EpilogueBELLETHREE WEEKS LATERThere was nothing better than sitting in a tub of steaming hot water after a long day.Grayson and I had to be up at the butt-ass crack of dawn for training, and then we were busy up until about ten o’clock that night.And, yes, you read that right, Grayson was finally teaching me how to fight, despite my months of begging him.Now that I was getting better at using my powers, Grayson knew he would never be able to keep me away from danger if I had my heart set on participating.Locking me up with Liam would never happen ever again because I could just magically appear wherever I damn well pleased.So Grayson agreed that if I was going to insist on putting myself in harm’s way rather than hiding away like a helpless doll, I might as well know how to defend myself.In addition to all of this, after we finally mated for the first time, we couldn’t get enough of each other.And I wasn’t just talking about sex—although the sex was great. We just wanted to
58. Touch of the LunaGRAYSONI couldn’t see Belle, telling me she was somewhere behind Gulius’s invisible shield, but I could smell her. I could hear her strangled, terrified gasps. And that would be enough to guide me to her location.I was still in wolf form when I started running in the direction of her scent.Azazel’s clones had definitely done a number on me—more so than I’d like to admit—but the pain hadn’t hit me yet.The adrenaline racing through me made my injuries completely tolerable, if not altogether painless. My sole focus was on saving my distressed mate.The moment I passed through Gulius’s shield, I froze, stopping dead in my tracks.That nasty, old warlock had Belle pinned against a tree by her throat, her feet dangling at least a foot above the ground.My goddamn heart lodged beneath my jugular. She was covered in blood. It splattered over her face and drenched her white shirt. It dripped from her shoes.Her wide eyes met mine while she violently struggled against
57. Enemy in ShadowsBELLEMy thoughts were cut short by the sounds of growling and hissing coming from somewhere behind me. It sounded like people were fighting—a lot of people.Vampires and werewolves, if I had to guess.My stomach took a dramatic dive when I realized I recognized the owner of the growls. I would know that sound anywhere. It was Grayson’s wolf.I sprinted in the direction of the noises, my heart racing as the sound of my mate’s distress only seemed to grow louder and more intense.Even in the dark, what I found was worse than I could have ever imagined. There were two men, one with silver-gray hair and the other with pitch-black hair, both looking out into a clearing of trees, their backs to me.The bigger one was standing, dressed in all black to match his hair, arms crossed over his chest in a casual manner. The other man was crouched down low, his long, brown, hooded trench coat skimming the ground.His arms were held out in front of him, and his fingers were spl
56. Unseen BarrierGRAYSONHALF AN HOUR EARLIERAfter hundreds of years, the invisible border protecting the kingdom of Zaweth and preventing just anyone from wandering in was taken down, and we had no idea how or why.I didn’t even know that it was possible. The warlock who put them up all those years ago, Gulius Mallor, was still alive and had been a resident of Zaweth his whole life.While not immortal, warlocks were some of the longest-living creatures in existence. They were often referred to as the sea turtles of the supernatural world, living on average for a thousand years.They were also incredibly rare. Gulius was one of few in existence and also one of the oldest at 912 years old.And he was missing. The only man who could do anything to help was nowhere to be found.The supernatural kingdom had a lot of enemies who wouldn’t think twice about taking advantage of our borders being down. For all we knew, they could already be in Zaweth.Kyle and I scrambled to protect the bor
55. Guarded SecretsBELLE“You’re terrible at Go Fish,” Liam told me. “Seriously, I’ve played toddlers better than you.”Throwing my cards down on the coffee table in front of me, I dropped my head to my knees with a groan.Grayson had left several hours before, leaving me alone with Liam, who wouldn’t let me out of my apartment no matter how many times I threatened to kill him, his family, and his future children.It was absolutely infuriating.“Might as well stop trying, Belle,” Liam had said the fifth time he had pinned me against a wall after trying to sneak past him when he wasn’t looking and make a mad dash for the front door.“Even if you did somehow manage to get past me, there are two more wolves on the other side of this door, tasked with keeping you inside. No one is getting in, and there will definitely be no one getting out.”I couldn’t care less about stupid Go Fish. My eyes kept straying to the front door, my heart squeezing a little tighter with every second that Grays
54. Newfound TrustBELLEMy body was tingling with warmth and happiness when I woke up late in the morning the next day.I smiled and stretched my stiff arms over my head, giggling when I felt the soreness between my legs.Then I reached over to the other side of the bed for my mate, hoping to crawl on top of him and nuzzle my face into his warm neck.But I didn’t find him next to me. Instead, my hand fell onto cold, empty sheets.I immediately sat up, my heart racing in my chest.“Grayson?” I called out into the dark room. My gaze fell to the windows, noticing that it was nighttime. Had I slept through the entire next day? No wonder I felt so rested.But if this bitch really left me all by myself the morning after our first time together… I was about ready to explode out of the bed and hunt him down to beat his ass.And then I saw him.Grayson was sitting in a chair he had pulled up to the side of the bed, staring at me.He was leaning forward, his arms on the bed and his chin restin