– Chapter 176

Bastien

My head is swimming with too much information. I don’t remember any of the events Selene is describing, and so much of it defies everything I believe to be true. Still the evidence in front of me is overwhelming. The videos Selene showed me prove that Arabella has been lying to me, and as strange as it seems, it’s actually a relief. Things have felt off ever since I arrived here, as if I’ve been trapped in some strange fog. I thought it was simply a side effect of losing my memory, but now I suspect it’s Arabella’s doing.

As I look down at my beautiful mate, Axel rages in my head, urging me to claim her, protect her and punish her for risking her safety all at once. However there’s not time for any of that now. “You need to get out of here.” I command, rising from the couch and pulling her up with me. “You can go down the fire escape.”

“Come with me.” Selene begs, “she’s going to know I was here either way.”

“I’m not running away like a coward.” I announce.

“Oh but it’s alright if I’m a coward?” She demands, full of sass.

“You are far more precious than I am.” I inform her, eyeing the slight swell of her belly. “I’ll find you after I’ve dealt with Arabella.”

“Just, do me a favor and keep this.” She requests, pushing the cell phone into my hand. “You can reach me through Helene. You can also track me that way – we’re set up to share our locations.”

“Alright.” I agree, opening the window and lifting her out onto the fire escape. “Now hurry, and be careful.”

“Bastien wait!” She exclaims, before I can close the window.

“What’s wrong?” I pause, scanning her lovely face, which looks deeply conflicted.

“Kiss me?” She requests in a small voice, as if she’s afraid I’ll refuse.

She doesn’t need to ask twice. Leaning out the window, I drag her mouth to mine, perhaps more roughly than I intended. I’ve been trying to resist doing precisely this from the moment she walked in the door, at first feeling terribly twisted for being so attracted to someone so evil, and now relieved beyond belief that it isn’t true. I slant my mouth over hers, drinking her in with an urgency that pulses deep in my bones. Coaxing her tongue out to play with mine, I run my hands over her body, trying to memorize the way she feels in my arms. I only release her when I hear Arabella’s keys jingling on the other side of the front door, and there are tears in Selene’s eyes when I pull away.

“Go, baby.” I encourage her, finally closing the window, “I’ll come for you. I promise.”

As Selene races away down the fire escape, I shove the cell phone under my mattress and return to the living room. When the door pushes open and Arabella appears, she looks furious. “Why do I smell Selene?” She asks me abruptly.

“Because my mate is a lot cleverer than you gave her credit for.” I announce.

“Is that so?” Arabella questions, eyeing me warily.

“In fact just about everything you told me about her was wrong.” I continue, stalking my way around her. “The only thing you had right is how beautiful she is.”

“So, she managed to trick you again already?” Arabella sighs, attempting to look sad.

“No, she managed to outsmart you again.” I correct, “How long did you think you could keep this up, Bella? Did you really believe you could turn me against my entire family, my betas?”

“She’s a witch.” Arabella insists, “she admitted it herself the other night – you saw her magic. Everyone in Elysium is under her spell.”

“Right, of course.” I agree, “And remind me why I can’t remember meeting her the other night?” I demand. “Remind me why I was mysteriously so ill that I slept through a week of news coverage that exposed you as a liar?”

“She’s playing with your mind, Bastien.” Arabella argues, backing away from me into the kitchen, “Please don’t let her divide us this way.”

“The only person playing with my mind is you!” I thunder, “How have you been doing it? A potion? A spell?”

“I’m not! I haven’t!” Arabella whines, adopting a put-upon expression, “How could you think I would do such a thing?”

“Oh give it up Bella!” I order sharply, “it’s over, you’ve lost.”

“Fine.” She snaps, dropping her act at last. For the first time since I woke up in this strange city, she actually looks like herself again. The weak, frightened little girl image never did sit right with the woman I remembered. The furious blonde on the verge of a tantrum however, that is exactly the way I recall Flynn’s baby sister. “I knew that bitch was going to ruin my plans – like she always does!” She rages.

“Did you really think you could go on doing this forever? For the rest of my life?” I hiss.

“Yes.” She snarls with a cruel smile, “But in my defense, I didn’t plan on the rest of your life being all that long.”

Disbelief slices through me. Arabella spent so long pretending to be in love with me, that I never imagined she could feel so violently towards me. “I’m sorry about Flynn, Bella.” I tell her honestly, “You have no idea how much guilt I carry because of his death, but killing me won’t bring him back. And he wouldn’t want you to tarnish your own soul for his sake. How many innocent people have you hurt trying to avenge him? Did Selene, did my pup, deserve to be tormented by you and Frederic?”

“Oh please!” Arabella explodes, going completely red in the face. “I’m so sick of everybody falling all over themselves to fawn over fucking Selene. She’s a pretty face and a sweet temper, and nothing else! I mean even Frederic lost his damned head over her. And for what? She’s not strong or brave or even smart – it was so easy to fool her into thinking we were having an affair it was laughable. She didn’t even fight for you, she just ran away like a scared pup.”

“She’s fighting for me now.” I remind her, almost slipping up and telling Arabella that Selene was brave enough to risk her life just by coming here. “She was strong enough to stand up to Frederic, to travel halfway across the continent while pregnant and face me even after I threatened her life.” Arabella is getting more worked up with every word I speak, edging away from me with her hands braced against the cabinets, “She has strengths you never will, Bella.”

“You’re a fool.” She replies, “compared to me that little mutt is garbage.”

“So what, you were going to kill her simply because she got in your way?” I question, still prowling after her, the scent of her fear sparking my wolf’s prey drive. “You were going to make my daughter an orphan just like you were, make her suffer the same pain you did?”

“And leave a loose end?” Bella scoffs. “I was planning on being the Nova pack’s first female Alpha. That means that even your brat could challenge me when she grows up.”

The smiling face of the pup in the video flashes through my mind: that perfect, sweet little girl who just wanted wolf rides – whatever those are – and silly songs. “You were going to kill her?”

“Eventually.” She shrugs. “You actually made this all a lot easier for me. I was going to try to convince Blaise to help me take over the pack, but getting rid of him was going to be a lot harder than simply wiping your filthy little family off the face of the earth.”

“You’re deranged.” I say the words even as I realize them. “How can you think any of this is justice for what happened to Flynn.”

“Oh it stopped being about justice a long time ago.” She tells me, showing more self-awareness than I imagined her capable of. “I spent my entire life powerless. My parents were taken, then my brother was taken and I was powerless to stop any of it. I had to stand by and watch while you and your family got to rule the world while my family died serving you. And after my first few failed attempts to get a slice of the power you all took for granted, I realized the only way I would ever attain the life I deserved wasn’t to share your power, but to take it.” She muses. “You should actually take it as a compliment – I wouldn’t have to be so drastic about it if you weren’t so formidable. Because when it comes to wolves like you, you’ll always be a threat so long as you live.”

Shaking my head, I declare, “Your brother would be so disappointed in you. It’s actually a blessing he didn’t live to see how horribly you turned out.”

Closing the distance between us, I try to decide how I want to proceed. I’m horribly tempted to kill her where she stands, but I know that she should probably have a fair trial before being sentenced to death – for the sake of honoring Flynn’s memory if nothing else.

A sudden knock on the door pulls my attention for a mere half-second, but it was all the time Arabella needed. A faint prick stings my arm, and when I whip my head back t0 the despicable she-wolf, she’s grinning widely, her thumb still resting on the plunger of the syringe in her hand.

The only thing I have time to think before the world goes black is: not again.