Obey.

16 Hayley

Hey, it's me. Hayley.

I sent the text quickly to the only number saved on the burner phone, Caydens.
It was probably more of a surprise to me that I actually used the phone than I'm sure it was for Cayden who I had yelled at and told not to talk to me basically. But since then I've calmed down and realized something.
Last night; Hunter could have killed me. And no one would have cared or bothered to ask, "Hey what happened to Hayley?"
And that thought terrified me more than Hunters rage. Being here in this world and gone and not even remembered. How sad.
So I decided to text Cayden. And I knew if I suddenly went missing he'd be the only one asking the right questions and pressing for the right answers.
:) hey. Sorry about today; you were right. I was out of line. How are you doing?

Fine. Hey I want to know more. About your mom. About being half wolf.

I sent the text to Cayden as my heart slammed in my chest.
Hearing footsteps, I quickly held down the end call button to shut off the phone, before placing the cellphone inside of the book I carved out to hide the phone. Placing the book back on my bookshelf.
The door opened behind me and I grabbed a completely different book before turning around.
"What are you doing?" Hunger sneered. "I have friends over, why aren't you down stairs?"
"Oh, um this book is apart of my school assignment, I have to do an essay tomorrow on it," I visibly shook as he started stalking towards me. Flinching as he snatched it from my hands. I could smell the stench of alcohol coming from his breath as he tossed it across the room.
"Are you dumb? Then get the fucking cliff notes tomorrow morning," he grabbed the end of my shirt and tore it off. "And change into something better you look like shit," he tossed my shirt over his shoulder as he walked away. "Be down stairs in five minute."
With that, he was gone. Leaving me to look at the oversized mirror in the room, seeing the map of abuse all over my chest and stomach and arms. The bruises looked like a work of art, blue, purple, yellow and black. The white and pink and angry red cuts and scars married into them.
Sighing in relief at not being caught with the phone, everything in me wanted to check to see if Cayden wrote back, but knowing I wouldn't have time.
So, I dug out a Saint Laurent long sleeved, white ruffled blouse and leather skirt with black stockings underneath, before slipping on a pair of flat red bottoms.
Hunter and a few of his close friends were in the living room, each had a red solo cup and there was a glass plate with fat white lines on the coffee table.
"There she is! The love of my life," Hunter announced as I came into view. He strode over and held me gently as he gave me a big wet kiss on the mouth.
"Aww, guys!" Hunter's friend's girlfriend, the only other girl here, exclaimed as she watched us. I didn't know any of their names. It was hard to keep track or even keep focus. She had red hair and sparkling blue eyes that were slanted from being drunk or high, a joint between her fingers as she ashed it in an ashtray. "Babe, why can't you love me like that?" She smacked the boys chest whose lap she was half sitting on. I didn't bother looking at him at all. Not worth being slapped around.
"Geez, get a room already. Who's next?," another guy in the room asked, holding out a cut straw towards Hunter and I.
Hunter had his arm wrapped around my waist as he plucked the straw from dudes hand.
"Here," he said, handing it to me. "You need to catch up." Breaking away from him, I walked over to the coffee table, pulling my hair to the side as I leaned down and lined the straw to my nose. It burned going up and dripped down the back of my throat. I sniffed in a deep breath as I tilted back my head and held my nose together so that I could make sure it all went where it needed to go. And then I went in for another line knowing just one wouldn't satisfy me for the moment.
Handing the straw to Hunter, I walked over to the mini bar to make myself a drink. It sucked when he would bring me into his friend group, forcing me to be social and act normal. It was scary. I never knew if I was going to do something to upset him.
What if I accidentally smiled at one of them? Or said something awkward? But the fears slid away as the cocaine hit my brain, the big drip at the back of my throat making the world seem brighter. It was like I saw clearly but it could just be my pupils turning to saucers.
Walking back over, I confidently sat in Hunters lap as he grinned up at me as if I were his favorite person. It was all a show, an act, but it felt good even for the moment.
I knew deep down the drugs and alcohol were another way for Hunter to control me. It was on nights like these, where we spent doing lines after lines, that the sex would actually be really intense. It wouldn't hurt as my body wanted it, hummed for it, wanting to be touched. And it was the only time that I would return the passion, kissing him. running my hands all over. It was the only time I didn't just lay there and squeeze my eyes shut hoping it would be done. It was a type of night where I was actually going to be ok; to be able to sleep without a broken bone. If I just played it right, if I just acted right. Then everything would be fine.
"How about we ditch?" Cayden was saying the following week. "Like at least once a week, we should go out and do something.
"No way! What if we get caught?" I wasn't afraid of anyone at school, but if word got back to Hunter, I shivered at the pain I knew he would cause. I could already feel the sting of my cheek from the backhand that would begin the beating.
"I want you to train with me," he was saying. "You know what we talked about last time. How I trained."
I gasped at him.
"Are you implying - I'm not an abomination, I don't need to train," I sneered and gasped a second later, holding my hand to my mouth.
Cayden looked down at the worksheet in front of him and horror filled me. What the fuck was wrong with me? He had been vulnerable with me, telling me a deep secret and here I was looking down on him, all because he hit a nerve. I was half human, it was true. It just scared me to know someone else thought so too. Hunter's rants of me being brutally gang raped by the next alpha who sensed my weak wolf, always played in my head, being pimped out to five dudes a day didn't seem appealing and it made me feel lucky I had Hunter who at least kept me to himself. It was the best an I was going to get in life being omega and all.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," I reached out my hand but Cayden snatched his away.
"Forget I said anything, let just get back to this math problem."
My world felt like it shattered. I had hurt Cayden. I could see it plain as day on his face. He had a furrow to his brow, a withdrawn stance. I had to make it right. I knew very well words could be just as bad a physical punch. It could make you view someone in a different light.
"No, truly, Cayden. I'm no one to look down on others. I don't even think that way. You just caught me off guard. I don't want you to think that I'm -" weak I wanted to say but knew that would imply he was.
"That's not why I wanted to train, I know who I am, it's rare, it would be a miracle if there was two part wolves in the same room much the same school," I kept my expression unreadable at his words. "It's not about that. It's about being confident in knowing if anyone fucked with you, you'd know that you could easily take them down and be on your way. It's security for just in case," his eyes wandered down to my wrist and I followed his gaze to see a large yellow and black healing bruise was visible as my sleeves had pulled up slightly.
Quickly, I covered it back up, letting my eyes slide closed. "Oh that I -"
"Save it. You don't have to explain where every bruise and cut comes from." I looked at Cayden with wide eyes at his words. He saw through me and he knew. But it was true, I realized, every time he noticed a bruise, I'd come up with a cover story thinking I was slick.
When did he figure it out? I wanted to question him or deny it some more but the look he was giving me shut me up.
Was I that obvious? Then why hadn't anyone noticed before?
But Cayden noticed; he noticed everything. He was always watching me. Did he sense me too? He allowed me to lie but deep down, did he know everything?
"Look, I'm not saying you have a weak wolf, I'm just saying maybe you've found yourself in a not so desirable situation with a stronger wolf and are afraid and I want to help with that. To stop the fear. To empower you. To make sure that no matter what, when there's no one around to help you, that you can help yourself."
I didn't know how to respond as Cayden peered at me through his long eyelashes. Worry now on his face that he had said the wrong thing. I could feel the heartbeat in my ears.
Deny, deny, deny. Just keep denying. Come up with a good excuse and laugh it off.
But I wanted exactly what he was offering. To become stronger. If he's telling the truth and he did it. I saw no reason why I couldn't. And I didn't have anything left to lose. Hunter was going to kill me one day. That was a fact. If I wanted to live, I needed to come up with an exit plan, like yesterday.
"Okay," my shoulders sagged, "I want to train with you. But not because anything is going on or anything," I added because I couldn't risk word getting around that I was admitting to the abuse. "But just because. It sounds badass."
Cayden beamed at me. "Great! Bring gym wear tomorrow."