Chapter 75

BELLE

I was practically dragging my feet as I walked down the sidewalk back to my apartment once my shift was finally over, almost completely overtaken by exhaustion.

My eyes drooped, and my body ached. I needed sleep more than anything, but who knew if I would be getting any.

Guilt ate at me over how things had gone down with Liam earlier. After all, he was just trying to be a good friend, right? He was trying to look out for me.

I just hated that he had assumed his friends and I wouldn’t get along. Was I that horrible to be around?

It was cold out, and the June air was nipping at my bare legs, forcing me to pull my jacket tighter

around me.

I actually wished that I had Liam’s warm car to ride in rather than walking home alone in the dark. Too bad I had ruined everything.

I felt strange. Something was off. Dull tingles were shooting up the back of my neck, and I had the odd feeling that I was being watched.

But I shook it off, convinced I was just paranoid after my talk with Liam earlier today.

Then the wind picked up, and something sounded behind me, making me jump. My mark prickled, and a sudden pressure began to form in my head. I groaned in dismay.

I knew what that meant. Grayson was trying to get into my mind again.

A loud crashing noise came from behind me. I whipped around but didn’t see anything.

With

home.

my

head pounding, I kept walking, moving a little faster now. I was suddenly very eager to get

There was another loud bang. My nerves only grew when footsteps started behind me, very

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There was another loud bang. My nerves only grew when footsteps started behind me, very obviously following me.

So Lium was right, I thought bitterly. I’m about to get murdered.

My walking picked up into more of a jog.

“Beeelllleee,” a singsong voice said right next to my head.

I jolted and held back a scream, snapping my head to the side to look for the source. I was met with an empty alleyway lined with trash cans.

I bit my lip and jogged faster, pulling my coat tighter around my form.

It’s just the wind, Belle, I told myself. Everything is fine. You’re just being paranoid.

Right, wind that sounded exactly like my name.

The pounding in my head increased as Grayson pushed harder to break through my me ntal barrier. I grit my teeth together. Why now?

It was like he knew I was in a stressful situation and thought it would be funny to mess with me

some more.

“F uck off, Grayson,” I whispered as if he could hear me. “Get out of my head.”

The pounding only got worse.

Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched laugh coming from above me. My head jerked up.

Crouching on the top of a building, like some sort of knock-off Spiderman was a hooded figure. The person was looking down at me, but I couldn’t make out any facial features through the darkness.

“Grayson can’t help you now, Luna,” the person said.

Um, so, yeah, f uck that.

I turned on my heel and started sprinting away. My exhaustion from earlier was long gone now, replaced with adrenaline and fear.

I had no idea who that person was, but there was no way I was going to stick around to find out. The moment the words “Grayson” and “Luna” had come out of their mouth, I knew I had to get far, far

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Without any warning, a hand wrapped around my hair, tugging me backward into a dark alleyway. I screamed in terror. My hands grabbed onto my assailant’s arm, digging my nails in.

It did nothing to loosen their hold on me.

“Oh, come on, Belle,” the voice said, yanking my hair harder, so I was forced to release my grip. “There’s no need for that. Let’s play nice.”

It all happened so quickly. Faster than I could even comprehend, I was shoved up against a wall, grunting when my head smashed against the hard concrete.

I was finally able to see the face of the person holding me. My eyes widened. “Adalee?” I whispered.

She smiled. “Surprise.” She grabbed my head and slammed it back again. My entire world rotated, and white-hot pain expanded over the back of my skull.

“I will say, I’m a little shocked you remember me, considering the fact that we only met that one time,” Adalee continued, her tone laced with malicious amusement.

I struggled against her, but my dizziness made it nearly impossible. “W-What are you doing here?” I

asked.

She stared at me with pitch-black eyes, telling me her wolf was at the surface. “I thought that was obvious.” Her smile grew. “I’ve come to kill you.”

Her hand flew to my throat, gripping it tightly and cutting off my airway. I grabbed her arm, digging my nails in and trying to pull it away from me as I gasped.

“You look awful,” Adalee continued, unfazed by my attempts to free myself. “I guess getting rejected by your mate really is as horrible as they say.”

“L-Let me g-go.” I struggled to speak over her grip on me.

“No, I don’t think so.” Her hand tightened even more, making me wheeze. “Tell me, Belle, how does it feel to know your mate doesn’t care about you? Doesn’t even care if I kill you?”

My mark burned at her words like someone was forcing scalding hot iron into my skin. I tried to scream, but it came out more like a gargled yelp.

Adalee’s expression was filled with sa distic glee. “That’s right, Luna,” she spat the title as if it were

an insult.

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$101084% 15:56 Adaice s expression was tied with sa distic gice. I nat s right, Luna, snc spat the titic as in it were an insult.

“Your mate couldn’t give a dam n about your miserable life. In fact…he’s sick of being tied to you. Remember that other she wolf he mated with?

“He needs you dead so he can finally be with his real mate without you getting in the way.”

Every word she spoke was like a knife to my heart, agonizing and sharp. She had to be lying, right?

Grayson may hate me, may not want me as his mate, but I never thought he would consider killing

me.

My head exploded with the worst blinding pain I had ever experienced. I screamed. Grayson. I knew it was Grayson. He had never tried so hard to get into

my head.

Adalee squeezed my neck so tightly that my vision out for several seconds.

ht

When I came to, I was coughing and gasping for air, her grip on my throat just loose enough that I could take in several deep, gulping breaths.

And then something incredible happened. Warmth, sweet and soothing, filled my form. The burning on my neck subsided a bit.

Even my head stopped hurting for the first time in months, although I could still feel the blood spilling down the back of my neck from where Adalee had shoved my skull into the hard wall.

I felt…relief. I felt safe. I felt like everything was going to be okay.

“Are you reaching out to your mate?” Adalee’s taunting voice said to me, pulling me out of my

stupor.

“That’s good. Let him feel your suffering. Let him know how you felt—all the pain, all the fear— during the final moments of your pathetic life.”

I was reaching out to Grayson, I realized with shock. When I lost consciousness a few moments ago, I hadn’t been able to continue blocking him out of my mind.

My me ntal walls had finally fallen. He was in my brain now, sifting through my emotions. It wasn’t as though I could hear him or his thoughts, but I could feel him.

I felt his terror, anger, and stress. The part of me that still had feelings for him reached out to him, wanting to comfort him even though I knew it was wrong.

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wanting to comfort him even though I knew it was wrong.

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His beta was here to murder me, and he didn’t care. He would rather have me dead than have to

think of me again.

Boy, did that hurt to know.

It didn’t matter, though. All that mattered was the peace that took over my form even as Adalce sneered in my face and her grip on my throat tightened once again.

I stopped fighting her, dropping my hands. Feeling that connection to Grayson made it easier to accept what I knew was coming. There was no way of fighting this.

My vision started to cave in. Strangely enough, I could feel Grayson’s panic increasing more and more with every second I stood there, waiting for my life to end.

I couldn’t help but wonder why he cared. This was his fault. None of this would be happening if it

hadn’t been for him.

And yet, I still gripped onto what little comfort Grayson offered me through what was left of our broken bond as if it were my lifeline. At least I wouldn’t die still fighting him. At least I could die in

peace.

Through my teary eyes, I could see that Adalee’s expression was full of pure rage. It was the kind of hatred that developed through betrayal and pain.

I didn’t know what Grayson had told her about me or why she looked at me with so much loathing in her gaze, but I wanted to tell her that I was sorry.

Whatever I had done to make her look at me that way had to have been evil. There was no other explanation.

And just as I thought everything was over for me, that my meager life was coming to an end, she dropped me.

I fell to the ground, gasping. I tried to breathe even though I still found it extremely difficult. I coughed, tasting the metallic flavor of blood. My head dropped to the wet floor.

Through my foggy vision, I could see someone standing over me. Hope filled my chest.

“Grayson?” I tried to whisper, but nothing but gasping breaths came out.

Liam’s face came into view as he crouched down in front of me. Horror immediately gripped me.

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*10084% 15:57 Whatever I had done to make her look at me that way had to have been evil. There was no other

explanation.

And just as I thought everything was over for me, that my meager life was coming to an end, she dropped me.

I fell to the ground, gasping. I tried to breathe even though I still found it extremely difficult. I coughed, tasting the metallic flavor of blood. My head dropped to the wet floor.

Through my foggy vision, I could see someone standing over me. Hope filled my chest.

“Grayson?” I tried to whisper, but nothing but gasping breaths came out.

Liam’s face came into view as he crouched down in front of me. Horror immediately gripped me.

Liam’s mouth was covered in blood, dripping down his chin and to his neck. Fangs, sharp and long, were poking out from beneath his top lip.

He looked exactly like the Grayson from my nightmares.

I dragged my gaze over to the body on the ground next to him. It was Adalee. She wasn’t breathing.

Her eyes were vacantly staring at me, her throat torn open, blood flowing from the open wound and pooling around her body.

Dead. She was dead.

I looked back at Liam, who met my gaze with concern and trepidation.

The last thing I thought before I blacked out was:

Vampire.