Chapter 237 The Beauty and The Beast

Ashleigh spit the food in his face.

Granger growled, wiping his chin with a napkin.

“That’s not very attractive, you know?” Granger commented.

“Go to hell!” she growled.

Granger sighed.

“Ashleigh, I have been very patient with these outbursts. I have tried reasoning with you, supporting you, giving you the things that you like.”

Granger stood and walked over to the bundle of wildflowers.

“I handpicked these just for you,” he said. “Still, not even a thank you.”

“Go. To. Hell!” she growled again.

Granger clenched his jaw.

Ashleigh had no idea how much time had passed. She knew it was afternoon when she had chased Alice into the trees. But when she woke again, she was already in this room and bound to the bed.

He moved her from the bed to a chair and back. At first, she thought it was an opportunity to escape, but there was silver in her bindings. Making it difficult for her to move; whenever she did struggle, she found her strength was slowly drawn out of her.

Granger had been there almost since the moment she woke up, though he had also knocked her out a few other times when she wouldn’t stop screaming at him.

He had been trying to act as though nothing between them had changed, he pretended to be sweet and considerate. Fed her, cleaned her face. He took her to the bathroom, he kept her bound, but at least he allowed privacy inside the stall.

From what she could tell, this was some kind of office, but it seemed to be underground.

“Ash, you’ve never appreciated the way I feel for you,” Granger said affectionately. “I think it’s time we try something different.”

Granger moved close, giving her a smile that made her skin crawl..

“If you try to force your mark on me, I will kill you…” she growled. “I will tear your throat out!”

Granger let out a shaky breath and smiled.

“Promise?” he said in a throaty whisper.

Ashleigh gave him a look of horror.

“We would die together… and the last thing either of us would feel is that deep raw thrill that comes from killing.”

He was panting now, his eyes swirling with darkness.

“Only you can do this to me…” he groaned, closing his eyes and running his hand over the growing bulge in his pants.

Ashleigh looked away, trying to keep the bile from rising in her throat.

“Do you have any idea how excited you make me?” he whispered. “I always wanted you, craved you. But… when you let go of your power, when you…”

Granger smiled, closing his eyes and letting out a shuddering breath.

“…Tore into the flesh of my shoulder….”

He licked his lips and made a sound like a moan as the memory excited him, filled him with want and need.

Ashleigh clenched her jaw and took a deep breath through her nose, trying desperately to block out his words, his disgusting feelings.

“I know you feel it, Ash,” he whispered like an eerie song. “Through our bond.”

Granger moved behind her as he spoke.

“I felt that rage inside of you… the desire to kill me, it was wonderful,” he sighed. “Oh… but the best part of it. The absolute fucking cherry on that sundae… feeling Caleb’s heartbeat slowing… I felt it through you. I felt him dying, and I’ve never been so aroused.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Ashleigh shouted, her anger rising.

“Yes!” he laughed. “Get angry.”

Ashleigh gritted her teeth and tried to calm herself.

“And then there were the ‘rogues’…” he smiled. “Oh, baby… you shined that night. You tore them up with such ease, it was beautiful… but I was too excited. You teased me, and I needed more… since I couldn’t have you, I had to settle for getting rid of the rest of them.”

She didn’t want to hear it or think about that night. Even without Granger, without his disturbing excitement over it all. There was something about that night that bothered her.

“I bet you think it’s all me,” he said. “That I’m the sicko that gets excited about these ‘horrible’ things.”

“You are sick!” Ashleigh growled.

“Maybe,” Granger smiled. “But you were the one that smiled as you tore their arms off. Their legs. Blood everywhere… still you smiled.”

“That was because of you!”

“No, baby…” he whispered beside her ear. “I was drawn there by your excitement.”

Ashleigh felt a cold settle over her.

Her excitement?

It was a lie. It had to be.

“I don’t believe you…” she whispered.

Granger nuzzled against her.

“You will…” he whispered. “I know you, Ash. I know the way you push those nasty little thoughts down. Whenever you feel something that you don’t like, think a bad thought. Just push it away, pretend it isn’t real.”

Granger moved away from her, his smile wide. He walked over to the only window in the room. It had the blinds drawn.

He pulled down on the string, raising the blinds higher and higher until they were all the way up. But on the other side, all she saw was darkness.

Granger smiled again before pulling a remote from his pocket and pressing a button. The dark room beyond the window lit up, and Ashleigh gasped at what she saw.

Children.

There were at least thirty of them and two women. First, they were all scattered in small groups. But when the light came on, they huddled together, hiding their faces in fear.

“You monster!” Ashleigh shouted. “What have you done to them?!”

“What have I done? Oh no. No, no. What have WE done to them?”

Ashleigh furrowed her brows. She didn’t understand. She looked back at the children, at the two women.

One of the women turned their head toward the window. That was when Ashleigh recognized her.

She was from Whiteridge. She had had a crush on Axel.

“We changed their lives,” he whispered. “We made them orphans.”

“What…? No… how…” she tried to speak, but her mind was spinning. Flashes of the attack on Summer, and then it happened.

Her memory became clear.

The rogues… the people she had torn limb from limb. She stood covered in their blood… smiling. Why was she smiling? Caleb’s wheelchair… the blood. She was smiling because they couldn’t hurt him if they were in pieces. She saw their faces clearly now, she recognized them. They were wolves of Whiteridge.

The tears fell down her cheeks, and Granger let out a laugh.

“You didn’t know…” he said with such glee. “Caleb never told you, did he?”

Ashleigh turned back to Granger, a satisfied look on his face.

“Yea,” he nodded. “He knew.”

She looked away.

“He knew that you killed members of Whiteridge and Shadowcrest. But he didn’t tell you.”

Ashleigh closed her eyes, clenching her jaw. How was this possible?

“Shadowcrest… they were already picked when I joined up, but Whiteridge, that was my get,” he said, smiling proudly.

“It was easy, all I had to do was convince Kirnon that it was what was best for his pack,” Granger said mockingly. “You know they were struggling, right?”

Ashleigh didn’t want to, but she looked up. She knew Whiteridge had some issues with the orders for the leather armors, but she didn’t think they were in real trouble.

“I didn’t exactly lie, I told him if he gave up his Alpha title, his people would be taken care of… and they were… just… in a more permanent sense,” Granger smiled. “Thanks to us.”

“You monster!” she spat at him.

“That’s not nice!” he shouted back. He sighed. “That’s not nice.”

Granger was showing signs of irritation. He paced back and forth.

“All I’m trying to do, Ash, is prove to you that we belong together. That I accept you for all that you are. The beauty and the beast.”

He moved quickly to his knees in front of her. Looking up with eyes pleading to be understood.

“Because that’s what you are, a beast. A beautiful beast,” he whispered. Smiling at her, in his own disgusting way, he was genuinely trying to compliment her.

Ashleigh couldn’t listen to him anymore, her legs were bound together, but not to the chair. She used the little strength she had to kick him as hard as she could.

He fell back, grabbing at his mouth there was blood on his hand when he pulled it away.

Granger got up from the floor and growled at her.

“Fine!” he snarled. “Have it your way.”

Granger walked around. He removed small white covers from vents all over the room. Once he had collected them all, he came back to stand before her.

He let her loose from the chair and moved her back to the bed. She struggled, but she was worn down.

Once he had her tied back down. He looked down at her, for a moment, she saw the look of adoration in his eyes that she used to enjoy. But now, there was something behind it, darkness.

He sighed.

“I’m going to go,” he began. “But, since you refuse to accept the truth about yourself… I have to help you… and it’s not going to be easy for you.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“When I leave, those vents will start slowly pouring in a chemical mix that will help you realize who you are. Help you embrace your power.”

“What?”

“And when you do,” he said, petting her hair gently. “When you let go and let the rage take you… when you’re covered in their blood… you’ll understand that we belong together.”

“Their… the children?” she asked in horror. “You want me to kill the children?”

“They’re sad, Ashleigh,” he said, looking down at her with a soft smile. “End their suffering.”

“You’re disgusting!” she shouted, spitting at him. “I won’t do it! Never!”

“You won’t have a choice!” Granger snarled in her face. “You’ll lose your mind… Just like Renee…”

Ashleigh gasped. She had known, of course, but how he casually said it shocked her.

Granger gave her a half-cocked smile before he stepped away.

Ashleigh heard the door open and close. A few minutes later, the air kicking on sent a panic through her heart.