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2.Understand me, mother.

Eve

After the incident, Eve couldn't think straight. Her mind and body were a mess. She wrapped her delicate body into the coat her saviour had thrown on her half-naked form earlier and ran back home. Eve did her best to be quiet, sneaking into the house like a criminal, dreading the thought of waking up her parents. Never, in her whole life, had she taken a shower for so long. At this point, Eve didn't care about the ice-cold water freezing her skin. She kept rubbing and scratching it violently, trying to remove any remains of the disgusting touches she felt on her skin earlier. When she thought that there were no more tears left to cry- out came more, dragging her consciousness deeper in despair. Eve felt dirty, violated, broken to the core. She was used to living in a rather peaceful town, even with a higher number of shifters than humans. Up until this day, nobody had ever tried to touch her or hurt in any way, if she followed the law. A light knock sounded on the bathroom door, startling Eve.

“W-who is there?" Her throat was sore; she wasn't sure if it was the countless hours of crying or ice-cold water dripping over her that was the cause. It didn't matter, not anymore.

"It's mom. Evangeline, has something happened? Could you please step out?" Her mother sounded genuinely worried, making Eve feel even worse. She rushed to cut off the water, wrapping herself into a towel, wondering why she ended up in such a situation. What had she done wrong? Eve stepped into her slippers and unlocked the bathroom door, opening it slightly, hiding behind it.

"Evangeline, darling. You've been there for hours; we're worried about you. Please, talk to me," her mother pleaded; her words laced in desperation. Eve took a deep breath and opened the door wide. As always, her mother had dark circles under her eyes. Yet this time, a worried look replaced her usual frown. Eve's mother carefully observed her daughter, gasping at the sight in front of her. The young woman's body was covered in numerous scratch marks, deep enough to bleed. Eyes puffy, almost entirely red. Her mother took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom, sitting on the bed.

"Evangeline, what have you done? Is this your way of announcing that you won't join the ceremony? Are you showing off your rebellion now?" Eve's mother bit her lip, barely fighting off the tears. As her eyes kept silently counting the ugly marks on her daughter's body, she felt the anger filling her. She was confused as to why her child acted this way and furious for the consequences that might come.

"Mom, it's not what you think," Eve whispered, her head hung low. She nibbled on her nails, trying to decide whether she would be better off by keeping her mouth shut and letting her mother think whatever she wants, or telling her what happened on her way back home.

"Not what I think? Evangeline, are you even in your right mind? Not what I think! Tomorrow is the most important day of your life, and you RUINED your body! I knew you didn't want to go; I knew it, okay! But this-" the mother said, gesturing at her body, "-This is way too far! How could you? The shame! The humiliation! What will others think? How am I supposed to look in everyone's eyes when you look like this?" Eve's mother didn't hold back anymore. At this point, she was full-on yelling, letting the tears stream down her cheeks. Her body shook in anger.

"Mother, calm down, this really has nothing to do with the ceremony". Eve almost dropped on her knees. She had never seen her mother so angry, moreover angry at Eve. All she wanted to do was to explain, already deciding to tell the truth. She couldn't let her mother think of her so low.

"I'm so sick of your attitude, young lady!" Eve's mother yelled, raising her hand above her head, leaning it backward.

Eve's eyes widened. Was her mother about to... Eve didn't get to finish her own thought when her mother's palm collided with her cheek. The sound of the slap echoed throughout Eve's bedroom; both women stared at each other with wide-eyed expressions. Eve thought her mother would apologize, maybe she would understand how big of a mistake she had made, yet it didn't happen. She acted as if nothing was wrong. Eve placed a palm over her burning cheek, still in shock, unable to accept that her loving mother had just slapped her across the face.

"Mother..." Eve whispered, averting her gaze.

"You did deserve this, and that's final. Evangeline, you could see this coming after ruining your body the day before the mating ceremony. I'm so disappointed in you. My own child!" She shook her head in disapproval, slowly raised her body from the bed, and made her way to the door.

"I will explain, please don't hate me!" Eve pleaded, desperate for her mother's support. She needed to feel her warm, gentle arms around her.

"Explain what? Are you about to confess that you did this on purpose? Evangeline, it's time to grow up. Everyone goes through the mating ceremony at your age, nobody has died from joining, and I haven't seen even one couple splitting afterward. It's not as bad as you think. If only you could try and accept things how they are, we wouldn't have such problems," her mother sighed, moving back to the bed and sat down next to her. Eve sobbed, unable to fight off her tears anymore. It's been too much for her today. She is not strong, and right now- that's okay. Sometimes people break.

"I almost got raped," Eve finally confessed. She squeezed her thighs closer together, almost feeling the dirty touches and men who were positioning themselves between her legs earlier.

"You almost what?!"

"Mother, please, I'm serious right now. This is not a joke!" Eve raised the tone of her voice a bit, her face expressing a mixture of determination and fear. She might be careless by nature, but she wasn't a liar.

"Did... Did he... You know. Did he finish the thing?" Her mother gulped loudly, avoiding any eye contact with her daughter.

"No. It wasn't one person, there were two shifters, and they spoke about two more. They almost did, but someone saved me. I don't know who he was or where he came from, but he saved me just before they did anything other than touching me," Eve broke down crying. For some reason, she felt ashamed. The girl knew that it wasn't her fault; she wasn't one to dress to impress; she hadn't had any experience with males. Truth to be told- the only male she was allowed to speak to was her father. Eve never had a boyfriend or even a kiss. By the age of twenty-one, Eve was the most boring woman the world has seen.

"Okay, good. No, not good. What if someone finds out? Can you imagine how big of a stain this will leave on your reputation? Oh God, this is a disaster," her mother stood up and walked around the room anxiously, mumbling something under her breath.

"You're joking, right? I almost got raped by creatures I could never be able to fight against or run from, and all you care about is reputation?! How can you be so shallow?!" Frustration grew within Eve. At this point she needed her mother to be a mother to support her even a little. Yet instead, she gets a woman who's worried about what society thinks.

"That's what I'm talking about, they almost did it, but just because they didn't finish the job- doesn't mean that people won't talk. Who, in their right mind, will choose you as their fiancée now? Evangeline, you have to keep your mouth shut or spend the rest of your life in shame, without any opportunity to find a partner and have family," her mother said, trying to reason with her daughter, thinking that surely the child would understand where she is coming from.

"I just spent hours getting the feel of their touch off from my skin. You have no clue what I had to go through- the helplessness, pain, and fear I felt. I thought I was going to die. And you care about social status. Unbelievable…”

“I'll try to sleep a little. Please, close the door as you leave." Eve sighed in defeat. She never thought she would be misunderstood by her mother. Especially now, after telling her what happened.

"Eve..." her mother tried to speak up again.

"Leave me be. I'll attend the ceremony just in time, don't worry about it." With that being said, Eve crawled under her blanket and turned her back to her mother, silently crying herself to sleep.

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