CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENGRAHAMI woke up angry, not the loud kind of anger and definitely not the type that shouts or punches walls. This one was heavy and quiet, but it sat in my chest like a rock, making it hard to breathe. It was the kind of anger that twisted deep inside, mixed with guilt and hurt and a voice in my head that wouldn’t shut up.I lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, letting the silence eat away at me. The sun had already risen, light streaming through the windows, warm and golden but it didn’t feel warm at least not to me.I had dreamt of Zoey.In the dream, she had come back. She had walked through the trees, her eyes soft and shining, whispering my name like it meant something. She reached out and touched me, and for one second, I believed everything would be okay but I woke up and I was alone once again.I got out of bed and pulled on a clean shirt, not bothering to fix my hair or check my face in the mirror. I didn’t care what I looked like. I
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENGRAHAMI slammed the door shut behind me, hard enough to make the walls shake.My chest heaved like I had run miles, but I hadn’t. I had just walked away, walked away from the only person who ever made me feel something real.I tore off my shirt, threw it to the floor, and collapsed into the chair behind my desk. The seat groaned under my weight, but I didn’t care. I pressed my palms to my face, breathing hard, like I was trying to calm the storm inside me, but it wasn’t stopping. It was getting worse.My heart was pounding. My hands were shaking and my mind was loud, too loud. I couldn’t think straight.She lied.She lied to me.Over and over and I was too blind to see it.I trusted her. I chose her. I let her in, let her close, let her touch parts of me I hadn’t let anyone see. And the whole time… she was hiding the truth. Right in front of my face.I felt sick.The door opened behind me.I didn’t look up. I didn’t have the strength to.“Graham,” Rona
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENZOEYHe walked away.I stood there, frozen in place, staring at the spot where he disappeared into the trees. I kept waiting for him to turn bac, to look at me one more time or to give me something, anything to hold on to.But he didn’t. He left.And the second he was gone, something inside me shattered.I sank to the ground, knees hitting the earth with a thud that felt like a punch to the chest. The cold dirt pressed into my skin, but I didn’t care. I was already numb. Nothing could hurt more than this.The tears came back, harder than before. I pressed my hands to my face, but it didn’t stop the sound. I was crying out loud now, no longer trying to hide it. The sobs ripped out of me like they’d been waiting, crawling up from somewhere deep inside.I didn’t even know what I was crying for.I didn’t know if it was because of the lies I told, the pain I felt, or the fear. It was just him. All of it, everything revolves around him.I curled in on myself
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENGRAHAMShe was standing there, right in front of me, naked in her human form and with her wild hair, skin glowing under the moonlight, chest rising and falling like she’d just run a thousand miles.But all I saw was the wolf. Frankie.It was her. Zoey was Frankie.My stomach turned. My breath got stuck in my throat, and for a second, the world felt like it was spinning around.I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I just stood there staring, my heart beating too fast and too loud. Everything inside me felt like it was breaking apart, piece by piece.She looked just as shocked as I felt. Her lips parted, her eyes wide, and then she whispered, “Oh shit.”That was all it took for something inside me to snap.I stepped back like I’d been burned. “You,” I said, my voice shaking. “It’s you. It’s been you all along.”Zoey didn’t speak. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.And suddenly I was furious.“You lied to me,” I said. My v
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVEZOEYAs soon as the door shut behind me, I dropped to the floor.My knees couldn’t hold me anymore. I folded into myself, arms around my middle, trying to hold it all in, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stay strong and continue to hide the pain anymore.The tears came fast, hot and messy and painful.Everything I’d been holding back since it happened poured out. The fear, the shame, and the helplessness. It clawed at my throat until I was gasping for air between sobs.Even when I found out that Kelvin was cheating on me, I didn’t cry as much. It didn’t hurt me as much as this did. They had touched me, hurt me, overpowered me and I had done nothing. I let them.I tried to be quiet, pressing a hand to my mouth to suppress the cry of pain, but the sound still came out, a broken, trembling whimper that filled the room like a ghost.I hated this feeling. I hated being weak and I hated that Graham saw me like this. That he looked at me like I was fragile.I wasn’t
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENZOEYThe hallways were quiet when I got back. A few guards passed, nodding at me, but fortunately no one looked at me too closely. Maybe it was the hoodie, or maybe they just didn’t care enough to pay close attention to me.My body ached with every step I took, it felt like my knees would give up at any point in time. I could taste blood in the corner of my mouth, the side of my face throbbed badly, and I knew, knew, I looked like hell, but I kept walking with my head up high like everything was okay.I needed to make it to my room. I had just a few more steps left. I’d clean myself up, hide the bruises ans pretend like everything was fine. I’d pretend like they hadn’t touched me and pretend like I hadn’t felt helpless.I turned the corner that led to my room, and froze. Graham was there.He was leaning against the wall outside my door, arms crossed over his chest, like he’d been patiently waiting for me to come.He sensed my presence, his eyes locked on