I was sexually assaulted.
I screamed for help.
My family and friends were right on the other side of the wall, yet not a single person came.
I was a no-wolf. I couldn’t use the mindlink, and my mate couldn’t feel my agony through our mate bond.
I squeezed my eyes shut in despair.
They were playing the Invisibility Game again.
For twenty years, from age five to twenty-five, I’d been the one everyone ignored.
Nobody wanted to lose the game and become the next person the whole group pretended didn’t exist.
So no matter how desperately I screamed, they acted like I wasn’t even there.
I dragged my broken body back to the Luna Suite.
“I was sexually assaulted. Call the Lycan Royal Enforcement.”
Not one of them even glanced my way.
I gave up.
“Fine. I lose. What gift does Chloe want this time?”
Laughter exploded across the room.
Tristan’s brows drew tight.
“Who taught you to make up something this ridiculous? You even reek of rogue. It’s disgusting.”
Jax chimed in.
“Yeah, why fight Chloe over this? You already have Cassian. The grand Luna ceremony is only seven days away.”
Chloe doubled over laughing.
“I gotta hand it to you, Astrid. Those screams sounded so real. We almost bought it. Cassian was about to run over to help you.”
She grinned wide.
“Good thing I stopped him. Otherwise I would’ve missed my gift.”
Cassian let out a heavy sigh.
“I promise this is the last time. Chloe isn’t asking for much. On this trip, let her pretend to be my mate for one week. It’ll finally give her what she’s always wanted.”
I watched the four of them back each other up, one after another.
Then I laughed.
If I was already invisible to them, walking out of their lives shouldn’t make any difference at all.
“Fine.”
My voice came out raw.
I drifted toward the bathroom.
Normally, whenever Chloe threw out some absurd demand, I would cry, argue, and throw a fit.
Not this time.
That was when Cassian finally looked at me.
When he saw the bruises and blood covering my skin, his face drained of all color.
It took him several seconds to find his voice.
“Astrid… when you were screaming earlier…”
“Don’t fall for it,” Tristan cut in with scorn. “Remember when she faked a stomach ache as a kid just to get our attention in the game?”
Chloe first suggested the Invisibility Game when I was seventeen.
I was picked as the very first invisible person.
I was already insecure because I couldn’t use the mind link, and that day I spiraled into panic.
I shouted, I cried, trying to force them to acknowledge me, and they ignored every bit of it.
Even when I got acute appendicitis and begged Chloe over and over for help, she acted like I wasn’t there.
I finally collapsed, and a stranger rushed me to the hospital.
That was when they panicked.
By the time they showed up, I’d already received treatment and was recovering.
From that day on, they convinced themselves I was nothing but a liar picking on Chloe.
Every single time I caved, they made me give Chloe a gift before they would let things blow over.
Jax, who’d grown up beside me, lectured me.
“Astrid, when are you going to stop competing with Chloe over everything? Would you really go this far just to get us to blame her?”
“She’s only pretending to date Cassian for a week. The Moon Goddess already marked you as the pack’s future Luna. What’s seven days?”
As the years dragged on, Chloe’s demands grew more and more outrageous.
When we were little, it was just a dress.
As we got older, it became the inherited Luna crown that belonged to me.
She found a way to take almost everything I owned.
Everything except Cassian.
Chloe had gone after him before.
She’d tried to make me hand him over as another “gift” so she could be with him.
Back then, Cassian had turned her down without hesitation.
“I can’t feel our mate bond, but I know it’s there. My wolf can feel it. I won’t make her feel any more unsafe. I love Astrid more than anything.”
That was why I’d endured the Invisibility Game for so long.
At one point, I truly believed Cassian was on my side.
But now he stood with the rest of them.
Cassian nodded along with Tristan and Jax, the tension melting off his face.
“Go wash that scent off you. You really went all out to win this stupid game. I’m the only one who can put up with you. Come out, and I’ll tend to those injuries.”
I said nothing.
I walked straight into the bathroom.
I turned on the shower, letting the roar of the water drown out their laughter from outside the door.
Ice-cold water stung my skin, and I shivered all over.
Yesterday, at the start of our week-long autumn getaway, Chloe had suddenly announced she wanted to be Cassian’s girlfriend for seven days.
I refused, and right away they started the Invisibility Game.
I watched them book four tickets, like leaving me out was completely natural.
I sat right in the middle of them, yet they laughed and chatted across me, planning an itinerary that no longer included me.
For the first time, I hated the version of myself that always caved to avoid being isolated.
I stepped outside just to get some fresh air.
That was when I was attacked.
What hurt even worse was that werewolves had sharp hearing. They definitely would’ve heard my screams.
To them, my cries were just another petty trick to fight over Cassian.
When I came back out of the bathroom, Tristan, Jax and Cassian huddled around Chloe, grinning as she gave them orders.
“Tristan, you take all my good photos for this trip. Jax, you handle every single arrangement.”
Then she shot me a taunting look and leaned into Cassian.
“Cassian… you’re my boyfriend. Let’s start with a kiss. I need to know exactly what I’m getting.”
Cassian froze, and it looked like he wanted to refuse.
But Tristan and Jax immediately egged him on.
At last, Cassian cupped the back of Chloe’s neck and kissed her deeply.
For one terrible second, he looked exactly like the men who’d pinned me down not long before.
I sprinted to the trash can and threw up.
While everyone stared at me in shock, I wiped the tears off my cheeks.
“I’m done playing,” I said. “I’m done with all of you.”