Chapter 32: Ready? fight!
Bella’s pov.
“It’s the mate bond betrayal. She’s lucky she was announced the alpha when she was. I don’t think her body could’ve handled the pain before… so, she said alph- I mean Garret, was cheating on her for six years, and even had a kid with the she wolf. But how did she not feel the pains before?” I can hear the one older healer named Heketh asking someone, “was he poisoning her with wolfsbane?”
“Yes,” I groaned as I tried opening my eyes, blinking them rapidly at the bright lights.
“Oh! Alpha! You’re awake, here, have some water!” He said surprised, his footsteps loud against the floor as he walked quickly towards the sink, filling a glass.
I sat up, blinking a few more times before my eyes landed on John.
A huge frown on his face.
Making him look so… angry.
I looked away from his piercing eyes. Grabbing the glass of water from the healer, gulping it down greedily. My aching throat instantly felt better.
“So…” Heketh said slowly, bouncing on the heels of his feet with his hands clasped in front of him, “you know what happened to you? Why you’re here?”
I nodded my head, wincing from the massive headache I had.
“Bella,” John said through clenched teeth, making my eyes dart in his direction, “alpha Ethan.. he’s here. Waiting to start the challenge. And… Garrets here. With his mistress and their son.”
I sucked in a sharp inhale of breath, placing my head into my hands.
“Of course he is,” I muttered under my breath, throwing the blanket off of me and starting to get off of the bed. Ready to get this challenge over with.
“Wait!” Heketh shrieked, waving his hands around frantically, “you must rest! You can’t fight now!”
I sighed while walking past him.
“I don’t have a choice. Okay? I have to fight. I have to win,” I said, looking towards John, “let’s go…”
We walked side by side out of the healers hut. Our hands brushing together every so often.
Tundra was silent in my mind. But she was there, I could feel her presence.
Grounding and confident. Boosting my confidence and energy.
“Who’s with Megan?” I asked, knowing John wouldn’t have left her with someone he didn’t trust.
“I stationed three warriors there. One of them being warrior Dante. Two are inside and ones positioned outside the door. No one will be able to get to her,” he said, confirming my thoughts.
He seemed so serious, not the carefree happy guy I was passionately kissing last night.
“What’s wrong, John?” I asked quietly, scared of the answer he’s going to give me.
“Bella…” he started to say, pausing as he looked towards me, “if you felt the pains of Garrett's betrayal last night… I’m afraid he felt us kissing too. There’s no knowing for sure but… I have my suspicions.”
I gasped as reality hit me. He definitely felt it, and knowing the wolfsbane wore off by now, he knew I’d feel his betrayal too.
“That bastard,” I muttered under my breath, my face scrunched in anger, “I wish I could-.”
“Well, well, well!” Garrett's scratchy voice interrupted me, my stomach twisting into knots as his scent invaded my nose.
John and I stopped in our tracks. John's body tensing up beside me.
“Garret,” he said through clenched teeth, his hand brushing against mine slightly before he pulled away just as fast.
“You know…” Garret said calmly, smirking as our eyes met, “I should’ve known you were a whore.
I gaped audibly, looking at Garret with widened eyes.
“Me?” I said quietly, “me, the whore? No, you’re the whore! You cheated on our bond since the day we got together! You poisoned me with wolfsbane!”
I screamed at the top of my lungs, so angry, so furious at his words.
The rage I felt spiked at the sight of Rose standing behind him with an innocent look on her face, slightly smirking as we made eye contact.
“Get out of our way, Garrett,” John said calmly, stepping in front of me slightly, “we must go. We need to get the challenge going. Don’t stand in our way.”
Garrett smirked at John, walking towards him slowly.
“I should’ve known you’d be a problem, John. From the day I met you I had a feeling… and apparently, I was right,” he whispered in front of John, but I heard him, “it was you? Wasn’t it? You were about to fuck my mate.”
John’s fists clenched at his sides, his anger radiating off of his body in waves.
“I didn’t do anything. And you don’t have a ‘mate’ anymore. You lost that title long ago,” John whispered back just as quietly, stepping into Garrett’s space.
Garrett growled lowly as he backed away, glaring at me one last time before storming away, grabbing Rose and dragging her along with him.
She looked at me one last time, a grin on her face.
As if she was saying, ‘I win.’
“Let’s go,” John said, breaking me out of the haze I was in.
My eyes darted away from Rose, looking up at John's angry face.
“I said, let’s go!” He said again, a little snappy.
“Okay! Okay! Calm down…” I mumbled, crossing my arms as I walked a little behind him.
He sighed, rubbing his face with one hand before turning back towards me.
Grabbing the tops of my arms with both of his hands.
“I’m sorry, Bell. Okay? I just… his words… they were getting into my head. Let’s hope we don’t see them again,” he said softly, a vulnerable look in his eyes.
I smiled slightly, placing my hands on top of his.
Feeling small tingles where our skin touched.
“It’s fine, John. Let’s go, let’s do this. I’m ready,” I whispered into his ear, watching his face turn from an angry frown to a soft smile.
“Let’s do it then, Angel,” he mumbled, smirking at the blush that made its way to my cheeks at the name he called me.
I rolled my shoulders, stretching my body out before continuing towards the arena.
Where I will be fighting my first challenger.
As we stepped into the arena, all of my pack members went crazy with cheering.
“Alpha Bella! You got this! We believe in you!” Could be heard from all around, making me smile to myself.
But the smiles were short lived as I watched the smug grins and disgusted looks of the other pack members.
The Twilight Moon pack members.
Their whispers and laughter, ringing in my ears like mockery.
I clenched my fists, ignoring their voices in my head.
I’m ready.
And I will win.