The Lycan's Stolen Bride

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Callie!" he barked, pushing off the car. "Where do you think you're going?"

She did not answer. She kept walking, arms wrapped around herself, shoulders hunched like she was trying to disappear into her own skin as she refused to pay him any heed and kept going, maybe if she did not answer, he would go away and give her the freedom she wanted.

But that was but a dream as Peter caught up in a few long strides and grabbed her arm, spinning her around harshly as her ribs suffered the sudden movement, causing more pain to her.

"I said where are you going? I came all the way out here to pick you up, and you're just going to walk off like I'm not even standing here?"

"I didn't ask you to come," Callie said, voice flat.

"Excuse me?" Peter's face went red. "Do you have any idea what I gave up today to be here? I had things to do, Callie. Important things. And I still came, because that's what family does. And this is how you thank me?"

Callie did not say anything. She had learned that silence was safer than the truth. The truth never landed the way she meant it to. It only ever got twisted into something else, something that made her look worse and like the evil Lian, the only protection was silence and it was her shield against them.

Peter took her silence as defiance. His grip tightened on her arm causing her to wince out in pain as he ignored her and kept going.

"You know what, Callie, i ro not have time for this bullshit now, neither am I playing this game with you, get in the car. Now. I'm not standing out here arguing with you on the side of the road like some criminal."

He half pulled, half dragged her back toward the car, ignoring the way she flinched at his grip. He opened the passenger door and pushed her inside, more roughly than he probably meant to, then slammed it shut and rounded the hood to get in himself.

The engine started. Neither of them spoke for a moment. Callie stared out the window, watching the gates of the labor camp shrink smaller and smaller in the side mirror.

"You could at least act happy to see me," Peter muttered, gripping the wheel a little too tight, his knuckled turned white as he continued speaking, determined to fill up the silence.

"Do you know how worried everyone was? Mom cried for weeks after they took you. And you're acting like none of us care."

Callie almost laughed at that. She did not, because laughing would only make things worse for her. She just kept her eyes on the window, watching the gray road blur past.

"Anyway," Peter went on, like her silence did not bother him at all, "I need you to behave when we get home. Rowena got sick when she heard you were being released. The stress of it all, you know how sensitive she is. So mom and dad are throwing her a small party tonight, just to help her feel better."

Callie's stomach turned. A party. For Rowena. On the day Callie came home from two years locked away for a crime she never committed.

"And I need you," Peter continued, "to apologize to her. Properly. None of that petty attitude you used to have before all this happened. She's been through a lot too, you know. Watching her own sister go through something like this, it's hard on her. The least you can do is be a good elder sister and stop making everyone's life harder than it already is."

Callie said nothing. She kept her gaze fixed on the passing trees, the field, the sky, the birds flying past as she wished she could exchange with one of them, being out there, rather than stuck down here.

Peter glanced at her sideways, waiting for some kind of response, an argument, tears, anything that will show that Callie was still the same as always, always throwing tantrums.

When none came, he huffed and turned his eyes back to the road, muttering something under his breath about how difficult she was being and how unreasonable it was, wondering how he got cursed with terrible luck like this.

Callie pressed her forehead lightly against the cool glass of the window as it sent coolness down her body. Her ribs still ached from the beating that morning and was not stopping anytime soon. Her stomach was empty, she could not remember the last time she had eaten, probably two or three days ago. Her clothes barely held together at the seams. And now she was being driven home to apologize to the girl who had ruined her life, so that girl could feel better at a party thrown in her honor.

She thought about the word the matron had used. Second chance. As if two years of her life stolen for someone else's crime was a gift she should be grateful for. As if walking out of that gate with bruises she had to hide meant she was free.

She was not free. Not yet. But she was out. And for now, that would have to be enough.

The car turned onto a long paved road, the kind that led toward large gated houses and manicured lawns meant for the nobles of the city, the wealthy area, only accessible by a few families, different from the rest of the slums where the rest of the city lived in. Callie recognized it immediately, even after two years away. Her chest tightened at the familiar mansion ahead as her hands tightened subconsciously, not ready to face it,

Peter slowed the car as they approached the gates, straightening in his seat, smoothing down his jacket like he was preparing to walk into some important meeting rather than drive his own sister home.

"Just," he said, quieter now, almost like he meant it kindly, "keep your head down tonight. Don't cause a scene. Don't bring up anything from that place. Just get through the party and we'll figure the rest out tomorrow. remember all that i had said, we also have some important dignitaires coming later today so you will make sure you do not cause any issues for us"

Callie did not answer. She watched the gates swing open, watched the house grow larger in the windshield, and said nothing at all.