BELLE
1 was grateful that Grayson let me walk away from him back at the diner. I was grateful for the walk home by myself, where I could gather my thoughts and cry without feeling like someone was watching me.
I entered my dark apartment, violently kicking off my stupid heels, not caring where they landed. My tears continued to flow, dripping down my neck and onto the cotton of my shirt.
My heart nearly stopped when I flicked on the lights. A huge figure was standing in the middle of my kitchen. I let out a loud shriek, immediately turning to run back out of the door.
“Luna! Stop screaming! Jecz, it’s just me!”
My eyes adjusted, and I was finally able to see. “Kyle?” I asked. “Oh, my god, Kyle?”
I barely even recognized him. He looked different–like, really, really different. He seemed to have gone through the same transformation that Grayson had.
His body was bigger, stronger, and more mature. He had grown at least a foot in height, just like Grayson, and his muscles were larger and much more defined.
But it was the big goofy grin he was sporting on his face that told me he was still my same old Kyle, despite his intense physical transformation.
I stared at him for several long moments, trying to decipher if my exhausted mind was playing a trick on me. “Are you really here?” I asked him, approaching him slowly.
“Come give Daddy some sugar,” he responded, opening his arms wide.
I launched myself into his arms. He grunted from the forceful contact but didn’t hesitate before wrapping his arms around me, pulling me in even closer.
The tears came rushing from my eyes, and sobs exploded from my mouth. I wasn’t even sure why I was reacting this way to seeing him again.
I just needed a friend. I needed someone I trusted who knew about everything I had gone through.
“Ah, hell, babe,” Kyle said consolingly, leaning his cheek on the top of my head and squeezing me tighter. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry,” I sniffled into his chest. Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I looked up at him. and smiled. “I’m inst really hanny to see vou. Really hanny. I’ve missed you so much Chapter 24 of 59: Chapter 24
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Of course you have. I’m very missable.” Kyle rolled his eyes, returning my smile just as
nthusiastically. “I’ve missed you too.”
1 disentangled myself from his arms and stepped back, wiping at my tears. “What are you doing hereTM
“I came to check on you,” he explained. His eyes darkened a bit as they ran over my face. “I heard you were having a rough time.”
I couldn’t stop the heat that rose under my cheeks. I knew I looked bad, but I still hated that Kyle was able to see it on my face.
My brows tugged together. “How did you hear that?”*
“The alpha, of course.”
Just a tiny bit of disappointment settled in my stomach. “You… You’ve been talking to him?“”
Kyle nodded.
I wasn’t sure why I had been hoping Kyle had stopped talking to Grayson after everything that had happened between him and me. It wasn’t fair of me to wish for that.
Grayson’s pack, as toxic as it may have been for me, was Kyle’s home. It was where Elijah was and where he had spent all his life.
I guess I had just been hoping to have a common advocate in all of this, a friend I didn’t need to keep secrets from.
But now… There was no way I could tell Kyle everything I was thinking and all I had experienced now that I knew he was still under Grayson’s thumb.
All of the questions I had been wondering over the last few months came rushing to the edge of my tongue, waiting eagerly to be asked.
I wanted to know what had happened after I left, how Elijah was, and did Kyle confront Grayson after finding him in bed with another girl who wasn’t me?
I asked the most obvious question first. “Why are you a literal giant now? Have you and Grayson gone on steroids or something?
“Or is there a new werewolf disease I don’t know about that is making you all fifty feet tall?”
Kule laughed “No steroids. I promise. And, as far as I’m concerned. I haven’t caught any diseases. Chapter 24 of 59: Chapter 24
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“So what happened?”
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I looked over his enormous form. He wasn’t nearly as big as Grayson was now but still looked extremely intimidating–much more intimidating than before.
And that was a hard thing to accomplish since both he and Grayson had already been much larger than the average human before the transformation.
Some part of me was a little relieved that it wasn’t just Grayson who had grown significantly. It meant he didn’t get stronger because he was away from me, but rather due to another reason.
Something else must have happened.
“I think that’s something the alpha would like to explain to you himself,” Kyle told me.
I looked around, suddenly worried that Grayson was watching us or maybe listening in. What would he do if he knew Kyle was here?
“Does Grayson know you’re here? I don’t think he would like ”
“Alpha knows I’m here,” Kyle replied to my question. “In fact…” He jerked his chin behind me.
“I invited him here,” a deep voice finished.
I whirled around to find Grayson standing in my doorway. Of course he was here. Even when I couldn’t see him, he was always nearby.
Grayson’s eyes immediately narrowed in on Kyle’s hands that were still on my waist. He let out a low growl. “Get your hands off my mate, Beta.”
Kyle’s arms dropped to his sides in less than a second.
I glared at Grayson. My temper rose. “Not your mate,” I snapped at him. “Kyle can touch me if he wants. You shouldn’t even be here.”
Kyle whistled low under his breath. “You weren’t kidding, Alpha. It is bad.”
I turned back to Kyle, ignoring Grayson’s glare. “Beta? You’re the beta now?” I asked him.
He shrugged sheepishly. “It’s a long story.”
“A story I definitely want to hear,” I said. Had it happened after Adalee died? “You don’t have to leave soon, do you?” Sudden panic hit me. I didn’t want Kyle to leave.
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I wanted him to stay here as long as possible. The friendship I cultivated with him was the only thing I didn’t regret from my relationship with Grayson.
After months of being by myself–if you didn’t count Liam’s overprotectiveness–the amount of comfort I found in him standing here in my apartment was immeasurable.
Kyle shook his head. “I’m here for as long as I need to be,” he replied, sating my worries.
I let out a deep breath. “Okay,” I said, feeling less tense. “Okay. Can I get you anything to drink?” I hurried over to my cupboards, grabbing the only glass I owned. I paused. “Actually, I only have
water.”
“That’s okay. Not thirsty,” Kyle answered, raising a brow at the old plastic cup in my hand.
I set the cup back down on the counter. Then my attention swung back to Grayson, who was still standing in the doorway of my apartment. I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Is there a reason you’re still here?” I asked him.
Kyle snorted.
“I’m here,” Grayson started, giving Kyle a look that could make anyone’s blood turn cold, “because we need to talk.”
“Is that why you invited him here?” I asked him, motioning to Kyle. “Bringing him here is part of your plan to try and lure me back to your evil lair to torture me some more, huh?”
Kyle coughed to hide another laugh.
“I’m not planning to” Grayson didn’t finish that sentence, growling in frustration. “He’s here to help me explain. If you won’t listen to me, then maybe you’ll listen to him.”
“I already told you-
“I know what you said,” Grayson said, cutting me off.
“And if I have to hear any more bullshit about how you’re not good enough for me or not meant to be my luna come out of your mouth, I might lose my fucking mind.
“I could understand if you thought that what I did was unforgivable”
“Well-” I interjected, trying to explain that what he did was unforgivable….
“But I’m not going to let vou go on thinking that you’ve done anything wrong,” Grayson continued. Chapter 24 of 59: Chapter 24
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You hear me? It’s a lie that your brain is telling you because of years of assholes telling you you’re not enough when, really, it was them who had the issues, not you.”
He took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself before his anger took over. He took a few steps toward me. “I need you to let me explain what really happened, baby. Will you let me do that? Please?”
I tightened my arms around myself, feeling intensely uncertain. “I…” I swallowed.
Exhaustion was starting to hit me, and for a moment, I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole just so I could have some peace.
I didn’t think I could handle another fight with Grayson right now. Each one was so unbelievably taxing and forced me to fight more and more against nature that demanded I forgive him.
I didn’t want to do it anymore.
“Come here, baby,” Grayson said. He grabbed one of my folding chairs that was leaning against a wall and carried it to me, setting it down in front of me. “Sit down. You’re starting to sway.”
For once, I didn’t argue. He was right; the room was starting to spin around me, and my knees felt weak. I let my body fall into the uncomfortable chair, dropping my head into my hands.
Knowing my mate was near, my stomach roiled inside of me, and my mark burned, begging for Grayson’s touch and affecti
As if he could hear my thoughts, Grayson knelt down next to me, placing one of his big hands on my leg, letting his thumb run over my bare skin in the way he knew made me turn to mush.
I didn’t have the energy to push him away.
“Please let me explain, Belle. Please,” he begged.
I sighed. Tears of frustration were starting to form in my eyes once again. I couldn’t seem to keep my tears back when I was around him.
“I don’t get it, Grayson. I really don’t. Why do you even want to explain? The way you treated me…” “I shook my head.
“You gave me up. You made it clear you didn’t want me that you wanted to hurt me. So I don’t see why you would come back. What changed?”
“So much,” Grayson said. “So much changed and, at the same time, nothing at all. I came back
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“I need you to know that because I can see how much pain it is causing you to think that I don’t. To think that I don’t want you. It isn’t true. None of what happened at my pack house was true.“”
A single tear dripped from my check and onto his hand, still on my knee. I heard Grayson’s harsh intake of breath and saw his nostrils flare.
My eyes found Kyle’s. He nodded encouragingly at me, giving me a sympathetic look. “It’s important you hear this, Luna,” he said.
“So you’re on his side?” I asked Kyle. “You think what he did to me was okay?**
Kyle immediately shook his head, looking horrified by the idea. “No! No, Goddess, of course not. No one should have to go through what you did. But the alpha has an explanation–and a good
onc.”
When I didn’t answer right away, still hesitant, Kyle continued. “You can trust me, Luna. I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that.”
I licked my dry lips. “I thought the same thing about him,” I said, looking at Grayson.
Grayson’s expression flashed with so much pain that I almost regretted what I said. His eyes were completely green right now, and I found myself falling into them.
I missed his eyes so much, and I hadn’t seen them in so long since his wolf had been in control basically the entire time he’d been here.
I missed Grayson. I missed my Grayson so, so much.
Part of me wondered what the harm was in letting him explain. It’s not like I had to agree to be with him after hearing what he had to say. I was just…scared. So scared.
After everything he had put me through, self–preservation was my number one priority. I would not let him hurt me again.
After a few more moments, I finally answered. “Okay.”
Grayson’s breathing stalled. “Okay?” he repeated, hope and shock lacing his tone.
Honestly, I was a bit shocked too. I nodded. “Okay. You can explain. Tell me what happened.”
I could practically see the extreme relief traveling throughout Grayson’s body.
“But,” I continued quickly before he could say anything, “you have to promise me something.”
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