บททั้งหมดของ Bite: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

I jolt awake. For a second I can still feel those flames licking my skin, still hear my mother’s voice, binding me to Axel. But then the feeling fades, and all that’s left is my creaking mattress, my small room, and the scent of Hunter on my sheets. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real, and my brain made it all up. It can’t be. I bolt out of bed and check the time: 7 am. I still have two hours before school starts. “What the fuck is happening to me?” I mutter, tangling my hands in my messy blonde hair. “Olivia?” Hunter’s sleepy voice catches me off guard. I whirl around to find him laying at my desk, one tired eye open to stare at me. Last night hits me like a truck: the kiss, him touching me, us falling asleep. If it was any other day, maybe any other person, I’d be super shy, but this is Hunter, and that dream has made me too jittery to think about our intimate moment. He opens his second eye, assessing me, “are you okay, Livvy?” The nickname calm me down, but not

Another day, another message from Clarissa. I don’t even check my phone because I can guess what she sent me: a peek of her boob, a selfie with her bare ass in it, her eyes batting at the screen as she belts her naked chest with one hand. Whichever picture she uses, it’ll always be the same message beneath it: I miss you. I can’t even be free from her here, in the CrestRidge house. Two weeks ago, I’d have been banging on her bedroom door at the first nude. But today? I just feel on-edge, like something very bad is unravelling. Every selfie she sends is desperate, disordered; her mascara done in a hurry, her lipstick a mess, her eyes red-rimmed. She isn’t okay, and I know it's because of those bonds she foolishly made on a random school afternoon. I can’t keep sleeping with another pack’s mate, even if I’m doing it for Talon. But how do I know Everest has taken all the pictures/videos of Talon down? Every time I ask, Clarissa denies he’s done it, but at this point, I feel like she

I’m in a house. Not Alpha Rick’s forest sanctuary or Lycroft’s brick walls, but a run-down, dilapidated building; windows shucking off their hinges, the floor scattered with empty bottles and decay, and children—so many children—running. Screaming. Crying for parents who aren’t going to answer them. This is Ryker’s dream. “Wrong place, darling.” His cool voice echoes in my ear. I look around, but I don’t spot his golden curls anywhere. “Where are you?” I whisper, desperate to catch a glimpse of green, amused eyes. “I can see you, but it’s like I'm just watching you and this memory from a distance.” His voice goes uncharacteristically small. “Goddess, I haven't been in this house in years.” There’s nostalgia in his voice, muffled under sadness. This memory doesn’t make him happy, but something about it makes him long to be here. “Ryker,” I start softly, “where am I?” He’s quiet for a moment, then his voice smooths back to his usual slightly arrogant, slightly flirtatious tone.

As the others plot, I head to the basement.It’s full of gym equipment ready to take a beating. My mind is reeling so much that I smash a fist into one punching bag the second my eye catches it.I don’t bother with gloves. I need the sting of my raw knuckles scraping against the bags.The first punch feels good, like I’m knocking out all the frustration I don’t allow myself to feel. But by the third and fourth, I’m fuming.I hit the punching bag again and again, allowing it to rattle from its ceiling hinges. I don’t stop to rest or wipe the sweat plastering my curls to my forehead. All I can see in my head is my old house, my siblings I’ll likely never know, and all the messes I keep putting myself and my pack in. Sometimes, I don’t know who I am without being everyone’s burden.My knuckles break open, blood spattering on the bag, but all that does is push me to continue. Pain is good. It reminds you you’re alive.I’m punching and grunting for Goddess knows how long before the baseme

Everything in me is itching for a drink. I need the bitter bite of whiskey burning down my throat, churning in my belly, turning my brain into the right kind of slop that can forget everything that’s happened to me. My hand shakes over another textbook, sick of this searching. Hunter left the library a few minutes ago to check on Ryker, Liana, and Olivia, and my mind never does well alone. If I could just sneak down to a bar… “No,” I mutter, touching my lips. I still feel the tingle of Olivia pressed there. I will not play with the life she gave back to me. The clack of Liana’s combat boots stops at the entry to the library. “You okay, Darlington?” I straighten. Because even though I’m never okay, portraying the prim and proper Darlington everyone expects is always my top priority. “Fantastic,” I manage, before turning to her. “What are you doing here?” She cocks a pierced brow and fondles a random book close to her. “Enjoying the literature, obviously.” “Liana,” I dea