“You’ve changed,” she says, her voice turning harsh.
A bitter laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”
“Don’t be smart with me.”
I meet her gaze, refusing to look away. “What did you expect? That I’d come back and hide behind your skirts? Play the good little stepdaughter so you could parade me around and prove you’re a devoted mother?”
Color floods her cheeks. “Watch your tone.”
“Why? So you can keep playing happy family? Pretend you didn’t ship me off to another country the moment I became inconvenient?”
Her hand moves so fast I barely register it before the crack echoes through the room.
My head snaps to the side, cheek stinging. Heat blooms across my skin where her palm connected.
I straighten slowly, turning back to face her. My hand comes up to touch my burning cheek, but I don’t let the tears gathering in my eyes fall.
“I didn’t raise you to be so disrespectful,” she hisses.
“You didn’t raise me at all.” The words taste like acid. “I’ve always been a stain from your past. Something to hide. Something to be ashamed of.” I lean forward slightly, my voice dropping. “I know you wished I’d died alongside Dad and Trevor.”
The color drains from her face. Then, her eyes flash with purerage, and her hand shoots up again, claws extending. “I told you never to mention them again!”
The second slap is harder. Her claws rake across my cheek, and I feel skin tear. Blood runs hot and wet down my jaw.
I clutch my face, glaring at her through the pain. “Why? Why can’t I mention the only two people who ever cared about me?”
“You will not speak of them. Not in this house. Not ever.”
“They’re all I have left!” My voice breaks despite my best efforts to stay strong. “They’re the only family who ever loved me!”
She advances on me, and I step back instinctively until my shoulders hit the wall.
“You have a family,” she snaps, ice-cold. “Alaric has given you a home. Given us both a home. And you repay him by acting like an ungrateful child.”
“He’s not my father,” I spit back.
Her hand lifts again, trembling with fury.
I straighten my spine. “Go ahead. Beat me black and blue if you want. It doesn’t change the fact that you replaced my father and my brother, and you’ve despised that I survived when they didn’t.”
“How dare you…” Her voice shakes with rage.
“It was easy for you, wasn’t it? Trading them in for a new husband and son. Playing the devoted wife to an alpha. But I’ve never forgotten them. And I never will.”
Her hand comes down once more, claws fully extended. They dig into my cheek, tearing deeper. The pain is sharp and immediate, but I don’t shrink back. Don’t cower.
I just stare at her through the blood running down my face.
She pulls back, breathing hard, her eyes blazing. Then, her expression shifts, becoming cold. Calculated.
“I told you to keep a low profile,” she says, her voice dropping to a dangerous level. “To make yourself invisible. But you couldn’t even do that, could you?”
My chest tightens. “What are you talking about?”
“Tomorrow, you will tell Alaric that you no longer wish to work in the Supernatural Affairs Division.” Her words are clipped.Final. “You will request a transfer to another department. Or better yet, you’ll quit entirely.”
A sharp and unexpected spasm of pain shoots through my chest at her words. I press a hand to my ribs, confused by the intensity of it.
