Macy POV
My alarm goes off, and I try to reach for my phone, but something is holding me down. I look over and see that the pillow between Winston and I has been tossed onto the floor. His arm is draped over my body, his hands pressed against my bare skin.
I should hate this. I have told myself to hate it, but I find myself turning off my alarm and staying in his arms. Unlike last night, I feel safe and comfortable in his arms. The electricity spreading over my skin causes heat to pool between my legs. I press my thighs together, trying to hide the arousal growing within me.
Nyx's head is lying on the side of the bed, and she is staring at me with concern. 'The mate bond is hard to resist,' she says.
"I don't feel anything," I lie to her.
'I may not be in your mind,' Nyx sighs. 'But I can still see what is in your heart. You want him.'
"I don't," I try to keep my voice low.
'Keep telling yourself that,' she says. 'Just remember that lycans can be dangerous. I don't want to see you get hurt.'
"I won't let them hurt me," I promise her.
Winston stirs behind me and tightens his grip around me. "Who are you talking to?"
"Nyx," I reply, seeing no point in lying.
"Your wolf?" He asks.
"Yes, when she is in my mind, I can speak to her silently, but when she is not, I have to speak to her aloud," I explain.
"I don't understand," he admits.
I roll over onto my back and pull the blankets up around my neck, but his hand is still resting on my stomach. I try to ignore how his fingers twitch against my skin while I try to think of a way to explain my relationship with Nyx.
"Nyx has lived many lives. Instead of us being a single being, I am more of a host to her spirit. Sometimes, she rests in my mind, but more often than not, she chooses to be a shadow that follows me around. Her previous hosts had a difficult time finding a balance between them, but Nyx has always been with me, so this is all I know." I shrug my shoulders when I am done talking.
"So, when you are talking to yourself, you are talking to her," Winston confirms.
"Yep, and when I was ten, you and your brother caught me talking to her and called me Crazy Macy in front of all my friends." I feel the anger boiling under my skin as I relive the memory. "After that, no one wanted to be my friend, and I have been Crazy Macy ever since."
"We were just kids," Winston tries to defend himself.
"I know," I say, trying to untangle myself from his arm. "It is what it is."
His eyebrows are furrowed together. "Where are you going? It is too early for school."
"I am not going to school today," I inform him.
"Where are you going?" He wants to know.
"That is none of your business," I hiss as I rip the blanket away from him and wrap it around my body.
"I don't think you should be skipping school." He sounds worried.
I roll my eyes as I disappear into my closet and get dressed for the day. I turn around, pull my shirt over my head, and yell when I see Winston standing in the doorway. He closes the distance between us and pulls my shirt up.
I fight against him, but he rips my shirt down the middle, exposing my skin beneath and my scars. I stand in my bra with my head held high. I know he is looking at the scars, but I keep my face unchanged.
"What happened?" He demands to know. "Who hurt you?"
I scoff loudly and grab a new shirt from my rack.
"I asked you a question," he snaps at me.
"You did," I laugh awkwardly. "You and Edward."
"We didn't do this," he growls.
"You did," I shout at him. "After my tenth birthday party, I was so desperate to get Nyx out of my body I tried to carve her out. I took a knife to my chest at ten years old and dug it into my chest so I wouldn't be Crazy Macy anymore. You did this to me."
I pull a shirt over my head and push past him. Edward is standing in my bedroom with arms crossed over his chest. I know he heard everything I said, but his face remains cold and emotionless. I stare at him for a moment, waiting for some sort of reaction. But I know in my heart it isn't coming. They don't care about me.
I can feel Winston approaching me from behind, and Edward closes in on me as well. They move in sync, and I have no chance of getting away from them. Winston wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to his chest.
A smirk pulls at the corners of Edward's lips, and he tilts my chin up so I am looking at him. His hands run down my neck, and he grabs the collar of my shirt and rips it down the middle.
"Seriously," I groan. "You can't just ruin all of my clothes."
"You are much prettier without all that dark makeup," Edward says.
"Was that a compliment?" I snort.
"Almost," he smiles.
He leans down and licks one of my scars. Something between a moan and a whimper escapes from my lips. Winston holds me tighter as my knees buckle. Edward backs away from me and looks at my chest. The tingles from the mate bond are so intense I can't focus on anything else.
"There," Edward says. "If you are a good girl, I might take care of the rest of them."
I am confused. I don't understand what just happened until I look down. One of the scars on my chest is gone. Only a fading pink line remains in its place. "How?"
"Go," Edward says crankily. The flash of darkness in his hazel eyes tells me not to argue with him.
I grab another shirt and leave my room. Mom is waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me with something in her hands. "Give this Jason for me."
"You aren't going to lecture me about not going to school," I respond smartly.
"Just go," she sighs. "I owe you this much."