Vexed

17: Rabbit Hole

There was an extra pulse radiating through my head. In an attempt to stop the throbbing, I rubbed my eyebrow bridge while sitting up. I was in a daze and for a while, stopping the headache was all that was on my mind. I laid back down on the cold stone floor. My sight aligned with a ceiling light above me and I stared at it hoping to clear my head. Groggy would be the best way to explain how I felt.

What was I doing in the ceremonial room?

Slowly, I massaged my temples while trying to recall how and why I was in this room. Usually, I would be in the spectacle room, watching whatever ceremony was being performed. One of my duty as Beta was to attend ceremonies as a representative of titled werewolves in the pack. Of course, that was the case when Matteo or Jaquelin wasn't available. Most of the times there were other issues that needed their attention over a 'coming of age' ceremony. I tried to attend as many as I possibly could, it made pack members feel seen and heard. As their Beta... 

I sat up too fast and immediately regretted when my decreasing headache made a sharp comeback. "Fuck," I cursed under my breath and pinched the bridge of my eyebrows. I was no longer their Beta. I was Violet Valentino, the future Luna of the Zonarus pack. In the entire history of our existence, I was one of the two royal werewolves to have another royal as their soulmate. 

Looking around, I recalled the reason for me being here. The birth ceremony must have been over and they were waiting for me to tell them I was okay. Which was a bit odd, considering someone should've intervened by now. Skylar. 

I remembered seeing his face before passing out but it clearly was just a hallucination. I scoffed and stood up. It was stupid of me to think he would come to"rescue" me.

"All good, just passed out for a second and had a mini-breakdown after. Doesn't seem anyone cares about it much though," I announced looking back and forth between the two mirrored windows. Nobody answered, which prompted me to ask, "can you hear me, or is this some kind of hazing?" 

Yet again, no response. Something was clearly off. I went towards the only door in the room, it led me to the space where the Elder would have sat and chanted. There was no one in sight. The room seemed gloomier than I remembered it being. I walked straight for the door leading to the spectacle room and found that it was empty as the last room.

Goosebumps appeared on my skin as something brushed against me. I turned, ready to attack or shift, but found that there was no one there. I closed the door behind me and properly looked around in the room I was in before the ceremony started. There was a slight sense of anger looking at the bench but I didn't know why I was feeling that way. 

The last clear memory I had in this room was seeing Matteo leave to join the others in the spectacle room. I closed my eyes trying to remember what happened after but there was a gap. I briefly recalled being assisted in the ceremony room by the Elder of the Valentino pack. Perhaps there was an exchange of words but it was difficult to confirm that. I remember feeling betrayed for some reason and there was something I had to remember. Frustration built up as I failed to retain whatever information I was meant to not forget.

"Violet," I heard a familiar welcoming whisper. My eyes locked on the door that would lead me to the exit. The voice came from that direction, I was sure of it. Evaluating the situation I came to the conclusion that staying here would not give me any answers. Even if I was stepping into a trap, I had to find out who called my name. 

There was no weapon on me because I had to leave everything outside before the ceremony. Perhaps they would still be there but I had my doubts about it. I walked back to the ceremony room and picked up the chair I remember being strapped to. I threw it at the wall that didn't have any two-way mirrors. Before the chair made an impact with the stone surface I turned around to shield myself from flying shards of wood.