Chapter 30: Lies

CLARA

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up to my apartment complex with a super greasy double cheeseburger and fries.

I was nearly catatonic as I approached my apartment door, keys in one hand and food in the other. All I wanted to do was stuff myself full of food that would inevitably make me sick and sleep for a week.

But I didn’t make it there.

I came out of the elevator and paused when I saw two men standing outside my apartment. I was pretty sure the taller one was my neighbor, but I wasn’t sure who the other guy was. My neighbor accepted an envelope from the man, then looked up and spotted me.

He froze, I froze, and the other guy spun around to see what my neighbor was looking at.

It was Marius.

His eyes went wide, and he took off for the stairs like he had police dogs after him.

I wanted nothing more than to get inside the safety of my apartment and enjoy my dinner, but my grungy neighbor in all his unwashed hair and grease-stained wifebeater glory didn’t move from in front of my door.

Maybe I should have just gotten in the elevator and eaten in the car? But honestly, I don’t know if that would have changed the outcome. I’d obviously seen something I wasn’t supposed to see, judging by the look on Mr. Definitely Doing Something Sketchy’s face.

Not that I had too much time to think about it. He rushed at me with murder written all over his face, and I barely dodged under his arm when he went for a swing.

I ran for my apartment door, dropping the bag containing my dinner in favor of getting the apartment key ready to shove in the lock.

I managed to get the deadbolt unlocked before the first blow struck me from behind. He clocked me square in the back of the head, and I began seeing stars. But rather than turn to face him, I focused on getting the key into the knob.

He grabbed my arm and began pulling me, and the feeling of an angry hand wrapped around my bicep set off years of trauma response. I collapsed to the floor and covered my face with my arms.

He began kicking me in the head, the stomach, and the back.

“I’m going to kill you, bitch! Ever since you showed up, Xavier has been more and more obsessive and unpredictable.

“He hasn’t left his wolf form in weeks. I don’t even think he can anymore. And he’s going to kick my ass for letting you spot Marius. So I’m going to kick ~yours~.”

Over and over he kicked me, until my arms were entirely covered in bruises. He probably would have kept going if the sound of the elevator hadn’t startled him. He hurried to his own door as the indicator above the elevator counted up and paused in the doorway.

“You say anything and you’re dead,” he hissed and disappeared inside.

The elevator went right past our floor while I huddled against my door and sobbed. Every exposed inch of my body throbbed in a way I’d hoped I’d never have to experience again.

I honestly don’t know how long I sat there before the tears ran out and that familiar blank stillness—that had always consumed me after an incident of abuse—kicked in. At some point, I got to my knees and unlocked the door, falling inside and rolling to the side to close it rather than standing.

I must have fallen asleep there on the floor because I woke up curled up on the welcome rug.

My whole body ached—just straightening my arms and legs caused me to cry out in pain. My head throbbed, and I felt so weak. Yet somehow, I managed to stand up and stumble my way into the bathroom to find a painkiller and see the damage for myself.

I sighed with relief when I saw that my face and neck were clear of any evidence of last night’s abuse. ~That makes hiding what happened so much easier~, I thought as I gingerly grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up over my head.

It was a painful process. My muscles screamed with each movement. I closed my eyes as my torso was exposed and turned away from the mirror to throw my shirt in the hamper. It didn’t have any blood on it, which was a bonus.

But when I turned around and gathered the courage to open my eyes… my breath got stuck in my chest and refused to move.

My back and arms were basically one purple mass. I could distinctly see the finger marks on my arm, and some of his kicks had been so hard that I could see the imprint of his shoe pattern in the bruise.

“Well, Clara, I think this is a new record,” I whispered to myself as I fought back the tears forming in my eyes.

Next, I unbuttoned my jeans and carefully peeled them away from my body, revealing even more bruises on my thighs and buttocks. He really had kicked every exposed surface multiple times.

I felt so ashamed. I should have fought back, or run, or…something. I knew better!

I’d been in this position so many times, and every time I told myself I wouldn’t let it happen again. And yet…I did.

Nothing had changed.

I might have finally walked away from Grant, but nothing had changed.

All I could do was collapse to the bed my now ex-boyfriend had bought for me and cry.

Elias had warned me that I was under surveillance, but I’d never imagined Xavier would have gone so far as to find out what apartment I’d rented and put one of his wolves in the next apartment over.

***

My work alarm began to sound, and I started the familiar process of hiding the evidence.

I’d always been good at it, to the point where even my mother never found out what Grant was doing.

I pulled out my favorite black turtleneck sweater, which I’d worn probably a hundred times because it hid everything down to my wrists and up to my ears. I paired it with a loose, floor-length skirt that would hide the bruises on my legs without putting too much pressure on them.

The neighbor’s threats sounded in my ears over and over again.

“Don’t worry. I’m really good at keeping my mouth shut,” I whispered while twisting up a tube of concealer to hide a bit of bruising just behind my left ear.

My movements were stiff and sore, despite my best efforts to act natural.

“It’s fine. I went to the gym for the first time in a long time and overdid it. That’s all.”

The lie flowed naturally from my lips, and I repeated it a few more times so if anyone at work asked, I wouldn’t hesitate.

I gave myself one more look-over before nodding and heading out the door.

Rather than my usual desk, I chose an empty place on the opposite side of the room. I did everything in my power not to look at Jason’s empty chair or acknowledge the whispers all around me.

My body ached, my heart ached, and my spirit was broken.

***

Elias must have called a hundred times in the next few days.

I left my phone on “do not disturb” and deleted his voicemails without even listening to them. I didn’t need the excuses of someone who would not just push me away from my friends like Grant did, but ~murder~ them.

By Friday, the pain was mostly gone. However, the colors had gotten even more vibrant. The purple had gained tinges of yellow and green, which made me feel a bit like a badly dyed Easter egg. I stood in front of the mirror and triple-checked for any exposed bruising.

The doorbell rang, and I sighed.

Probably yet another visit from the police, looking for information I wasn’t able to give them.

I stopped at the door and peeked through the peephole, only to see the very last face I wanted to see staring back at me.

“Go away, Elias! What part of ‘never contact me again’ did you fail to understand? Or how many times do I have to ignore your call before you get the point?

“You murdered Jason, you murdered all those other wolves, and the only reason I haven’t sent the police to your door is because some stupid idiot part of me ~still loves your asshole self~.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Clara, open the door. You’ve jumped to entirely the wrong conclusion!”

“Of course you’d say that,” I spat. “Just leave me alone. I’m miserable enough without you.”

I heard a thud, followed by the sound of Elias sliding down the door to the floor.

“Clara, please,” he begged, his voice little more than a whisper. “Open the door. You’re wrong. Please.”

I felt him gently reaching out through the link.

At first, I locked myself down like a fortress, but his mental touch was tinged with so much sadness that the walls began to crumble.

Almost by itself, my hand reached for the door and unlocked it.

The sound of Elias scrambling to his feet was followed by the turn of the doorknob.

“Clara. Can I come in, please?”

I closed my eyes and pulled the door open.

Elias slipped through the moment it was wide enough for him to fit and wrapped his strong arms around me.

It took everything in me not to flinch as his powerful muscles pressed into my bruises.

He must have mistaken my tears of pain as tears of sorrow because he gently carried me to the couch and knelt at my feet.

“Clara. I heard about your coworker from the pack, but I don’t understand why you would blame me. I had nothing to do with it, I swear.”

“But the note…”

Elias looked up at me with eyes laden with hurt and confusion. “What note?”

I pressed the connection and realized he was being sincere. Suddenly, I felt like the world’s largest asshole.

“Jason was found mauled with a note pinned to his body. It said he’d been too nosy and to leave me alone. And it was signed ‘E.’ What was I supposed to think?”

“Exactly what you did.”

Elias’s lips curled up into a snarl, and I began to pull away. He gently rested a palm on my knee and shook his head.

“Clara. It has to be Xavier. The victims have all been members of my pack. Except for Ezra, but from what I’ve gathered, he was killed because he was going public with Xavier’s nonsense. His own alpha murdered him.

“And Jason… Xavier must have been trying to pin that one on me too.”

My eyebrows knit together as everything clicked into place.

“Elias, why didn’t you tell me sooner? You knew I’ve been researching the murders. And you even knew I was suspicious of you because I flat-out accused you. So why didn’t you tell me they were all your pack members?”

Elias sighed and ran his hand up and down my arm. I grit my teeth as his caress reignited the bruises beneath my shirt.

“Part of my job as alpha is to keep our people’s secret. I did my best to keep the murders and the fact they were wolves separate, but it didn’t do any good. Now, our war has led to the death of a human. It’s time to end things once and for all.”

I opened my mouth to ask how, but Elias’s rough skin pulled the sleeve of my shirt up slightly, revealing the ugly green and purple bruising beneath.

“What happened to your arm? It’s a ghastly shade of purple,” he asked.

Well, shit. I didn’t have any lies prepared for that one.

“I, uh… wasn’t looking and smacked it into the edge of a desk,” I lied, though my tone was anything but convincing.

Elias frowned and reached for the hem, but I slapped his hand away.

“You’re lying to me,” he said, and I couldn’t help looking away in shame. “I knew it. Let me see.”

He reached again for my shirt, and this time I let him. His fingers were particularly gentle as he pulled the shirt up and away from my skin, and I heard the sharp intake of air as he saw the extent of the damage.

I allowed him to remove the shirt entirely and felt his eyes crawling over my damaged skin. My cheeks burned with shame, but I didn’t stop him.

His gaze dropped down my back to my legs.

I nodded. “Yes, down there too.”

“What happened?” he snarled.

His face was overcome with rage.

I shied away from him and cowered against the arm of the couch, and his intensity dropped a few levels.

Gently, he asked, “Clara. Who did this to you?”