Lockwood City: The Tale of Eloise

Six

Palaye Royale- Mr. Doctor Man

Eloise:

My things are being packed away. Elias doesn't think I should stay in this place anymore. I've been holding my phone in my hands for about two hours now. The word 'No' is typed into the text bubble but I haven't sent it yet. I know him. My beta. I've known him his entire life. I know he's engaged to Tiffany Dustin. They've been together for two years and she's the ideal beta female. They're great together.

Fuck.

Why did I do that? Why did I claim him? Why did he say those things to me when we both know they're a f*****g lie? God, it had felt so good at that moment. The fear momentarily slipped away. There was just me and him on the bed. Nothing and no one else mattered. I had been drowning. I had been desperately trying to breathe in and he pulled me out. For a moment, I surfaced and I was finally able to take in that first breath of life.

That's the point of therapy, isn't it? To push past those boundaries. Even if for a moment.

"Hey," I look up at my brother.

"Oh, my god, Blitz," I get up and go over to him. I stop before touching him. My hands are shaking and he sees it. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened,"

"It's cool," he laughs. "It's been a while since someone put me on my ass. I love that it was you who finally did. Makes me feel a bit humble,"

"Shut up," I laugh taking a step back.

His eyes land on the new scar on my neck. Because that's what it is now. A scar. Another painful reminder of how broken I am. A mating I forced on my beta while he's engaged to a woman who is perfect for him. A woman who brings the best out of him. A woman who won't ruin him.

"Elias Graeson," he smirks. I sigh sitting at the edge of my bed. I can still smell him on my bedspread. I slept with it wrapped around me tightly. I've been in the bed all day because of it.

"I f****d up," I shake my head. "My wolf, I don't know what came over me. I tried to fight it and my wolf wouldn't f*****g listen to me, Blitz," I buried my hands in my hair wishing I could pull hard enough to rip the roots right out of my scalp. "She won't f*****g listen,"

"Hey," he slowly approaches and crouches down in front of me. "He didn't seem too upset about it,"

"He was in pain. I feel him inside of me, Blitz. All of it. The anger. He already has someone. I've known that for a while now. She's perfect to be our beta female,"

"No, no, no, no," he places his hand on my head. He's the only that can. My twin brother is the only boy who's ever been able to touch me since they took me from that place. And last night, I almost killed him. "This isn't- Ellie. You're twenty-seven. He's a year older than you. He chose someone to help him take the beta title. It had nothing to do with-"

"Stop," I put my hand over his mouth. "That's not true. Don't try to make me feel better,"

"Ellie, he's your mate. You guys were best friends since we were like two. Even if he did love her, he belongs to you. She has no claim on him whatsoever. A mate's bond is absolute. Even if you hadn't marked him. It will always be you. It has been you from the very beginning,"

"I don't want to leave," a sob rocks through me. "I'm scared. You're my brother and I hurt you. What if-what if-"

"You can't be scared," he pets me to calm me down. "You're Eloise Lockwood. The daughter of Tec and Bes Lockwood. You might not have a flashy profile but you do have one. You're a f*****g legend. Rapunzel,"

"Why do they call me that?" I whisper.

"Rapunzel was stolen from her home and was locked away in a tower. No one knows if you're real or not. We're kind of just praying that you are," he sits down, crosses his legs, and looks up at me. "And it fits. Look at your hair," he teases. I roll my eyes at him. "It doesn't feel real sometimes, huh?"

"No, it doesn't," I admit.

He's right. None of it has ever really felt real. The only parts that do feel real really f*****g hurt. They hurt me and they hurt them. I didn't understand my suffering or theirs when I was younger but I understand it now. I just don't know what to do about it. How do I pick myself up and keep moving? I don't think I can fake this. I don't think I can pretend like this is what I want. I don't even know if I want it. To be mated, to be alpha, to join the outside world. It's all starting to spin together. I knew this was coming and I told myself that I was prepared to face it but I'm not. I'm completely lost here. I can't satisfy this by reading a book.

"I think you should go," he says after a while. I meet his eyes again. Only his left eye matches my gray ones. The right one is a pretty hazel shade. Closer to brown than green. "You should talk to Elias about what you're feeling. You need to get out of here, Ellie. It's time,"

"What if I fail?" I whisper.

"Then you fail. It's part of life, Ellie. Do you think I became Elliot Blitz Lockwood without failing?" he laughs. "I had to take a lot of beatings in the octagon before becoming undefeated. I'm not saying that what happened to you was just a beating, Ellie but you survived that s**t. You're here. You need to stop taking that for granted,"

"I don't mean to,"

"I know," he holds my hand giving it a squeeze. "We used to f**k s**t up together. I want to do all the fun things we used to do as kids. Get in trouble. Make all the other kids hate us. We have a lot of work to do, Ellie. I want my sister back,"

"I'm glad that's not permanent," I point at the claw marks on his neck.

Why would they be? When I was marked up, they used water infused with silver to ensure the marks remained. To make sure that when my parents did find me, they knew I had suffered. None of us expected me to live. I didn't. I welcomed death and when my eyes met my mother's I asked for it. I begged for it. I killed those people in that clinic with the intention of being put down. Their guilt is what keeps me alive. I honestly believe that things would be better if I just wasn't here. If they would just let me go. Move on.

"Eh, I'd look as scary as you. It's a win," he smirks.

"Do I look scary?" I pull back to lie down.

"Not really but I think I'd pull it off better," we both laugh when he crawls along the floor and sits down with his back to me.

Elias kissed them. Licked them. These ugly scars all over my body. Why did he do that? Why did look at me the way he did when he's with her? She's going to be very upset when she finds out and I don't blame her. Not that she can do anything about it. I may not be the huntress I'm supposed to be but I'm not without training. I am an alpha. I can defend myself. Not that I'd stand between them. Having a mate feels complicated.

"You have to come down and see me fight," Blitz says after a while. "When you feel better, I mean. I'll save you front-row seats,"

"I'd love that. I love seeing you fight on TV," I smile.

And just like that, possibilities begin to spread over my mind. Seeing my brother fight in person. Walking into an art gallery with my mom. Watching my sister give a lecture at the University. I took her course online but watching a video isn't the same as being there. What would it be like to sit outside a cafe drinking hot chocolate on a rainy day? No cage around me.

"He broke up with her," he whispers. I sit up looking down at him. He lifts his phone up to show me the Quick Howl app. Lockwood City's preferred social media platform.

The name at the top of the profile reads Tiffany Dustin, username: Tiff_Trolls187. There's a picture of a really pretty ring on the ground captioned, Love isn't a war anyone wins. It's a never-ending battle between two. Sometimes one has to know when to give up. We'll never know what might have been.

All of the pictures of the two of them were deleted from her profile. I remember the day I found out they were dating. I had been so happy for him. He was very self-destructive in the past. He always did what was asked of him but in his spare time, Elias was trouble. It all stopped two years ago. She made him calmer.

I hand the phone back to my brother and lay back against the pillows. This doesn't feel good. My stomach is extra tight now. Every time I swallow, bile threatens to come up. I did that. I hurt her. I want to blame my wolf. I want to say that I couldn't fight back her urge to claim what belonged to her but the truth is, I think I wanted to claim him just as much as she did. What does that make me? Selfish. Am I selfish?

"Ellie?" my brother tries to catch my attention.

"Can I have a moment?" I sigh.

"I have to go but if you want. I can come back later and we can have dinner?" I hear him shuffle around behind me. "One last time in this place? I can bring Mom with me,"

"Sure," I answer without meaning it.

"Okay," he sighs. "I'll see you tonight,"

I get up long after he's gone and take a cold shower. I need to get his smell off of me. I take the sheets and the comforter off the bed and put them in the washer inside my closet. I take new sheets and make the bed. I put a darker comforter on it and sit down. I am a terrible person.

My body is wired. It's not even coming from me. This energy is coming from him. I get up put on something to work out on and head down to the gym. I start on the treadmill with a power walk. Victoria brings me some water. I'm surprised she came back so soon after what happened last night.

"How are you feeling?" she asks after a while.

"Not good," I admit. "I'm sorry for-"

"Don't," she smiles as her hand goes over to her forearm. "I know you can't always control it. We're good,"

"Vicky," I stop the machine and take the water bottle. She steps in front of me and nods.

"Regardless of what you feel, it's done," she says. Victoria's never been one to sugarcoat anything for me. It's why I love her. "There's no going back. It's not going to be easy, Ellie. I know things are difficult now but, you need to prepare yourself.

"I've known Elias as long as I've known you. He's not an easy person to get along with. You might be shy and soft-spoken but you're still the alpha. You're going to have to embrace that part of you. All of it. All the dark s**t you keep hidden away.

"Here in Lockwood City. There is no room for fear. You either kill or get killed. Take everything you know and use it. You know how. I've seen it. You can't be afraid of who you are anymore. Because this is who you are now, Eloise.

"You're the monster they forced you to become. Right now, with the way things are going. That's what we need. Let him help you harness that beast raging inside of you, lovie. There's nothing wrong with you. You're a f*****g masterpiece. The most beautiful piece in this got damn storage room,"

"I don't want to hurt him. I know I will," I take in a shaky breath. She smiles.

"I know you don't. It's too late for that now. You let him in. The hurt started the moment you sunk your teeth into his neck. The moment you let him bite you. Take solace in knowing that he's not the only one that's going to suffer for it. You both will. Together and one day, that pain will turn into something else. Something worth the suffering. This is just the start,"

"Thank you," I nod.

"Your things were moved to his apartment. I just packed your essentials. Things I know you're attached to. Your books and your computers. All of Sasuke's things. If you want to take anything else, you're going to have to carry it with you when he comes,"

"I don't want anything," I say putting the bottle to my lips. "Maybe my bike,"

"The bike," she groans. "I'd prefer you take the BMW,"

"It's pink," I laugh.

"You can wrap it any other color you want. I can have it wrapped red for you,"

"Okay, but I still want my bike," I grin.

"I'm going to have the car wrapped for you," she shakes her head. "I'll push that bike off the building, Ellie,"

I laugh as she pulls her phone out and walks away. She curses a couple of times as she looks back at me. It's where I learned my favorite F word. An odd empty sensation starts in my belly and it growls. I look down putting my hand over it. I'm rarely ever hungry. In fact, I don't really like to eat but right now my jaw is locked and the ache in my belly is urgent.

The kitchen isn't my favorite room in this place but I find myself standing in front of the huge double-door refrigerator. I reach for the metal handle and pull it open. There's a lot of food. A part of me is glad there is and a part of me is getting ready to make me sick. I look down at the drawers to find fruits.

I take a couple of kiwis and a handful of strawberries. I set them down on the counter and quickly look for a knife. I start with a small one and begin to peel the fuzzy brown skin off the kiwis then I slice everything up in perfect circles.

I stand here for a while looking down at the fruit. My stomach is still achey. I take a slice of green and put it in my mouth. It doesn't go down as easily as I want. The flavor is intense. My jaw is tight with both the sour and sweet taste.

"Are you hungry?" Victoria asks. "You should have told me,"

"I wanted to try on my own. I don't think Elias is going to like having you around his apartment all day long," I say and take a strawberry.

"Elias can kiss my ass," she rolls her eyes. "Try this," she comes over to me and takes a vanilla yogurt cup out. She peels the tab off takes a slice of my strawberry from the cutting board and dips the tip of it in the yogurt before she puts it in her mouth. "It helps with the sour taste of the fruit,"

"Okay," I dip the strawberry slice and put it in my mouth. I smile liking the flavor.

"Honey for Kiwi," she grins. "But don't mix them,"

"I like this," I take another strawberry.

"I'll make you something sweet. Your father will be here shortly to take the BMW down. He doesn't want you on that bike either,"

"You told on me?" I laugh. "Vicky,"

"Tiny, you used to be a pain in my ass. I can only imagine the s**t you're going to get into now," she scoffs. "So, yeah. I will call my alpha as many times as I need you to ensure your safety,"