Chapter Eighty There
Chapter Eighty Three
She took a few moments of hesitation before she finally answered.
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“Yes. I did just that. I knew that if you weren’t away, somewhere Thane would never find you, then I’ll lose him–of course he won’t expect you back at your previous pack, so he would be searching anywhere else. I wanted you as far away from here as possible and that had been the only way to achieve that.”
“Why?, Beatrix”
“Why!” she called out a bit louder. “You want to know why?” she questioned again. “Because I had been here all along, standing by his side, I had done everything, been everything, just to prove to him that I was fit to be his Luna. I gave my life into this, and I finally thought I was so close to achieving this, but you came in and everything changed, Riley. He went all those miles away, just to get you–a conimon wolf like you–over me! Over every single able she–wolf in this pack, it feels like an insult, a fucking slap on the face.”
“You are not his mate; I am. What is your problem?”
“My problem is that I am certain you are not his true mate, yet, for some reasons, he picks you over me; even when I had thought you lost him, he went right back to you. I can see him slipping out of my fingers, and it hurt so bad, it hurt that I am about to lose all I had ever worked for. I was ready to give him anything–everything, but he wanted less–he wanted you.”
“As much as I feel very sorry for your pain, I really cannot relate.” I respond, I wasn’t helping and maybe I should never have tried doing so.
She stood to her feet, gripping me by the shoulder, and I staggered backwards, reminded once again of how strong she was. “Tell me, tell me what you hold against him; I would do any- fucking- thing. You just have to tell me. What the hell are you doing to him?”
“He loves me, and that is something you cannot get.”
“Impossible; Thane can never love you; he doesn’t do love.”
“Was that what he told you? Because he told me very differently when we were in bed.” I say and I could tell that got to her, I must have been convincing enough because she did believe
- me.
“You fucking bitch!” she growled, slamming me against the wall.
A small smirk formed on my face. I was playing a dangerous game, but it was all finally making sense.
I
“He made you pay for betraying me, didn’t he?” said, finally realizing what got her all riled up.
Tears formed in her eyes, and she let go of me. “I’m sorry, please forgive me; I didn’t intend
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Chapter Eighty Three
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on getting physical,” she says, and I almost feel pity for her–almost, but not quite yet. “He made me pay, in the worst way,” she says.
And despite myself, I wondered how exactly he made her pay. I hadn’t thought Thane punished her; I thought Beatrix was on a different level, a different lane, but of course, Thane was just that unpredictable.
“What happened?” I asked
“Oh, I know you would want to hear about that,” she said, a small, sad smirk forming on her quivering lips. “He had spent a long time with me; those days were the best. I thought he had ended things with you; it felt that way, and I thought I had won. But he had only done that to prove to me how worthless I was. He stripped me of my title as a commander–I spent years… years working for that, but he took it all away, just when I had thought my life was all perfect,” she cried.
After I had been punished for trying to escape, Thane had been away for a week. I knew who he went to, but the reminder that he had shared a bed with her–even if it had just been an act- still filled me with jealousy. But then… he had taken her title from her. I had thought they were so close friends, and yet he had done that… just for me.
“You could move on; Thane has a mate now, and trust me, there are so many men out there that would be dying for a woman like you,” I said to her. I hadn’t said that just to comfort her; it had been partly out of possessiveness. I wanted her to move on from Thane because he belonged to ‘me‘.
“You don’t seem to understand; it had always been Thane; for so many years I don’t think of any other,” she says, and I don’t know what she expects from me. 1
“Do you… do you love him?” I asked; that hadn’t occurred to me. I had believed girls like her would do anything for power; love was second place in the game, and it didn’t really matter. But staring into her eyes now, I saw differently; I saw through her, and I didn’t like what I saw.
“Yes. Yes, I love him. Even if he keeps on hurting me, even if he never seems to see all the sacrifices I had already made and am still willing to make for him, I still love him, and it hurts, but I know there would never be anyone else for me. Riley, please understand this.”
