8. VANYA: BETRAYED

“Vanya!”
I pushed my way through the Hybrids towards the woman who was still showing off ‘her’ necklace. She glanced up as I approached. I didn’t miss the way her body stiffened and her lips curled into a sneer.
“Human,” she greeted.
“That’s mine,” I pointed to the necklace.
“Lie!” She pressed a hand to her chest as she growled at me. “It was a gift.”
“A gift from whom?” Devrim asked from my left. “Who gave it to you?”
Ezra appeared at my right but there was no sign of Obsidian. I frowned. He had been right behind us moments ago.
The woman raised her chin a few inches and glared at Devrim which was something that made both my men tense.
“My brother gave it to me. What about it?” Her eyes darted back to me. “You question me because the human claims it belongs to her?”
My lips parted but Devrim threw a glare at me over his shoulder as he took a step forward. A moment later heat covered my back. Obsidian growled, making his chest vibrate against my back. His growl was one I had became accustomed to when I did something I wasn’t allowed to.
A few growls answered his.
Fear hit me when I realized that more pride members had appeared. They moved closer, blocking us in. Most of them were watching us with looks similar to the woman.
“Vanya lost her necklace,” Devrim said loud enough for everybody to hear. “It looks exactly the same as the one you’re wearing.”
“So?” A boy questioned as he appeared at her side. “Lots of humans wear the same things, I’ve seen it.”
“I’m aware of that.” Devrim was silent for a few seconds as he stared the boy down. “Let me have a look. If it’s not hers then—”
“She will apologize to me,” the woman interrupted.
Obsidian growled again. “Verbally.”
“She—”
“I said verbally!” he snarled, cutting her off.
She wasn’t able to hold his gaze for more than a second. Letting out a snarl of her own, she removed the necklace and held it out to Devrim who instantly took it. But he didn’t turn around to hand it over to me, instead he studied it himself.
“Where did your brother get this?” Devrim asked softly.
There was a strange note to his voice that I hadn’t heard before. Obsidian and Ezra took a step closer to me.
“He found it,” she growled. “Now give it back. It—”
“—doesn’t belong to you,” Devrim interrupted her. “This necklace belongs to Vanya.”
I gasped. How does he know that? I had given them a description so they could look for it but I hadn’t mentioned Mom’s name engraved on the back.
“Where’s your brother?”
The woman’s head lowered but the action seemed forced.
“I don’t know where he is,” she answered him.
“Leave,” Obsidian hissed, making all of them scatter. “Devrim—”
“I know,” he muttered. “Let’s get out of here.”

***

I fingered the chain against my skin as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The thin chain felt cool against my heated skin and extremely strange. I wasn’t one to wear jewellery unless I had too, but I silently vowed that I wasn’t going to take the necklace off again.
My fingers slid lower until I touched the pendant resting just beneath my collarbone. The necklace had been found by accident. When Mom died, all her things had either been thrown away or burned at Joy’s orders. I always thought it had all been destroyed.
Just thinking about my father made me feel sick to the stomach. We weren’t exactly close but I loved him. Devrim didn’t want to tell me everything regarding the evidence that had found against him which had to mean that it was worse than what they told me, right?
Shaking my head, I walked out of the bathroom and headed for the kitchen.
My men were out taking care of business after Devrim received a call a few seconds after we entered the cabin. With an order for me to lock the door after they leave and a promise to stay inside, they left. I had no place to go, especially after what had happened at the main house with that woman. The realization that it was the first shifter female I had seen hadn’t even registered. Besides, I hadn’t paid much attention to what she looked like. All I had been concerned about than was getting my necklace back.
I sighed as I pushed all thoughts from my mind. My plans for the rest of the day included cooking for my men and then cuddling up with all of them. The smile slipped from my face when I remembered the fact that Obsidian wasn’t into cuddling. We definitely needed to do something about that.
He’s constantly finding ways to touch you, the voice in my head whispered.
It was true but that didn’t compare to actually having him in bed with me. Touching was different than cuddling.
Rolling my eyes, I turned to grab a bowl from the cabinet but something from the corner of my eyes caught my attention. I froze for a moment before I slowly turned my head.
The air got locked in my throat as a wave of fear hit me. I stared at the animal, completely frozen in place. I had seen both Devrim and Obsidian in their shifted forms up close so I knew what they looked like. The animal standing just inside the doorway was definitely a shifter. A wild animal would’ve been spooked by my movements.
I was sure that I had closed and locked the door when they left.
The panther took a step forward just as someone appeared behind it. He couldn’t have been a few years older than me but he was a stranger. His lips curled into a smile that wasn’t all that friendly.
“Hello, human.”
“W-what do you want?” I hated the fact that I stuttered.
“I want a lot of things,” he muttered as he took another step into the cabin and reached for the door to push it closed behind him. “One of those things includes the necklace you took from my sister.”
My hand shot up to grip the pendant. “It belongs to me,” I told him.
“It belonged to you,” he said. “There’s a difference. It became mine the moment I took it.”
Was he the one who trashed my apartment? A pride member, but why would they do that? There was no time to make sense of his words because the panther moved.
I screamed and dropped to the floor as it lunged at me. The panther flew over me but landed perfectly on its feet. Stumbling to my feet, I stared at it as moved backwards.
Running would make things worse and it wasn’t like I actually had anywhere to go. The only exit I had was being blocked by the man and I doubt that I would get very far in the forest. I would either be killed or kill myself by getting lost. Other than those two facts, the forest belonged to them so I was sure that they knew every nick and corner.
“It’s not just about the necklace, is it?” I asked him without taking my eyes off the animal.
“No.”
“Then what is this about?” I studied the panther’s thick claws.
“It’s about them allowing a fucking human to take over!” he growled. “You’ve ruined the peaceful life we managed to build for ourselves here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not going to fix anything!” I heard him move. “The only way to fix things is for us to get rid of the problem, and you’re the fucking problem.”
Us. Did that include the two of them or other shifters as well?
My mind raced with unanswered questions and ideas of how to get out of the situation I was in. The kitchen knives were too far away and there really wasn’t anything else I could use as a weapon that would do any damage.
An image of Obsidian’s knife display flashed through my mind.
I realized with some shock that while I was talking to the man, the panther had managed to walk me into a corner. Its back arched slowly, paws digging into the ground as it growled at me.
Reaching behind me, I grabbed the first thing my fingers brushed against and threw it at the animal. I didn’t stick around to find out if it made contact of not, I took off in the direction of the hall. But I underestimated it. It leaped onto the island and swiped a big claw at me as I ran past.
Pain shot through my shoulder blade, making me stumble. Pushing the pain from my mind, I kept running and managed to reach the basement before the man could catch me. Slamming the door shut, I quickly locked the door and turned to move down the stairs.
A body slammed into the door, making the wood creak. Glancing over my shoulder, I was relieved to find that there was no damage to the door, but it was short lived when the body slammed into the door again. A crack appeared in the wood that only got bigger every time their bodies made contact with the door.
Maybe the basement hadn’t been the best option. I had successfully managed to trap myself which was going to make killing me easier for them.
Reaching the display, I stared at the glass for a few seconds before I moved. Pulling my shirt over my head, I wrapped it around my hand and slammed my fist into the glass. A hiss fell from my lips as my knuckles connected. It didn’t break immediately nor on the second try, but thankfully it shattered with the third hit.
Throwing the torn material aside, I grabbed two knives and ran to hide in the darkest corner of the basement.
It was either fight or die and dying wasn’t on my agenda for today.