I crawled across the floor on hands and knees to pluck it up.
It was a hair. A long, blonde, hair.
I remembered the only person I’d met so far who had long golden hair like this.
Jessica.
She was as predictable as she was vicious. I rose to my feet and let the hair fall back to the floor.
I may have identified the vandal, but there was no one I could run to, to report. That was fine. I was used to fighting my battles alone.
I set my shoulders and marched out into the daylight.
The mess hall, kitchens, and offices where I first looked were all a bust. I walked past Gideon’s office and paused for a moment, but didn’t knock.
What would I say?
“Hey, there’s someone here who really hates me because she thinks you like me more than her. Can you pwease come save me from the mean girl?”
No. I could already imagine the eyeroll Gideon would give me if I ran to him with such a stupid problem to fix.
What could he do? Give Jessica a stern talking to? Tell her to stop being mean to poor little Avery?
He would probably kick me out instead, for being a whiny teenager who couldn’t fight her own battles.
This was something I had to handle myself.
I kept walking.
My next clue was truly just luck.
I saw a dry cleaner’s van park outside one of the small boutiques on main street of the village. When the driver pushed his rolling clothes-rack past me on the sidewalk, I recognized one of the pieces.
Jessica’s skirt. The one I had ‘ruined’.
A-ha!
I walked across the street to a small coffee shop and bought myself a coffee. The barista smiled at me shyly.
“Need to cleanup? There’s a restroom back there.” He pointed towards the bathroom.
I looked down at myself. I guess crawling around on the floor of the cellar had left its mark. There were dark smudges on my clothes, and a few stray cobwebs.
I blushed a bit.
“Thanks.” I ordered a coffee and seated myself at the window counter.
Then I waited.
About an hour later, Jessica came walking down the sidewalk with a group of three other women. They were all beautiful, but none of them carried themselves with Jessica’s swagger.
They all went into the boutique.
I slid off the counter stool and left the shop. My eyes were glued on the door they had entered through. I crossed the street, barely looking for traffic, and quietly opened the door to the small dress shop.
I reached my hand up and silenced the welcome bell before it could ring and announce my presence.
Jessica’s friends were gathered at the far end of the store, gathered in front of one of the changing rooms. I ducked down one of the rows of mannequins and moved closer.
“I wish I could see her face when she finds out!” Jessica was laughing from inside the changing booth. “Tegan told me that the Old Luna had asked her to arrange the Gala instead of me. Good luck replacing me now, bitch.”
Her friends laughed with her, though with less fervor.
“She’ll just find a room full of trash.”
“Which is what she deserves.” Jessica emerged from the changing booth dressed in a skin-tight dress that showed off her curves. She was stunning but her cruel expression ruined her beautiful face with an ugly twist of her lips.
“Because the trash belongs with the other trash!” one of the girls tittered.
“She really is trash though.” Jessica’s eyes gleamed as climbed onto a pedestal and turned to admire her figure in the tri-fold mirror. “Have I told you about her mother, yet?”
“No!” the girls gasped, “Tell!”
I clenched my fists. It was one thing to face Jessica’s jealousy at being supplanted by my arrival, but she had no right to look into my background.
“Her father didn’t plan on having her with her mother I heard, but she seduced him anyways. He is the Gamma of Silvermoon but her mother is just a lowly Omega slave!” Jessica sneered, “And now Avery thinks she can come here and do the exact same thing to Gideon.”
“Disgusting.” One of the girls made a face.
“Can she really do that? Seduce Gideon, I mean?” Another of Jessica’s friends sounded stunned.
“No, of course not! Why would he want a pathetic little girl like her?” Jessica glared. “She’s barely a woman, and I heard she’s not even got a wolf! She’s just trash, just like her mother.”
I had heard enough.
I stepped forward, meeting Jessica’s eyes in the full length mirror. She gaped at me as I marched forward and stopped at the base of her pedestal.
“So it was you who tore up the guest list!” I accused. “I should have known when I smelled the presence of a rat.”
Recovering from her surprise, Jessica laughed behind her hand, “Look girls, I’ll show you how we treat Silvermoon Omega trash.” She slapped me hard across the face.
Her friends gasped, looking between us.
I shook my head slowly to clear it.
“Let me bring you down to my level.” I snarled, and shoved her off the pedestal onto the floor.
Jessica shrieked as she fell, landing heavily on the ground. Her friends quickly helped her up, and she launched herself at me. This time she got a fistful of my hair and yanked me to the side painfully.
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