Chapter 45
Chapter 45
JESSICA
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We’re so completely screwed.
One second, I’m still catching my breath–next thing I know, Grayson’s lunging and throwing the guy on the ground. Shit. Everyone is watching!
“Grayson!” I half–shout, half–gasp, heart punching against my ribs as I shove forward. My hand clamps around his arm, yanking him back just before he throws the next punch. “Stop it!”
He’s so angry.
“Grayson, please.”
It takes three seconds. Maybe four. But slowly–grudgingly–his hand pulls back. He shoves off the guy’s chest with a growl and stands, eyes never leaving the man now coughing on the ground.
No one moves.
It’s like everyone around us just witnessed a fucking scandal and I’m at the center of it.
“Training’s over.”
I glanced at Aria and she looks shocked same as mine.
One by one, wolves scatter. Murmurs start low, like whispers of a curse passed from one ear to another. No one dares speak loudly. Everyone just disperses fast. Because whatever just happened wasn’t sanctioned. It wasn’t pack law. It was Grayson’s law.
A few minutes after, there’s only two of us left.
Me and Aria.
She stands frozen, a few steps away, with her face full of humiliation of what just had happened. Even though I can’t stand the sight of her,
my heart aches for her.
Especially when Grayson quickly went to my direction, his warm hands cupping my face. “Are you okay?” His voice drops to that low rumble
that always makes my stomach flip. His thumb brushes across my cheek. “Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head, too aware of Aria watching us. “No, I—”
“You just signed her fate.” Aria quietly said, making us turn to her. “I told you to stay away from her.” She lunges forward, slapping Grayson. I jump back with a gasp as she shoves me aside to get in his face.
“You think you can have both of us?” She spits, her eyes wild with rage. “I will fucking tear her apart, Grayson. Every piece. I will make your precious little thing regret the day she ever looked at you.”
Her nails dig into his chest as she pushes him. “I know where she lives. I know her schedule. I know everything about her.” Aria’s voice drops to something terrifying, almost animalistic. “And I will make sure every single person knows what kind of whore she really is.”
Aria storms off, shoving us both.
I can’t move.
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Chapter 45
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My legs feel cemented to the ground, and my lungs seem to have forgotten how to work properly. Every breath comes in short, panicked
gasps.
“Hey,” Grayson says, his hand finding mine. His fingers are warm against my ice cold skin. “Look at me.”
I can’t. All I can think about is Aria’s threat.
“She’s gonna do it,” I whisper, finally meeting Grayson’s gaze. “You saw her. She’s actually going to-”
“She won’t touch you,” he cuts in, squeezing my hand tight. “I promise.”
But promises feel pretty damn flimsy right now. “She’s your future Luna.” I gulped, the words tasting acid in my mouth. “She’s right. I’m just your plaything. This is wrong. I shouldn’t have let you….”
“We shouldn’t have ever–this was stupid from the beginning.” My voice cracks as I back away, my heel catching on something. I stumble but catch myself, hands trembling. “Everyone will know. The whole pack will know what I am–what we did. I’ll be marked as the slut who thought she could-”
Grayson steps forward, closing the distance I created. “Stop.”
“No! You don’t get it!” My words come faster, sharper. “She’ll make my life hell. I will never be a warrior if she talks about this to your father!”
“For fuck’s sake!” Grayson growled, grabbed a fistful of my hair before crushing his lips into mine. I tried to gasp but his mouth devoured
mine, teeth scraping the bottom of my lip before biting down just hard enough to make me whimper. “Shut up,” he muttered against my
mouth, his breath hot and ragged. “Are you done?” he asks, his forehead pressed against mine.
“Don’t shut me up like that,” I hiss, but there’s no real heat behind it.
“Then stop talking nonsense.” His voice is raw, dangerous. “You’re not some toy, Jess. You never were.” His fingers dig into my hips. “I won’t let her touch you.”
“You can’t stop her. You know the power she has–the connections. She’ll make it look like an accident, or she’ll just slowly chip away until there’s nothing left of me.”
“Listen to me,” he growls, tilting my chin up. “I’d tear this whole fucking pack apart before I let anyone hurt you. Including her. Including my
father. All of them.”
The intensity in his eyes scares me. Because I believe him.
His tongue darted out, wetting his lips before he seized my hand. My heart hammered as he dragged me across the hallway. I tugged my hand, trying to break free. “Grayson-”
He didn’t let go. His fingers tightened, almost bruising.
“Don’t,” he snarled, eyes flashing dangerously.
My throat went dry. I look around to make sure no one is watching us before he kick the door of his office and shove me inside.
“Did he hurt you?” The words rumbled from his chest, dark and threatening.
“N–no.” My voice barely a whisper.
I saw his eyes scanned every inch of my face before his thumb traced the outline of my cheekbone, then dropped to my neck where I knew a bruise was forming. “I should kill that bastard for touching you.”
“You exposed us.” I sulk, backing away from him, my spine hitting his desk.
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Chapter 45
“You think I give a fuck?” Grayson snarls, stalking toward me. “You’re being manhandled out there, baby.”
“Then let them manhandle me!”
i shove at his chest, hard. His body barely moves. The rage in my veins feels like fire, burning in its path,
“Let me fight my own goddamn battles!” I hiss, throwing hands on him. This time, he stumbles back, surprise by my sudden tears. “You ruined everything I worked for!”
Grayson’s jaw clenches. “So you’d rather have that piece of shit’s hands on you than blow our cover?”
“Yes!” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.
His eyes darken to near black. “Bullshit. Stop being a fucking brat.!”
“What the fuck did you just say?”
Grayson’s eyes darken. He backs me up until my ass hits the desk again, harder this time. Papers scatter to the floor. His grip on my wrists tightens–not enough to hurt, just enough to control.
“You’re being a fucking brat,” he growls, voice dropping to something feral, something that makes my spine curl. “And fucking selfish.”
I wrench one hand free and slap him. The crack echoes. His head barely moves. “Fuck you,” I gasp, shock at his words. “Fuck you!”
Fuck Grayson Westwood. Fuck his arrogance. And fuck this fucking relationship.
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