~Grace~
Desperation drives me to my feet. I need to get away from this place.
I wait until the sound of his heavy grumbling fades into the distance before I dare to move. My lungs still burn with every breath, but I force myself upright. There is no way I'm staying here like some loyal hound waiting for its master.
I scan the room, my eyes landing on a heavy iron fire-poker. It's a pathetic weapon against the beast, but it's better than my empty hands. I shove a few of his shirts into a small backpack—they'll practically be gowns on me, but they will cover.
From how scanty the house looks, it is obvious he rented it out recently.
After a frantic search through his drawers, I find two gold watches and a few currency notes. I grab some dry bread and cookies from the stash, then slip out the door.
At the very least, I have to get out of this forest, and then I'll figure out my next plan. I have nothing with me except what I collected and sheer determination not to be a beast's sex slave. I have my whole life in front of me, and honestly, it's for the best that I leave the pack. Away from him and the troubles of my pack.
To do what, I don't know, but I have a lot of walking to do and a lot of time to think about it.
I slowly head in the direction opposite where the warrior has gone. Pain lances through me with every step.
Everything hurts, and I have to move so slowly I know it will take me hours longer than it should. I am limping, unable to put much weight on one side of my body. My injuries haven't perfectly healed either, and the fight earlier triggered them more.
Every step brings me closer to collapse, and I realize I haven't eaten or drunk anything for days. None that I remember. As if in protest, my stomach growls.
What did I do in my past life to be this unfortunate? All I want is somewhere I could belong, with people who cared for me. A place where I wouldn't live in fear of hatred or the next beating I might get.
There are no other houses nearby, not even in the far distance. I am just limping in the middle of a forest, trying not to collapse. An arrow flies above my head and I freeze, my heartbeat fluttering as I look around, my eyes wide.
Two wolves melt out of the forest, seemingly out of nowhere.
I lift my hands, trying to show I am not an enemy, but they leap at me in unison, knocking me over. They circle me, growling and snapping to make sure I don't try to run.
Then, one of them shifts to Leo.
"Don't shout," he whispers, placing a hand over my mouth.
I am not going to, anyway. Not when I am running away from Sucre.
My nod seems to relieve him, because he lets me go and sits on the floor opposite me.
Leo's black hair is disheveled, and his eyes are puffy with dark circles, as if sleep has been a stranger all night.
"So, I asked your mom your name. She said your father planned to call you Grace. Grace Cooper—it's a cute name, I must say."
It takes him this long to even find out my name. No one has ever called me by a name in my twenty-one years of existence.
My father, who doted on me so much, would call me his little pumpkin, but after I turned seven and the incident that led to Emily's dead... fake death, I've only been referred to as a "brute" or "hey" by those trying to be nice to me.
"I came to save you from that monster. I recently heard he escaped from his prison and you are not safe with that man," he says, reaching for my hand. I flinch, my fingers scrambling for a fallen branch to use as a weapon.
He shouldn't underestimate me, because I will hit him and kill him if he does as little as lay his filthy fingers on me.
Leo's shoulders slump, and he runs a hand through his hair, his eyes looking at the bright sun and then down at me. "I'm worried about you, Grace. Gosh! I don't even want to imagine how he forced himself on you."
A harsh laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it.
"I mean it, Grace. I care about you. But there's no future as a Luna with a non-shifter. I know you think I chose Natalie over you, but it's not what you think."
Natalie... So that's Emily's new name. I blink rapidly, fighting the burn of tears, and stagger to rise to my feet. Leo rises as well, his hands catching my shoulders with a desperation that feels a lifetime too late.
"I miss you, Grace," he says, his voice breaking. "I don't know what my life would be like if something happened to you."
I scoff. "You miss me? You sentenced me to die by hanging. You treated me like a fucking animal, Leo. And now that I've managed to survive, you miss me?"
But oh well, he can't hear me.
His sorrow vanishes, replaced by a familiar, rigid tension as his jaw clenches. He reaches for me again. This time, I don't pull away. He is using the mate bond to his advantage.
When his fingers brush my skin, sparks race up my arm, a cruel betrayal by my own senses. I hate myself for the way my body still recognizes him.
"It's just... quiet without you, Grace," he whispers.
For a heartbeat, I let the lie settle. I imagine a world where he was simply under a spell—where Emily was a poison and not someone he chose over me. I try to find the man I used to love.
But then I remember Emily's cruel, triumphant smile. I remember Leo's indifference.
Leo's eyes darken. He moves in, his thumb tracing the curve of my cheek. I hate the way I lean into him. Like a bad, fucking habit I can't break.
"I want you," he breathes against my skin.
I'm tempted. It would be so easy to just stop fighting. To let him kiss me and pretend this all never happened. I hate him. God, I hate him.
But I miss him, too. Because he was once my everything.
"Come back with me," he whispers against my ear, his breath warm and sickening. "I will make you my first concubine. I will give you a new identity. No one will ever find out about us. Not even Natalie."