The Alpha Let Her Humiliate Me Every Full Moon Chapter 04

The Alpha Let Her Humiliate Me Every Full Moon Chapter 04

Before I could react, Delilah rushed at me.

She scrubbed my face with a rough cloth, scraping at my already burning skin.

Every movement of the cloth felt like sandpaper scraping over raw skin.

I shoved her aside and lifted a hand toward my face, only to jerk it back when another burst of pain

hit.

“God, my face is burning. What the hell was in that bucket?”

Dorian rushed over and caught my wrist before I could touch my skin again.

Then he rounded on Delilah.

“You said it was soap! Look at her face. What the hell did you use?”

Color flooded Delilah’s face.

“I-I don’t know! I grabbed the first bottle I saw.”

Her shock lasted only a moment before she went on the defensive.

“Besides, she’s always putting on that sweet, innocent act and trying to make me look bad. I’m sick

of it!”

She pointed at Dorian.

“You said she looked too innocent anyway. That’s why you agreed to this!”

My hands began to shake, and my knees weakened as I struggled to draw a full breath.

“So this was your idea of an apology,” I said, fighting to stay upright.

I looked at Dorian through watering eyes.

“You don’t deserve another thing from me.”

I stumbled toward the bathroom to rinse my face, but the room blurred and tilted around me.

“Elara!”

Dorian’s voice came from somewhere behind me.

“Stay with me!”

When I regained consciousness at the pack clinic, dusk had begun to fall, and the healer was explaining that the chemical burns on my chin and right cheek would require treatment.

Dorian jerked awake when I moved. He’d been slumped in the chair beside my bed.

“Elara, thank God you’re awake.”

He leaned forward, relief washing over his face.

“I was terrified. The healer said you had a toxic reaction to the cleaning chemicals.”

I waited for him to ask about the pain or whether the burns would scar, but instead, he reached for

my hand.

“Delilah really wants to make it right, I swear. You know how proud she is. She went too far, but she never meant for this to happen.”

His fingers tightened around mine.

“Please don’t be angry with her, okay?”

He still hadn’t asked how I felt. Every word out of his mouth was another excuse for her.

I looked at the man I’d loved for six years and saw a stranger.

Tears slid down my cheeks, making the burns sting even more.

“I’m not angry.”

He visibly relaxed.

Then I finished.

“I only wish I’d never let you into my life.”

Dorian froze and opened his mouth, but his phone buzzed before he could speak.

The moment he saw [Princess] on the screen, he straightened.

“I’ll be right back. Try to rest.”

He hurried from the room.

An impulse I couldn’t explain made me push back the blanket and follow him.

Every step sent pain through my back, but I kept going until I reached the rear stairwell.

Through the crack in the door, I watched Dorian sit beside Delilah.

“Stop blaming yourself,” he told her. “She’ll get over it. She always does.”

Delilah punched his arm playfully.

“If she can’t handle this, imagine how she’d react if she knew you only pursued her because you lost that bet.”

She laughed.

“We even planned your full-moon confession as part of the joke.”

A high-pitched ringing filled my ears, drowning out everything else.

Dorian clapped a hand over her mouth and looked around in alarm.

“Shut up! That happened years ago. Let it die!”

My knees buckled beneath me.

Every bit of strength left my body.

All the questions that had haunted me for years suddenly had answers.

I finally understood why I always came second to Delilah.

I understood why Dorian, despite claiming to love me, had always allowed her to humiliate me.

I had told myself he valued their friendship too much.

I had never imagined our entire relationship had begun as a lie.

The truth landed with brutal clarity.

To them, I had never been Dorian’s mate.

I had only ever been the target of a long-running joke, something they used to entertain themselves whenever they were bored.

In that moment, I felt the last of my dignity disappear.

I pressed a hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound.

I had to get away from them and every lie they had built around me.

I collected my things, left the clinic, and took a cab back to the motel for my bags before rushing to the pack transport terminal.

My original shuttle had already departed while I was unconscious, so I rebooked the next one bound for Dawnhaven territory.

Right before boarding, another message from Dorian appeared.

[The healer says you need to stay for observation. Don’t leave. Where are you? I’m coming to get

you.]

His sudden concern made me laugh through my tears.

I didn’t reply.

I blocked his number and deleted every Shadowcliff contact from my phone.

Then I stepped onto the shuttle without looking back.

*Dorian. Delilah.*

*I was done with your sick full-moon games.’

*I would never play along again.*