#Chapter 4: Hit

I stumbled, my hand flying to my cheek, to the warmth already blooming there as I stared at Mason, stunned.

He hit me.

He actually hit me.

Mason had always been so kind, so warm, eager to please even. If you’d asked me before, I would’ve said he couldn’t even raise his voice at me. But he hit me.

At first, Mason’s expression was a mask of harsh rage. But as I just stared at him, tears welling in my eyes, he blinked. He forced out a breath and smoothed his face into calm lines. But I didn’t believe it, couldn’t trust it. He’d already changed so fast.

“I’m sorry, Harper,” he said, reaching for me. Instinctually, I stepped back. Mason’s face crumpled. “Harper please, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I just … I’m overwhelmed with wedding preparations and pack affairs, it’s been getting to me. I guess it all just bubbled over.”

I shook my head, his excuses pelting against the only truth that mattered. “How dare you lay a hand on me?” I demanded, fury turning the words to a growl.

Mason held up his hands, pleading. “Baby, I’m so sorry, you know I’d never hurt you in my right mind. I’m so sorry – here, slap me back, go ahead!” He turned, offering me his cheek, but I just looked away.

My face stung, but it was starting to cool under my fingers. Mason kept babbling apologies, more and more like the sweet man I fell in love with.

The man who slapped me… maybe that wasn’t really him.

The wedding was proving to be a bigger stress than either of us had anticipated. And I knew his mother had high expectations when it came to running the pack. I could understand how it would all bubble over … But he hurt me.

I feel so torn. But his gentle words and the memories of the past slowly softened me.

“I’m sorry,” Mason repeated, and this time, when he reached for my hands, I let him take them. “Harper, I love you so much. We’re in this together, right? All I want is to make sure our pack is successful – that’s the most crucial part of both our futures.”

His soft voice coaxed me closer, and I let him wrap his arms around me. This was the Mason I knew. Sweet, kind, and loyal to his pack more than anything else. Even me.

“You know everything I do is for the pack, right, Harper? For us. You know that?” he pressed.

I just nodded against his chest… and chose to let it go.

I fled to my room after he let me go, with many more apologies and kisses and promises to be better. I didn’t even have the words to respond anymore, my head was too jumbled up. I knew Mason loved me, and I knew the pressure was weighing on him. I just hadn’t known it could come out like that.

But it wouldn’t ever again. He promised.

There was a white box sitting on my bed when I walked in, my eyes caught of the puffy white bow. Another wedding gift? The tag had only two words, in that achingly familiar looping script.

Something blue.

“Levi…” I whispered his name as I opened the box – and gasped.

A beautiful necklace with a tear-shaped blue diamond in the center. Blue and white diamond clusters trailed up the sides. It was the loveliest thing I’d ever seen. Carefully, I lifted it from the box and turned to the mirror, holding it up to my neck.

The diamonds sparkled along my collar bones like cold fingers. It was fit for a queen’s wedding. Unbidden, a memory from when I was five years old bubbled to the surface.

Little me looking up into Levi’s face across the dinner table. “Will you marry me when I grow up? I promise, I can be the bestest wife!” And Levi’s hearty chuckle that made me feel on top of the world.

“Sure thing, string bean, why not?”

I almost smiled at the memory… almost.

There was a knock on my door, and it swung open at the same time – Mason. Instinctively, I hid the necklace in its box before calling out, “In here!”

“You’re not still angry, are you?” he asked earnestly, pulling me into his arms with a kiss.

For once, his kisses didn’t light me up from the inside, didn’t make me feel loved. But I kissed him back, forcing myself to be normal.

“No,” I answered honestly, “I’m not angry anymore.” Mason sighed in relief, but before he spoke, another voice wound through my mind.

“Harper, listen, I can’t come to the wedding,” Levi said through the Mind-link between us. He hadn’t used it in ages, so I gasped, disoriented. “My schedule is too packed.”

At Mason’s questioning look, I explained, “It’s Levi.” At his eager expression, I shook my head. “He’s saying he can’t come, he’s too busy.”

But Mason wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Ask him again,” he urged. “He has to be there, our future is riding on this.”

I hesitated, uncomfortable, but… for Mason. “Levi, I understand, but we’d really appreciate it if you could make it. Even if it’s just for the ceremony, you don’t have to do the recep…tion…”

Even through the mind-link, it was like I could feel him scrutinizing me.

Maybe it was the urgency and tremor in my voice, he fell silent for a moment.

“Harper,” his tone was gentle, but brooked no argument. I tensed. “I can tell something’s wrong. What happened?”

“I…” I faltered. I couldn’t tell him. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he knew Mason had hit me. I didn’t know what would be worse – him challenging Mason to a fight, or him not caring at all. I couldn’t find out.

“I’m fine, I understand if you can’t make it.” And I scrambled to end the mind-link.

I blinked to refocus and found Mason standing with his arms crossed, expression hard. “Did you tell him what happened?”

Startled by the change in him – so much like before – I stepped back. “What? No, I didn’t, I wouldn’t –”

But Mason just scoffed. “Damn it. With the wedding so close, I was afraid things wouldn’t go smoothly.”

“Mason, what are you – Aahh!”

Mason grabbed my arm and yanked me close. His hot breath on my neck was my only warning before his teeth clamped into my skin. I screamed in pain, then terror as he drew back and bit into his own wrist.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

But he just shoved his bloodied wrist in my mouth. I tried to back away, but his other hand clamped against the back of my head, forcing me to swallow.

“There!” Mason released me all at once, a look of triumph gleaming in his eyes. “Now, if you ever betray me, you’ll die.” I backed away from him, clapping my hand over the wound pulsing in my neck.

“If you run get too far away from me, I’ll know,” he stalked closer, a satisfied smile twisting his lips. My gut roiled at the sight. “We’re bonded now Harper, connected forever and ever!”

A blood curse.

The magical bond between mates, when mixed with blood and a curse, turns the mate bond into something deadly.

Horror coursed through me. He’s losing his mind. It made sense, all the mood swings today, fucking biting me. Mason was going crazy.

Fighting him would be useless. He's an Alpha, I'm a she-wolf who can't even shift.

I offered him a shaky smile. “That’s amazing, Mason. A little warning would have been nice though.” I forced a little laugh. He frowned. “No, it’s okay, I just mean I have to go clean up now, I wasn’t prepared. But I’ll be right back and we’ll celebrate, okay?”

Mason actually smiled, believing me. “Yeah, of course, I guess I got a little carried away with the blood ritual.” His eyes grew hard. “Don’t take too long.”

“Of course not,” I said breezily, heading for the bathroom. “Be right back!”

I closed the door and immediately turned on the water, thinking fast. My vision swam at the bloody print I left behind. No, Harper, focus!

I can't stay with a lunatic. I can't marry this lunatic!

As slow as I could, I locked the door, wincing at the barely audible click, but I heard nothing on the other side. Then I leapt to the window above the toilet and eased it open, heart pounding with every second. The tree right outside was my best option.

“Harper?” Mason called.

I nearly threw up. “Almost done!”  I called back – then shoved my shoulders through the small window. I gripped a branch and hauled myself the rest of the way through, ignoring the stinging and burning in my neck.

Moving as fast as I could in the dark, I half scrambled, half fell down the branches to the ground. I paused there, but the grounds were empty. This was my chance! Heart pounding, I raced into the trees.

It wouldn’t be long before Mason was on my tail. I had to get somewhere safe and fast. But where was safe? Mason was the alpha, the most powerful person in the pack. He could find me anywhere. Even if my friends would hide me, I couldn’t burden them like that.

I burst through the trees out onto a road. He’d lose my tracks if I ran along it for a bit! But just as I turned, the rumble of a car turned my feet to lead. Mason had found me already. I dove for the bushes, knowing it was already too late.

The car skidded to a stop, but when the back door opened, it wasn’t my rabid fiancé.

It was Levi.

The man who claimed to be too busy to show up.