Chapter 103

BELLE

I felt utterly pathetic as I walked up to Minnie’s apartment door Inter that night. I had gotten many strange looks on my way here. I didn’t blame pack members for staring.

I was soaking wet, barefoot, and only had a towel wrapped around me to cover my black bikini. To add to that, I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face. I’m sure I looked like a mess.

My hand shook with emotion as I raised it to knock on Minnie’s door late at night. I knew she said, she was busy tonight, but I was hoping she would make an exception, given the circumstances,

I could not go back to my apartment alone after everything that had happened. I just couldn’t.

Rustling, hushed voices, and giggling sounded from behind the door as I stood there waiting. I shifted anxiously, wiping my tears and averting my gaze when a pack member passed by me.

“Luna,” he greeted. I smiled back, although I didn’t look at them. This was so embarrassing. This was not the way a queen should be acting.

I knocked once more. What the heck was taking so long?

Friend

Thankfully, the door opened a second later. I looked up, ready to fall into the arms of my friend, only to find Liam standing in front of me instead.

“Belle?” Liam asked in shock as he took in my appearance. “Are you okay? Why are you crying? What are you wearing?”

“W-What are you doing here?” I responded. I looked around me, suddenly wondering if my state of sadness had caused me to go to the wrong room.

But, no, Liam lived in an apartment on the other side of the castle, far away from any of the royals- per Grayson’s request, of course.

Minnie, however, lived in the Mortar’s wing of the castle, with her own apartment, Just like Grayson and me.

Liam seemed…disheveled. He had a pair of jeans on, but his chest was bare and rising and falling with each hurried breath he took in.

His hair was messy and unkempt and sticking up in every direction. His cheeks were red, and a thin layer of sweat was covering his forehead.

“Luna?” another voice asked. Minnie showed up behind Llum, looking just as rumpled as Liam did.

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Her bare legs were on full display, and the only thing hiding her body was a black T-shirt that stopped mid-thigh.

Well, at least we know where Liam’s shirt went.

“Oh, my go d, what happened?” Minnie shoved past Liam and immediately pulled me to her by my shoulders.

I would have been amused by the fact that she completely dismissed Liam to get to me if I hadn’t been so upset. She looked over my blotchy and tear-stained face, her bright red eyes filled with

concern.

“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered, pulling my towel tighter around me. My eyes traveled between the two of them as I tried to process what was happening. “Are you two…sleeping together?”

Liam and Minnie exchanged a hesitant look, slightly panicked.

“It kind of…just happened?” Minnie said. “I’m sorry, I would have told you, I just-”

“We can talk about Minnie and my situation later,” Liam interrupted. “What happened to you?”

I hated that my lip started to quiver, and my eyes filled with even more tears just thinking about talking about it. I looked at Minnic and shrugged my shoulders. “I-I, um…”

“Liam, get out,” Minnie demanded. She didn’t even look at him as she said it. She grabbed my hand. and started to pull me into her apartment.

Liam didn’t move. “What? I’m not leaving. I-

Minnic raised a hand, silencing him. “Look, my friend needs me right now. We might be sleeping together, but you need to get out so that I can take care of her.”

Liam put his hand out to stop the door when Minnie tried to shut it in his face. “I’m not going anywhere until I know that Belle is okay. I’m her guardian. I need to make sure she’s not hurt.”

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I shook my head. “I’m not hurt,” I explained through my tears. “At least, not physically. I’m okay. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I could go-”

“No way,” both Liam and Minnie snapped at the same time.

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“You don’t have to leave “Minnie started to say

sayy

“Was it that f ucking werewolf mate of yours?” Liam demanded, cutting her off. “Did he do something to you? I swear, if he hurt you, I’ll hunt him down-”

“Grayson didn’t do anything wrong.” I explained quickly before Liam went off and did something stu pid. “It was all me. I just…He just…”

And that’s all it took for me to break down in tears again.

I stuffed my face in my hands as I cried, only barely aware of Minnie ushering me into her living. room. I could also hear them continue to argue about whether or not Liam should stay.

When I looked up, I could see her pushing him out her door by his chest. “I promise I’ll call you if she needs you. I think she just needs to talk right now.”

Liam’s worried gaze traveled to me. “Are you sure?” he asked me. “I just need to know you’re okay. Just tell me you’re okay.”

I nodded, a small but grateful smile taking over my lips. It occurred to me that, for the first time in

entire life, I had a support system.

my

I had a group of people who genuinely cared about me and vice versa, who I could go to when I needed them. I never had that before.

I had always been on my own-even when my dad was still alive.

You can’t exactly tell your sick, dying dad that you’re having a hard time making friends because you’re too busy trying to figure out how to pay his medical bills, now can you?

I had a family now. Minnie, Liam, Kyle, Elijah, and Grayson were my family. They weren’t related to me, but I knew they would always be there for me, and I would always be there for them.

And that’s all I had ever wanted. It felt so good not to be alone anymore.

“I’m okay,” I stated firmly, leaving no room in my tone for him to doubt that what I was saying was the truth.

“Tonight has just been a lot. You can stay if you want, but I seriously doubt you’ll want to hear about my

love life. You might want to save us both that embarrassment of me sharing those exact details with you.”

Liam’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “S hit. Yeah, you’re probably right.”

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He stood there for a moment longer, staring at me, before finally letting out a huge sigh and saying, “Can I at least grab my shoes? And my phone?”

I laughed. It felt nice to laugh. “To my surprise, Minile looked at me as if she was actually considering kicking him out barefoot and without his phone if that was what I wanted.

“Yes, of course you can grab your shoes and phone!” I said, laughing some more.

Liam gave me a grateful look as Minnie stepped to the side to let him back Inside.

I looked at Minnie with raised eyebrows while he ran to her room to grab his things.

Her cheeks were painted with a deep blush-which I didn’t even know was possible for vampires- and shifted uneasily. “You’re not mad, are you?”

I immelliately shook my head. “Of course I’m not mad. Why would I be mad?”

She shrugged. “He was your friend first. And I don’t ever want anything to come between us.”

“I’m not mad,” I repeated, giving her a reassuring smile. “A little surprised, maybe. But I’m happy for you both more than anything. You’re…cute together. Unexpected but cute.”

Minnie smiled. “Okay, good. I’ve been dying to tell you, but Liam made me promise to wait-“.

“Hey, do I hear you throwing me under the bus?” Liam asked as he reentered the room, shoes on hist feet and phone in his hand. Still shirtless, though.

He approached Minnie and bent down to cup her face and place a gentle kiss on her lips. She smiled up at him. “Call if you need anything.” he said to her. Then he looked at me. “Either of you. Got it?”

Minnie nodded. “Yeah, yeah, we got it. Now, get out of here. I have a best friend to take care of.”

Liam kissed her one more time before walking to the door. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

Once Liam was gone, Minnie turned back to me. “I’ll get you some ice cream and dry clothes. Don’t move a muscle. I’ll be right back.”

I sighed and sank down into her couch.

GRAYSON

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I had just gotten back from a long meeting with three of the Mortars. They preferred to work late during the night-a vampire thing.

They liked the nighttime. Perpetual night owls. It usually worked out. I trained with the wolves in the morning, met with the vampires at night, and did whatever else in between.

But today, it had taken everything in me to force myself to go.

My stomach roiled just thinking about what had happened earlier today. The way she had looked at me after I yelled at her.

Yelled at her.

She had been trying to kiss me. She had been trying to love me. And I yelled at her.

F uck. F uck

I could feel all of her emotions through the bond. Sadness, hurt, disappointment. Never anger, though. Never contempt. She was so kind, so sweet.

It was normal for lunas-female mates of alpha males-to idolize their mates and think they could do no wrong. Lunas were naturally submissive and easy to put down.

Belle would believe anything I told her because I was her alpha. I mean, she believed it so easily when Azazel told her she meant nothing to me when he had been in control of my body.

And now she thought my rejection of her was all her fault. But it was my fault. It was all my fault. It was my fault she was going through all of this.

A clammy layer of sweat formed on the back of my neck when I remembered how she had looked at me when I pushed her away.

It had been the same expression she had given Azazel when he’d hit her for the first time. Shock and raw, tangible devastation. And I wanted to die for making her feel that way.

And then another emotion took over her face.

Humiliation.

If I could punch myself in the face, I would. Hard. Unceasing. Until I was blo ody and broken on the floor. That was what I deserved.

What Belle didn’t know was that I wanted her just as much as she wanted me. More. I was dying without her. Going mad,

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When I said I wasn’t going to f uck her for the first shae in a hot tub, it had been more for my benefit than for hers. It was a reminder to myself that she deserved more than this.

I took the steps up to Helle’s and my room two at a time. I flung open the door and stepped inside, searching for my mate with desperate eyes.

I needed to see her. To hold her. To just be with her and reassure her that everything was okay. That I was so unbelievably sorry.

She wasn’t here. Her scent was just as old as mine, telling me she hadn’t been back here since we had both left for the hot tub earlier today.

Before I had time to panic, my cell phone dinged in my pocket.

I still wasn’t used to carrying the stu pid thing around with me, preferring to mind-link anyone I needed to talk to, but I had to love n way to communicate with any non-werewolf people as well.

I growled when it went off, planning on just ignoring it, but I ended up digging it out of my pocket Just in case it was a text from Belle. To my utter relief, It was.

Bello

Hi, this la Minnie. I have the luna’s phone. She’s at my place.

Fell asleep on my couch.

Thought you would like to know so you don’t go all alpha-who-can’t-find-his-mate and kill

everyone.

I was out the door a second later.

***

My knuckles wrapped gently but hurriedly against Minnie’s apartment door, not wanting to wake my sleeping mate, who I knew was on the other side.

I could smell her scent coming through the wood, along with the smell of her tears.

I didn’t have to wait long for Minnie to open it, which was good; any longer than five-maybe ten- seconds and I would have been breaking down the door.

Minnie gave me a sad smile when she saw it was me. She didn’t hesitate to open the door wider and wave me inside. “Come on,” she said with a dejected tone. “She’s in here.”

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072% 11:49 I followed her into the other room. I released a breath when I found Belle sleeping on the couch in the living room, a thin blanket over her body and a throw pillow tucked under her head.

She was wearing a T-shirt now-one of Minnic’s by the smell-but I could still see the outline of her black bikini under the cotton. She never went back to our room.

I knelt down beside her, gently caressing the side of her head, being careful not to wake her. She had tear stains streaming down her cheeks. And I was suddenly convinced that I was the biggest as shole.

in the world.

My vampire started to purr for her, and my wolf surrendered to the back of my consciousness, letting me have complete control.

The supernatural parts of me-both of which only knew how to operate solely on instinct-knew that this was a moment of importance.

1

“How long did she cry for?” I asked Minnie.

“She was crying when she got here,” Minnie responded quietly.

The wetness of her tears was still fresh on her cheeks.

I nodded. F uck.

I looked back at Minnie. “Did she tell you what happened?”

She shook her head. “She didn’t give me all the details. Said she didn’t want to spend the night crying. All I could get out of her was that she was worried.”

“Worried?” I repeated.

“About her relationship with you.” She shifted on her feet, pausing for a moment while it felt like my entire body was being ripped in two.

“Then she sat on my couch and cried and ate ice cream while we watched Twilight together-.”

I grit my teeth together so hard that it felt like my jaw was about to explode. Then, as gently as I could, I lifted her into my arms.

The T-shirt she was wearing was wet from her swimsuit, clinging to her skin. She had to be cold. I cradled her sleeping form to my chest, treating her as though she were the most precious thing in the world.

Because she was.

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And I didn’t deserve her.

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“Thank you for being here for her,” I said to Minnie. “She’s lucky to have you as her friend.”

Minnie gave me a sad smile. “She’s lucky to have you too, you know. You’re a good mate. Always protecting her even when it hurts.”

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She was trying to make me feel better. And I appreciated that. I just wished she wouldn’t. I deserved to feel all of the guilt coiling my stomach.

Instead of responding, I carried Belle to the door. “What time are the two of you leaving tomorrow?” I asked Minnie before leaving.

“She said she wasn’t coming with me tomorrow. Said she wanted to spend the day in bed.”

I sighed.

“Have a nice rest of your night, Minnie,” I said.

“You too, Alpha,” Minnie replied as I walked down the hall. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, okay?”

I would have laughed if I were capable of any other emotion besides self-hatred at that moment.

It was too late for that.