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Chapter 43
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The Hybrid Mate Chapter 44
"No," Bella said, trying to tune him out amid the rush of blood in her head. "That's just—please stop, Victor."“It’s getting weak, isn't it?" He murmured. Something about his words told her he wasn't talking to her. Not that she could answer, anyway. The pain was no longer a weak hum, it was a full-on roar.“I said stop!” she seethed. Victor stared at her in shock. She waited for him to hit her the way Jeff had the one time she’d ever made the mistake of raising her voice to him, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “Alright.”“I’m sorry.”“Don’t be,” he murmured. “I saw an opportunity and I went for it. It was rash. I’m the one who’s sorry.”“You really think I’m sick because of Jeff?” she asked shakily. “Because he uses it to control me, even from afar?”“I’ve seen it before,” he answered sympathetically. She hugged herself. The blanket was doing nothing to keep her warm when the chill was coming from the inside. She’d convinced herself that running from Jeff wou
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 45
"Get off me," Bella said hoarsely. Her voice echoed in reality, but she couldn't make the image in front of her go away. She couldn't breathe from Mr. Alderdice's weight on top of her. "Stop, it hurts..." A horrible snarl broke Bella out of the vision. Victor was holding her again, trembling with rage. He must have realized that his outburst had startled her and gathered her closer to his chest. He rocked her gently, whispering his apologies. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, baby." Bella thought he was still apologizing for his snarl and wrapped her arms around his neck to snuggle closer as the vision faded. Victor's arms chased away the dread. "It's okay. I'm not afraid of you anymore." Darian, on the other hand... Victor let out a deep, ragged breath and squeezed her even tighter. "That's enough questioning for tonight. I saw all I needed to see."Saw? "Can you keep holding me? I'm tired." Bella yawned. The sense of wonderment with ever
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 46
Bella turned to Darian, seething. "You should be ashamed of yourself," she spat. Her words staggered him for a moment. A moment was all she had to diffuse the situation if the house was going to still be standing by the time all was said and done. "You talk like you own me or something, even though all you've done since that night my whole world came undone is disappear. So you saved me in the woods. I'm grateful for that, but I've spent this past week knowing that if your friends found your body somewhere, I was going to have to live with the fact that it was my fault for the rest of my life." Tears were streaming down her face, despite her best efforts. The salt mingled with the metallic scent of Victor's blood that was so much stronger than it should have been. The scent and the sight of it on his lips was making it hard to stay focused. Darian looked like he was about to argue, so she preempted him. “Let me finish. I know it wasn't your fault that you had to
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 47
Bella tried to force the door open, but it wouldn’t budge, so she started pounding on it. “Darian! Darian!” He ignored her, and she waited for the sounds of another fight. None came, which could only mean something even worse. There was no window in that room, and she was sure that was why Darian had chosen it. Bella took out her phone and started texting Victor furiously. No reply. “Fuck!” she seethed, throwing her phone down on the bed. Her scrawny self stood no chance at breaking the door down, but she tried anyway. She finally gave up from exhaustion when she broke the chair she had tried to use as a battering ram. And then she remembered she had the Internet. Bella took out her phone, connected to the Lodge Wi-Fi, and started searching for tutorials on how to break down a locked door. The video she found suggested a screwdriver, so she searched the room and finally found one of those steel rods used for putting togethe
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 48
The days passed in a series of repeating patterns for Bella. No matter how early she woke, Darian was already gone to do whatever it was that he did in the morning. When she felt like getting up, she headed downstairs, and there were almost always a few others in the kitchen. If it was Foster, Brendan, Jason, or Clara, she had company. If it was Clarence, they sat in less than companionable but mutually understanding silence. After breakfast, Bella would usually just hang out in the lounge area. Sometimes Sandrawould come in to sneak her homework in order to help her keep afloat in her courses just in case she survived her transformation. He would ask questions about her life at the Lodge, and she could tell he didn't understand her melancholic demeanor when she was clearly "living the dream." It was hard to keep him in the dark, especially now that she knew he hadn't been the one to enter her in the contest. Mostly, he just wanted to share school gossip th
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 49
Bella tried not to turn that pain into resentment toward Darian as he came to lead her back upstairs. His hand rested on the small of her back to steady her as he took her away from the man he no longer treated as a brother but rather as a prisoner. The basement door locked behind them, and she staggered."Do you need me to carry you?""No," she said as firmly as she could without being outright rude.He sighed. "What would you like for dinner?""Nothing. I'm not hungry."He spun her around and leaned down until they were face to face. "You have to eat something. You'll be too weak to complete the transformation if you don't."She jerked her arm away. "Fine. I'll just have what Victor is having." Darian stood up straight and watched her for a moment. He seemed to be summoning his patience. Looked like she was capable of draining even Darian's near-infinite reserves."I know you're incapable of seeing this right now, but he hurt you. He deserves a hell of a lo
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 50
"The way I'm is acting? And how exactly is that, Darian?" she demanded, standing. She planted her hands firmly on her hips and stared him down, willing herself not to give in to the shiver that was creeping up her spine. "Because all I see is you acting like a fuming child who's jealous that his older brother is getting more attention."Darian's fist clenched and for an instant she feared he really was going to hit her. Instead, he turned around and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his desk drawer. His fist enveloped the carton and he stalked out of the room. Against her better judgment, Bella followed him. The one time she had followed Jeff when he had stormed out of the apartment after an argument, she had ended up with a broken jaw. After that she learned that it was better just to cower and hide. It occurred to her that she could remember that now without the familiar hum of pain in her mind. Victor's efforts were working, just not fast enough.If there
The Hybrid Mate Chapter 51
Bella didn't care. Her fear of him was fading with every moment that passed. The moon's rays streaming through the trees were warm and encouraging. She just had to get Darian on board. "So let's go to the dungeon," Bella suggested. Her suggestion clearly took him by surprise. "Call me old-fashioned, but I don't want our first time to be in a playroom. Besides, you hate that stuff." Bella knew that telling him she'd come around to the idea of BDSM while he was gone wasn't going to help, so she tried a different tactic. She drew him in for another kiss and subtly wriggled out of his grasp just enough that she could break free.It worked. Bella darted past him and stopped to turn around, grinning at her poor, bewildered wolf. He watched her in confusion as she stepped backward down the slope of the hill the Lodge rested upon. She crooked her finger and gave him a playful look as she beckoned him. He shook his head in bewilderment, but he was grinnin
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