Chapter 13

Luka

I couldn’t believe he’d stand up for me like that. It was hard enough to believe anyone would, but he was a king, defending me against the word of someone who qualifies as pack nobility.

He treated my wounds, covering my face with ice and medicines, ointments that worked quickly, almost like magic. It was such a stark contrast to Declan. I was starting to accept that maybe, just maybe, Caleb cared for me.

My skin was cool and the redness was gone. It felt like I had an entirely new face on, one of someone who could face life.

I rested for a while, and when a knock came at my door, I got up excitedly, hoping it was Caleb. Outside the door, a female voice called.

“Luka? It’s me.” I recognized it immediately, and I smiled.

“Mia?” I opened the door to her huge smile and shining blue eyes. She laughed and wrapped her arms around me.

“What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy…”

“I wanted to take you out, celebrate the start of your new life with a chance to be a whole new you, with a whole new wardrobe.”

I looked down at my plain clothes, and the clothes in my closet. They were provided for me, but it’s true, they felt like someone else’s. Still. It seemed like too much.

“I don’t know…”

Mia playfully rolled her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who passed up the chance to go shopping with an unlimited budget.”

I worried about what Caleb would think, especially if he thought I was taking advantage of him. Did I have the right to do this? It felt wrong.

“Well, come out to the living room and we can discuss it.”

She reached out her hand, and I came with her. I smiled when I saw that Caleb was already sitting.

“Well, hello there, two of my favorite women together in one place. What are you up to? Conspiring?”

“Maybe. If she lets me,” Mia said.

Caleb looked at me, puzzled. “Luka? What’s she talking about?”

I sat down on the plush sofa and took a pillow into my lap. “She wants to take me shopping. I’m hesitant. What do you think, Luka? It seems extravagant.”

“I agree wholeheartedly with you, Mia. Luka, let my sister spoil you. Besides, it’s her greatest joy in life, playing dress-up with her friends, leading her to the latest designers.”

“Then it’s settled,” Mia said.

We went to the most prestigious boutiques, places where I felt wrong just stepping foot, much less trying on their clothes. The first day, we just got one relatively plain dress for me, and Mia bought at least a dozen for herself, as well as some silk negligees.

I blushed when Mia modeled them for me. She looked amazing, but I couldn’t imagine being so free with my body.

It became a regular occurrence, and that first week, Mia and I socialized at the shops, looking at jewelry, clothing, cosmetics, accessories, and decorations. We had our makeup done in the latest fashions, and I had my hair arranged as if I were going to a ball, just for fun.

I started getting used to actually buying things, in part because it felt like I was shopping for Mia, but the items just happened to go to me. But I loved the clothes. I felt like a princess.

“So, Luka,” Mia told me at one of the boutiques. “You look so stunning in everything, but I think you need to be as confident as you deserve to be. I’ve chosen these for you to try.”

A collection of sexy dresses and underthings was hanging up, arranged by the boutique.

“I don’t know, Mia. These aren’t really my style…I’m pretty modest…”

“I know, Luka, and that’s just the thing. You should show off how beautiful you are instead of hiding under those sheets and work clothes you wear. At the very least, diversify your collection. Variety is the spice of life!”

“These are more like, spice is the spice of life…”

“Well, that, too.” Mia held them up and grinned. “I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ve already bought them. and bring them home, and if you hate them, I’ll donate them.”

She had been such a good friend of me, and she was so much fun to be around, I couldn’t disappoint her. “Okay, okay, you’re persuasive. What choice to I have?”

“Excellent. I think you’ll grow to like them.”

In the car ride home, I started to warm up to the idea of them. Of course, I thought about Caleb and wanting to be as beautiful for him as he deserved, since he was so unbelievably handsome. I thought of his strong, toned body, and his perfect chiseled face. I wanted him to be proud of me.

Mia could almost read my mind, it seemed. “You and my brother can have fun in this.”

I blushed and drew my shoulders in close. Mia wrapped an arm around me. “You’re so cute when you get shy.”

By then we were at the house, and Mia dropped me off. “Have fun, Luka.” She winked, and I shook my head with a smile.

As silly as I felt about trying to be sexy, I was dying to see how I looked. Could I pull it off? Would it be like a clown putting on makeup, immediately clear it was a joke?

I pulled on one of the dresses, a tight black lace minidress with off-the-shoulder straps and a plunging back. If it were anyone else in the dress, she might have been attractive. But for me, it looked strange. And I started to feel sick, maybe because of the reflection being so different from my usual self.

I wanted to see myself in different lighting, so I crept out of the room to go down the hall into the wardrobe room, where the bespoke couturiers came to tailor Caleb’s clothes perfectly, and where he prepared for important events.

Mia told me she had arranged it as a surprise for him. At first he thought it was vain, Mia said, but he took advantage of it at least once per week.

My pain grew worse. I ran to my bedroom to get medication, but the pain in my chest radiated all the way to my limbs. I was having another attack, and the pain killers were barely doing anything.

I left to find a nurse, to get more powerful medicines, or maybe to get Caleb. His presence always seemed to help somehow when it happened before.

In the hallway by the front room, I was so racked with pain, I fell to the ground, unable to walk. My body felt like it was being torn apart.

“Caleb? Where are you?” I heard a female voice calling. It wasn’t Mia.

The footsteps stopped right near my feet. “What are you doing, you buffoon?”

I looked up and saw it was Olivia. “Is that your way to show off for Caleb? Putting on a whore outfit and rolling around the floor? Well, clearly it’s not working. You look like a freak. You can’t pull it off, I’m sorry to say. You’re about as sexy as a clam.”

The pain was so severe, I couldn’t even respond. The frustration and the taunting made the pain even worse. I was trying to hold back tears, but it was futile.

“I have an idea,” Olivia mused. “Obviously you’re looking for a man, dressed in slutty clothes like that. Why don’t I find a man for you to satisfy your urges? Doesn’t need to be anyone special, obviously.”

I mustered all of my energy to shake my head no, and tried to speak the words. My lips mouthed “no” but the sound didn’t follow. I was too weak.

Olivia grabbed a pile of my hair and pulled, dragging me on the rough carpeting, giving me burns from it. I was too weak to put up any resistance.

Olivia had a sickening smile on her lips. “I’ll take you to a good place. One where you’ll get your needs met.”