Yours Eternally

Chapter 7

I turned and faced Natasha; my face neutral as I looked at her.

I didn't want to be petty, but I had to admit that she didn't look all that great. She looked a little haggard and her dress revealed more than she had. She narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms.

"What are you doing here?"

"You know, you ask that question a lot. I was invited," I said dryly. Ivan choked on his laughter while Dimitri squeezed my hand again.

"I meant what are you doing here after what you did?" Natasha demanded.

"As I said, I was invited," I repeated calmly.

"By whom? Who was stupid enough to invite you after what you did? You shouldn't be here!"

"I invited her, she is allowed to be here just as much as you are," Dimitri interrupted, slipping his arm around my waist. Natasha's eyes moved to Dimitri's, and she scoffed as she shook her head.

"You're joking?" she scoffed. I couldn't help but notice that others in the room and turned to watch our interactions, Christian looking slightly mortified from where he stood against the counter. I turned back to Natasha and raised my brows.

"You rejected him and now you're trying to worm your way back? Do you really think that anyone here would welcome you back? You broke a sacred bond and what? Expect us to accept you back? You're a pariah, Rose. You have no place here anymore."

"Tasha, I think that's a bit extreme," someone interjected but she held her hand up to silence them.

"You may not have cared what you did to Dimitri, but we did. You didn't have to watch him suffer while hoping you'd change your mind. You didn't have to watch him be in agony while you traipsed around New York doing God knows what with God knows who. You're a promiscuous girl, I wouldn't be surprised if you whored yourself around while away-"

My hand cracked against Natasha's cheek, making her head twist to the side. My nails caught her cheek when I slapped her, cutting her over the purple scar. Natasha raised her hand to her cheek in shock, her fingers coming back with traces of blood.

"You bitch!" she exclaimed but Ivan stepped between us before she could retaliate.

"I think you forget that Rose is mated, and therefore, always welcome at the hubs. I also think you forget that while yes, Rose left, she is still human. She is still young; she is allowed to be scared. She is allowed to need time to think. Immortality is a lot to comprehend, and while Rose may have been in New York, she suffered every bit as much as Dimitri did, if not more. You aren't in a place to assert judgment when you have never been mated," Ivan snapped, his voice so deep and gravelled that his accent overcame his voice.

"Ivan is right, Natasha," Malcolm stated, "Rose wasn't off just living life. She was depressed and irritated, constantly rubbing at her chest. And she was secluded. If she wasn't in class, she was at work. Don't presume to know anything."

I turned my face away for a moment to compose myself. I could handle Natasha talking down to me, but for her to imply that I whored myself out while being away at school struck a nerve with me.

"You're right, I wasn't here. But I had nightmares over and over about the fear and pain that Dimitri felt when I died in July. That has been punishment enough," I said quietly, excusing myself. Dimitri wanted to follow but stayed back with Ivan. I slipped out of the main room and into the first door I found, finding a small room.

I closed the door and leaned against the wall, resting my hands against the walls, breathing slowly out of my mouth. I closed my eyes and let my head thump against the wall. I didn't know what bothered me more; the fact that Natasha publicly humiliated me or that she wasn't wrong.