is currently nestling into her arms, while she drools on her pillow. How the hell did I end up sleeping with her of all people?

I kick her off the bed with a thud.

"Ouch," she groans, but before she can gather herself together, I jump on top of her.

I push her down, grab her hair and wrap my free hand around her throat. "Tell me, what happened to my mother." Even if they didn't take her, I'm positive that they must know something about her. "Speak," I put a little more pressure on her throat.

Her reaction doesn't change much after she fully awaken. Her face is emotionless but her eyes are hazy. They land on my left shoulder, and I realize I feel a burning sensation there.

And my eyes become suddenly attracted to the new tattoo on her right shoulder. The small wolf sleeping on the moon like it was a mat. My heart slows down, I feel nauseous, and the moment feels surreal.

I slowly release her and back away. I don't turn around, keeping my guard up, but Raven doesn't move. She seems even more shocked than me. I dash into a room that looks like an interconnected bathroom. The place is fancy with little columns, gold, and marble. I face the left side to several sinks attached to the wall where a massive glass mirror rest above.

The reflection displays what I feared the most. The same mark on her shoulder is on mine. I drop to the floor at the horrifying thought. How did It get to this. Tears spill over my cheek but I don't let any cries out, I won't let them see me like this, vulnerable.

I don't know how long I've been like this. My back against the tub, hugging myself for comfort. The tears stopped and dried up. I don't have the urge to cry as much as before. I thought I would be like this for a little longer, but at some point I lost the will to guard myself.

Warm hands pick me up into her embrace, But she isn't Raven. The familiar smell of the salty ocean has to be Evangeline. Does she even go to the ocean? Trying to distract myself, I can hear the creak of the bed that was stripped of all its blankets. As she sits on the edge of the bed, pulling me onto her lap. She hugs me tighter to her chest and her chin rests on my head.

We don't move, we don't talk. We sit here in peace. Sometime later, a fully-dressed Raven comes with a bundle of new blankets. The door closes behind her, shattering the peace for a second. She walks closer and wraps all of us in her blankets.

At this point, I feel too numb to resist.

Raven pulls us into a hug and we fall into bed. I just close my eyes, ignoring the werewolves on either side of me and go to sleep. Trying to forget everything for a moment, as if my mother was not gone, as if my demon didn't force me to mate with an Alpha and my bully.