Rite of Submission - Rite 1

57: Harsh Truths

                I felt like I was being crushed between the two siblings, making it harder still to breathe through their scents. I could only hope that my senses were just overactive from the events of the last hour or so, and this wasn't going to be a permanent thing I had to get used to. Pulling myself out of their arms, but still leaning against him a little to stay upright, I asked again, "No, really, where are we?"

Sophie looked me over and blushed, reminding me that I was stark naked. "It's a vault our father built to hold our mother while she shifted." She walked to the panel on the wall, laying her palm flat against the glass making it light up. There was a sliding sound in the wall, and when the panel beeped she pushed against the concrete wall, making it open up to the adjoining room.

"Your mother could shift?" I shot Dmitri an accusatory glare, as I followed her through the opened wall.

We stepped into their parents' suite. Sophie snagged a sheet off a piece of furniture and held it out to me. "It happened after we were born," she offered as a way of explanation, but I knew better.

Taking the offered sheet, I wrapped it around me and tucked it into itself to hold it in place. The last time I'd been in these rooms, it had been dark and earned me several punishments. I sat down in the chair that she'd just uncovered making them both frown.

"You must be exhausted; we should get you to bed so that you can rest."

I waved off the hand he offered me. "I think it would be best for the three of us to address a few things here, first." I let them both stare at me. "I'm tired of being lied to by the both of you, and feeling like a toy you have to share, or someone can cast aside without an explanation." I looked at him for the last part.

"I've never lied..." she started, but I cut her off.

"You could've just told me how you really felt when I kissed you," I frowned at her, ignoring how she blushed, and how he puffed up his chest. "You are just as bad if not worse," I accused, "you've avoided me for days, pushing yourself to a point of exhaustion that yanked me under with you, just to avoid having to face me in your dreams."

"I didn't have any right to you anymore," he yelled, letting his anger get the best of him.

"It's about time you got this through your thick skull; you never had a right to me. Even your wolf was clear about that this whole time. Did you really think that a piece of paper made you entitled to claim me?" I shouted back. "Instead of trying to control everything and everyone around you, maybe you should stop and ask. Don't try to tell me how I feel or what I need. I'm quite capable of figuring that out for myself, all you had to do was ask what I needed."

"Dimi," Sophie interrupted quietly, "she's not wrong. Neither of us asked her what she wanted, or told her how we felt." She smiled sadly at him, "You need to tell her what you told me."

His mouth hung open for a second, "You know why I can't Soph," his anger shifting from me to her.

"Can't or won't?" her brows furrowed angrily, "Damn it just tell her!"

Here we went again. I was never going to get around to telling them anything if they started a full fight right now. Plus, they were still trying to hide things from me. I stood up, letting the sheet fall to the floor as I concentrated on putting all the force I could behind my voice, "Stop it!" They both stared at me, "The next one of you to open their mouth had better be ready to give me a straight answer." I felt the air around me vibrate as I spoke. Sophie dropped her head submissively, but he tried to fight it, but eventually his chin dipped. I could sway him? I could feel a part of me was amused by my surprise at the realization. "What are the two of you trying to keep from me now?"