Louisa's POV
"Lucas is going to get married?!" I looked up at Lucian in shock and asked in a whisper.
"Does he know about it?! Do you know about it?!" I added in a subdued voice.
Lucian lowered his head and said, "Miss Louisa, I want to assure you that it's not what it looks like. We'll talk about it in a minute."
Then, he talked to the shop assistant, "I'll take both of the red shawls and would you please escort Miss Louisa to the private fitting room and help her to try on all the dresses in your shop until she finds what she likes."
"Yes, Sir." The shop assistant nodded and said. "Please come this way, Miss Louisa."
I followed the shop assistant and walked away reluctantly.
I strained my ears to hear their conversation.
"Lady Akela, this really is the worst time for you to show up here," Lucian said.
"I don't care. You boys keep doing these things behind my back and try to keep me in the dark. You know how I hate to be in the dark, Lucian. You remember the time we were locked up in the small dark room back in our academy days? I just kept crying and crying over your shoulder..." Her voice reminded me of the licorice syrup I once made for my father's birthday. Very drippy and sticky.
"Lady Akela..."
"Oh, call me Aki, like in the old days, you sassy pretty boy."
Aki? What kind of name is that?
"Lady Akela, I will have to ask the soldiers to escort you back to Emerald Creek and notify Alpha Dire at the same time." Lucian's voice sounded very assertive.
"No way! You aren't going to do something like that! I mean, I'm not smart, but I can still tell that you don't have a heart of stone. Even though you've spent so many years in the North, hanging around with a bunch of rednecks, I still believe that the southern chivalry in you never dies. Come on, Lucian, render help for a poor damsel in distress. Please..."
"Lady Akela, I understand that you're going through a dismaying situation in your life. Please take my advice and go back to Emerald Creek. Go back to your brother. Alpha Dire must have been desperate right now when he found out that you're gone."
"I'm not going back to that horrible, horrible sandpit! I was born and bred in the city. I was raised to be a princess! Have you been to Emerald Creek? It's basically a hole in the middle of nowhere with millions of bugs! I hate bugs! They get into my ears and make me tickled. Please, Lucian. I've got nowhere to go..."
"You've come to this shop, Lady Akela. You don't seem to have nowhere to go."
"You know me, I go shopping whenever I don't have anywhere to go. Plus, I can't possibly meet Lucas in this ugly dress. This looks like a turtle suit. It's just the ugliest thing that I have ever seen in my life... I mean, other than bugs, of course."
This lady's going to get married to Lucas? Well, good luck with that. I thought to myself while stepping into the private fitting room.
"Miss Louisa," the shop assistant asked. "What kind of dress would you like?"
"Well, the most expensive kind, please," I replied.
"Yes, right away, Miss." The shop assistant said and quickly ran away.
I guessed she must have been intimidated by the look on my face.
I looked into the mirror and saw a strange figure with a jealous face.
I did get stronger and taller after the transformation and the beating.
Thinking about the beating, I became furious.
What kind of man beats up a girl so badly and goes get married to someone else?
He told me to my face that he didn't want to get married! He told me, word by word, that he didn't need a Luna for his pack!
He asked me to be his breeder who stays in the Luna Tent. So where was he going to put up that stupid redhead? In his tent?!
That son of a b... He lied to me!
I peeled off the clothes on my body in anger, threw them on the floor, and stepped on them.
The branding mark on my chest looked striking.
A big letter L in red, across my left chest, above my nipple.
A mark of humiliation that I could never get rid of.
A wound of pain that would never heal.
The Ring that Alpha Zackery gave me was still on my neck.
I looked like a cheap whore with no self-respect.
I covered my face and my body started to tremble.
Josephine's voice appeared in my mind -
"Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror?"
"You're nothing more than a daughter of a whore!"
If my mother was alive, would she cry when she saw me being like this?
If Uma was alive, would there be disappointment in her olive-green eyes?
What have I done to myself?
The door of the fitting room opened.
The shop assistant came in with a bunch of dresses in her hands and saw me crying naked in the middle of the room.
She was petrified.
Then, I heard Lucian's voice -
"Your service will not be needed."
"Yes, Sir."
The door of the fitting room closed and Lucian walked towards me with expensive dresses in his arms.
I didn't want to hide my body in front of him, because it wasn't the first time he saw me naked, anyway.
I cried even harder and said, "Go away! I don't want to hear any more lies!"
Lucian sighed, put the dresses on the side, and opened his arms to me.
I knew he wanted to hug me, so I tried to push him away.
"Don't touch me!" I cried out. "Save your tenderness and warmth to other women! I don't need your sympathy! I don't need your lies. You're all liars!"
Despite my protest, he still held me tightly in his arms.
I struggled and tried to punch him, but my hands were raised and eventually wrapped around his chest.
"Is Lucas going to marry that girl?" I asked in despair.
"Louisa, you know..."
I shook my head and wailed, "I don't want to hear any of your explanations! You're always trying to justify everything that he has done! His cruelty, his lies... I don't want to hear it anymore! Just give me a damn straightforward answer, Lucian! Is he going to marry that girl or not...?"