Chapter 24

She glows amongst my gray surroundings as if the moon is primarily focused on her.

“Death comes to those who are unwilling to fight. You are willing, Evangeline.”

“I-I’m not a killer. My grandmother fought back, and she ended up stabbing the man in his chest.” “You are not your grandmother.” “I’m worse,” I mutter and stand up.

Death did not even affect the others at all. Even my mate was straight-faced. They have seen it all too many times perhaps. I, on the other hand, looked like a fool—a weak girl who had to cover her eyes from the reality in front of her, a truth that she molded with her own bare hands, finishing the work of her mother and her grandmother before her.

I make my way out of the trees and towards the house. Now would be an excellent time to strike, would it not? I am all alone. The alpha is distracted along with many guards. Why doesn’t he just get it over with? Why does he have to kill others as if there is an army before me? Does he savor the chase?

The house is quiet, not a creak or bump. I shrug off the robe and hang it back in its place before shutting the curtains. The door is closed, and I have a view of everything around me, not giving a chance to hidden crevices. I leave the light on, knowing that if I fall asleep, the beast will attack me. There is no place that I am safe beside my mate’s arms, and that fact is dangerous.

I sit in the bed with my head in my hands, tempted to lie back and close my eyes. It is not worth the nightmares, especially if Sebastian is not here when I wake up sweating and pale. My eyes begin to burn from the bright artificial light. I shield it away with my hands and peer to my lap. I hate the power he has over me, for I cannot sleep alone anymore, and he probably loves it.

Stupidly, I fall back against my pillow and stare up at the ceiling, self-sabotaging.

“I will not fall asleep without Sebastian. I will stay awake and wait for him to come back. This man, he is making me depend on my mate,” I say out loud to keep myself awake. “He is making me weaker. I used to venture around the forest alone without a care in the world, and now, I can’t even sleep alone. I can’t sit in a room for over five minutes and not look out

all of the windows. He is turning me into my mother.” Arguing with myself is what I have come to.

It would be selfish to hope for Sebastian to hurry back. Am I in that dire need of him, enough to steal him away from a dead man?

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. My thoughts whirl around in my head like a carousel ride, and I am strapped to it. I spin with the chaos until suddenly, the ride stops and I find myself slipping into a risky slumber.

The current of warm water beats repetitively on my back. My hair sticks to my neck like a heavy blanket, and the water travels through it then down my spine. The water has washed away any trace of tears and panic from my muted face.

My eyes watch my feet. My mind is cluttered with memories and images, none of them in the correct order. It is horrific. The beast had already killed me, and I stared as it tore apart my mate. He screamed, but I could not get to him. I was lying dead on the forest floor. He did not see me, but I watched as he begged for his life. I watched as he was refused.

No matter how hard I convince myself that none of it is real, tears still drop and join the powerful current rushing past me.

I do not know what to do, so I strip off my clothes and step into the shower. It’s like seeing a limb being cut from my own body, feeling each stab and slice as the blade works through my skin, my muscle, and finally, hits my bone. I hate it. I hate every second of it. His emerald eyes continue to haunt me as they plead for mercy.

My mind cannot seem to grasp that it did not happen, as everything felt dreadfully real. I lean against the shower wall and absently shut off the water, leaving myself cold. When I step out and change my clothes, I take a deep breath before returning to the bedroom. Mentally, I do not want to. It reminds me of the state I was in after waking.

“Evangeline?”

Sebastian is standing at the foot of the bed, and I inhale greatly. Sunlight pours through the windows, which wasn’t there before I took a shower.

“Yes?”

“When did you wake up?” he asks and sits down on the bed, crinkling the covers.

“Um, around four. I wasn’t very tired when I got back.”

“Four o’clock?” Sebastian repeats. “We left at three.”

“I came back, fell asleep for a bit and woke up at four.”