CHAPTER 5

"If this was to be my life, if I am going to be nothing more than a punching bag, then I would no longer make it easy for them."

​"Kimberly, what have you done?" Janet mumbled. "Daven will be furious."

​"Let him be furious," I muttered. "He has already made it clear that my life means nothing to him. Why should I continue to play the victim when the outcome is the same?"

​"Kimberly, what are we going to do now," Janet sighed.

​"If Kate and May won't give me a way out, I won't give them one either," I muttered. "I will use their own weapons against them."

​"I'm worried about you, Kimberly, Kate and May are very corny."

​"Don't worry, Janet, I got this," I muttered as I pulled out a small, worn wooden box from the dresser. 

 As a child, I use to spend hours in front of the mirror, playing with brushes and shadows, changing how I looked until I was a stranger to myself.

 My parents always scoffed. "Rubbish," they would say. "A future Luna needs no tricks like this." They were wrong I did need does tricks.

​I opened the box. Inside were pots of pigment and fine brushes. I worked with steady hands as I darkened the edges of the bruise on my cheek, making it look swollen.

I added a touch of pale gray color to the skin beneath my eyes, making myself look hollow and exhausted, smearing a streak of red across my lower lip. I looked like a woman who had been dragged through the floor. Perfect. This was the result I wanted. If Kate wants to play the pity game, I’ll show her how it's done.

​Janet frowned, stepping closer to examine my face. "Kimberly, this looks terrifyingly real. Are you sure about this."

​"I have to be," I muttered, setting the brush down.

​"But Daven is ruthless," Janet mumbled, her hands shaking. "What if he looks too closely and see through your disguise."

​"He won't," I muttered. "He is too blinded by his own arrogance to notice the details. He only sees what flatters his ego."

​"The Alpha demands your presence in his office," a servant muttered from outside the door.

​"Okay, tell him we'll be there soon," I muttered.

​I turned to Janet and gripped her arm. "Janet, remember, if Daven asks what happened, you say Kate struck me. We need our story to be exactly the same, got me."

​"I understand," Janet nodded, "Kimberly, let's go."

​When we got to the office, I turned all teary-eyed as I pushed the door open. Daven was standing by the window. Kate was on the edge of his desk, her hand resting on his arm.

​Daven scoffed snatching a vase from the desk and hurled it right at me. It smashed against the wall an inch away from my head, glass shards spraying across my feet.

​"You have some nerve," Daven scoffed. "Kate told me you dared to lay a hand on her."

​I let a single tear slide down my cheek, clutching the fabric of my dress, trembling. "I don't know what Kate told you. I was only in my room chatting with Janet when she came in and started raining insults at me and hit me on my face several times. Look at my face, oh, it hurts."

​Kate rolled her eyes. "She’s lying, Alpha. She shoved me so hard I nearly broke my wrist. I didn't touch her."

​I looked at Daven, tears streaming down my eyes. "Why would i lie? I know my place. I know I’m not worthy of being the Luna. If Kate wants to be the Luna, I’ll happily step aside. 

​Daven scoffed, "Shut up, Kimberly. Your acts won't fool me, so stop playing games with me and talk."

​"I'm not trying to fool you, Alpha," I muttered, "I was just telling the truth."

​"Lies," Kate muttered, pointing at me.

​"I'm not lying," I mumbled, "I just want to be a good Luna and a good wife. I just wanted to be enough for you,"  coff-coff.

​"Kimberly, what's wrong with you," Janet muttered, rubbing my back.

​"I'll be fine," I muttered, reaching up to pat the tears from my cheeks with shaking fingers. I looked at Kate, My eyes pleading.

 "Kate, if it makes you happy, I can start doing your chores too. Just please, stop hurting me. I’m already so weak."

​Kate smirked, looking at Daven. "See, She's just trying to act like a saint."

​I fell to my knees, clutching Kate's dress tightly. "Kate, why are you doing this to me, I have never done anything to harm you. I just want us to live together in harmony. Is that too much to ask."

​"Kimberly, let go of me," Kate scoffed, trying to pull away while Daven watched, clearly losing patience with the constant bickering.

​"You can hit me as much as you want," I sobbed, looking up at Daven, "but please, not my face. I need to look perfect to be able to represent our pack as the Luna. If my face is bruised, the Alpha will loose face."

​Daven rolled his eyes, his gaze flicking between us. He was clearly annoyed, "Enough," Daven scoffed, "I don't care who started it. If you ever touch Kate or May again, I will make you regret you were ever born, Kimberly."

​"I understand Alpha," I muttered, lowering my head, tears streaming down my face, i be a better wife and luna from now on i won't complain sny longer even if may and kate hurt me... Just then, the office door swung open.

​Daven spun around. He froze. Every muscle in his body went still. His face went pale, his jaw dropping in shock. He looked terrified.

​A man stepped into the room. He was wow... handsome, tall, dressed in a dark suit with multiple guards walking beside him. "He must be important," I muttered, nudging Janet, "Who is this man..."