The Mature Version of Chapter 72 can be found in Transgression: Private Chapters which is on my profile. I have quite a few works, so you may need to scroll through to find it.

The Mature Version involves rape.

If you are easily triggered by this subject, just read Chapter 72 here.

The beginning of Chapter 73 will hint at the overview without going into detail, so you are not missing any important story information by opting out of this chapter.

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Acacia/Ciarán - Age 17

"Aca-"

"No!" I whirl around and snap at Dante the second we are inside the entryway. Marcus is shaken and immediately runs up the stairs, passing Ciarán on the top landing.

"Watch your tone-"

I glare at him while snipping back, "Or what? You'll throw me in Elysium?!" I see him also glaring back at me when I throw in, "After all, it seems to be the end destination you throw away problems and people that you can't handle anymore!"

"Acacia Valentine!" Dante growls lowly, and I shake my head in complete disbelief.

"I'm an ARIN!" I yell right back, hearing footsteps coming from the hallway while Ciarán remains on the top landing. I'm angry when I continue, "You're horrible!"

Mom comes into view from my side while glancing at Dante and I, asking, "What's going on?"

I point at him with angry tears in my eyes, "He told Grandpa Keir that he isn't blood and has no right having any say in how I'm raised," I turn my gaze from my mom and glare at him, "you are not my dad! You are not blood to me!"

As I'm breathing hard from screaming at the top of my lungs, my mom walks a few steps forward, my eyes flickering to hers...

...a pale sheen of purple reflects across the surface before she gasps.

She stares hard at Dante and snaps, "You had no right..."

"Ro-"

"Get out of my sight!" Mom snaps at Dante, and that's when I see Ciarán raising his brows before Dante listens to her.

Mom's eyes land on me and I see...for the first time since I was very little...emotion flood her. She's hesitant though when she tells me, "I'm so sorry...he shouldn't have-..." her voice cuts and trails off. I see pain flicker before her irises shift to a golden hue. After she pauses and exhales she states, "Keir was more of a father to me than anyone..."

Tears are in my eyes when I retort with what Etain has said, "Then why did you throw away the Wood surname? Why represent the surname that destroyed so many lives-"

"Because I wanted it to mean something else," mom interrupts me as I see her pain, "I didn't want it to hold a dark tone when others spoke it...I am who I am and where I came from-"

"Nurture versus nature," I cut mom off, and I watch as her eyes stare into mine, "you were raised by a wolf..." I glance to where Dante went off to and where dad now stands to linger in the archway of the living room, "...I've never been raised the way I should have been, though wolves surround me, they're nothing like those I love and care for...kind, caring, protecting with unconditional love...I've never had that and I never will."

Mom's eyes widen as I say this, dad walking toward me and saying, "Little love-"

"Don't you ever call me that again," my hands ball into fists as I stare at him hard, "Grandpa Keir was more of a father than you ever have been and ever could be."

"Acacia-"

Dad once again calls to me, and I ignore him, leaving my parents behind as I climb the staircase. I hardly stop for a second, hearing mom call to the both of us as her tone comes back, "Pack your bags for your last year of high school."

"Thank god," I mutter under my breath while I feel Ciarán's eyes on me, the both of us walking to get our things. I'm angrily spewing out insults as I unpack what I'd taken with me to Grandpa Keir's, switching out some of my belongings for different uses at school.

"You want them to take the title away from you next?" Ciarán's voice fills with amusement as he stands in the doorway.

When I turn to face him, he crosses his arms in front of his chest while I throwback, "I never wanted it to begin with."

Turning back around, I finish my packing, however, when I go to leave my room, Ciarán is now a foot in front of me. I exhale sharply when he narrows his eyes and states, "Well, now you have it so act better...otherwise I'll have to remind you of your place."

"My place is above you...should I become queen," I arch a brow while he gives me a nasty glare.

He's about to say something else when dad appears in the doorway and says, "Let's go."

Ciarán gives me one last look before he turns on his heels, walking right past dad as I breathe out carefully. Dad's eyes remain on me as he notes, "Dante mentioned that Keir said Mercury claimed you and that he's your beloved...is this true?"

"Yes," I reply while glancing away from him.

"Did he-"

"No," my tongue is sharp to end this conversation because I'm done with my family.

No one cares for me.

No one protects me.

No one loves me.

No one believes me.

I walk right past dad while I feel his eyes trail on me. It's not long though before he's driving Ciarán and me to school, my arms crossed beneath my chest while I stare out at the window. I don't want to falter my gaze, the anger I hold too much, and it continues to eat at me...even when dad is long gone from dropping us off.

He tried to tell me that he loves me...

...but I shut my dad out.

Love is an empty word with broken promises.

I walk to my dorm building...

...though I abruptly come to a halt when Ryser appears before me. When I try to walk around him, he chuckles and places himself between me and my destination. He holds up his phone and threatens, "You're going to meet Mercury by the building at the grove, or we'll leak this video to the vampire population."

My heart skips a beat, and my eyes suddenly widen. Shaking my head, I whisper out, "No-"

"Nah-ah, that word isn't part of your dictionary, puppet queen," Ryser taunts me before finishing, "say, 'yes Sir, I can't wait to serve everyone and anyone Mercury wishes.'" My throat constricts before I turn away from him, though he snatches my upper arm and dangerously hisses, "You don't have that bitch around to protect you any longer, and I can't wait to see what he's going to do to you so make sure you're at the grove on Friday after classes."

The bridge of my nose stings and I nod my head before he releases me from his grasp. I breathe in a deep breath to calm myself before I continue walking to the dorm building, seeing those I recognize before climbing the steps. When I appear in the doorway, turning in from the stairs, I feel a relief flood over me when I see Sinéad and Fae giggling and talking with one another on her bed.

"Hey-" a brief smile comes to my lips when I greet them, though I'm cut short with the looks both of them give me.

Sinéad rises to her feet while Fae flutters in the air, right over my head while Sinéad approaches me. She nods her head and says, "Move please."

"Sinéad-"

"Move," she snaps this time, my eyes widening as I see nothing but disdain in her eyes.

"What did I-"

Sinéad rolls her eyes and suddenly pushes past me while I slam into the doorframe. I gasp while she sarcastically tosses in my direction, "Friends don't abandon one another..."

"Sinéad?!" I'm calling after her as the tears blur my vision, a sob rising in my chest as I shake my head with confusion. I left though...

...I never came back after the winter solstice meeting.

I pushed them away without meaning to and now...

My heart beats fast as I throw my bag onto my bed, staring at it hard before I finally turn on my heels and head to the one place I've ever felt remotely safe...

As I fumble with the key to the chess club room door, I can't get my hands steady...but what makes me stop trying altogether, is when I see Rian out of the corner of my eye. He's talking to a couple of werewolves I recognize, but the second his eyes meet with mine...

...conflicted emotions cross his features, and he shakes his head before turning and walking away.

I...

...I can't.

I feel something in my heart that makes it race so fast, walking out of the chess club building and toward the library. My eyes stay averted from everything else around me, climbing the stairs to the second story of the library...

The second I move through the door to the secluded room, I shut it closed behind me, locking it before my cheek rests against the wood. Tears begin to stream down my cheeks, my chest heaving up and down as my body rakes with violent sobs. I crumple into a heap on the floor, my hand resting on the door as I slowly draw it into a fist.

It won't go away...the pain won't go away.

It hurts...lingers...creeps up within me and seeps into my bones. I turn away from the door, leaning my back and tilting my head against it. I continue to cry, not understanding how I even fit into this world.

It hurts as I'm left with my thoughts, though I feel them silently being plagued by the pain I feel. It wells up, and I wallow in it, finally drawing my knees to my chest and crying into the top of them.

I'm nothing.

I'm worthless.

I'm useless.

It's slowly I begin to see the shift in the room, the purple hue and spiders webs creeping into my field of view as I slowly lift my face from my knees. My heart beats fast when I look up through my tears into the eyes of Lars.

There's sympathy in those amethyst eyes. He kneels down in front of me and says, "I'm so sorry you're hurt."

"Why are you here?" I shake my head, not wanting to believe he might turn his back on me too. With my voice barely above a whisper, I ask him, "Do you hate me too?" After what I'd done at the council meeting...

"Are you going to hurt and abandon me too?" I'm almost in desperation because he's never hurt me. He protected me from allowing power I can't control to consume me...yes, he got my attention the only way he could when I was beyond listening to anyone.

Lars furrows his brows with confusion, his hands reaching out and cupping my cheek as he says, "I'd never abandon you, my goddess."

I can't help but let out another sob, though he brushes the tears from my cheek as I say, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry."

"When someone lies, there is a good reason for it," Lars shocks me when he understands, especially when he sighs, "you've been hurt in many ways, and you were doing what you needed to for survival," as his eyes lock with mine, he notes, "I'm familiar with that."

Is he not...mad?

The pad of his thumb continues to brush against my skin, and I feel something very gently tugging at the furthest corners of my mind. It's a warm sensation that becomes like a trickling stream through my senses, his eyes holding mine as I slowly begin to calm my crying.

He's gentle when he says, "I can make your pain go away. I can help you forget," he pauses as I feel that heaviness settle more and more within my muscles. It's relaxing and...

...nice.

I'm at ease and feel like my anxiety slips away. With the slow feeling of a sudden pull toward him, I breathe out and whisper, "I'm so tired of being hurt...I'm so tired..."

"Shall I take you away for a moment to no longer feel that hurt? That pain you feel every day?" Lars' voice slips through my mind and I shake my head for a moment, almost like a fog encompasses my mind, but I want everything to go away.

Very quietly, I whisper, "I want the pain to go away."

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Gangsta by Kehlani

💫--To Be Continued--💫
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