by N J Adel
“Belle…”
“Just sleep. You can keep your boxers on.”
“Just sleep?”
I nodded. “I just don’t want to be alone with my head tonight. I’ll feel safer with you around.”
CHAPTER 27
BELLE
The familiar buzz of my alarm woke me. Crap. I forgot to turn this thing off for good. It wasn’t like I was going back to that university of hell any time soon. Not with the devil himself as my boss. I couldn’t just waltz in, pretending it was all a hallucination. Besides, Damien only hired me because he was after my soul—and pussy.
A shudder ran through me, but I luxuriated in the delicious sensation of waking up with Kayden’s massive body serving as both my pillow and my bed. He smelled so warm, so good. The heavy weight of one of his arms slung across my back, the fingers of his opposite hand curled around my thigh—as if he’d fallen asleep while holding me and never let me go.
I knew I’d slept like a baby in his arms, after that orgasm.
Speaking of orgasms, hello, morning semi-erections. His huge thingy peeked from his boxers and rubbed at my thigh. It was tempting to do stuff I wasn’t supposed to, but I had to respect him as much as he respected me and his brother.
I dragged myself out of bed, my inner devil, not Damien, whispering foul thoughts in my ears. The things I would do with that cock. I was dying to taste it, see how much of it I can put in my mouth before it fucked my throat.
Fuck manners.
I shook my head as I took one final glance at Kayden before I yanked my gaze to the windows. The sunlight flooded the room. Why the hell hadn’t I bought those curtains yet? I hoped the sun wouldn’t wake Kayden. He looked so peaceful.
The bed creaked under him. “I love you, Belle.”
My heart skipped a beat. I spun at him. His eyes were still closed. His breathing gained its sleep rhythm back.
He must have been dreaming when he said it. My heart fluttered at the sweetness. “I love you, too,” I whispered. “All three of you.”
I was in love with three men. No, three beasts.
I didn’t know which part was worse, the fact that my heart was split three ways or that my lovers were werewolves and vampires.
The answer came loud and clear in my head.
Neither.
Beasts or not, I was in love with them, and they loved me back. That put a smile on my face. Nothing that terrible could make someone this happy, right?
What was terrible was me having only twenty-two more years to live.
That was what I should have been worrying about, and the fact that I had to choose one of my three beasts to spend those remaining years with by Halloween.
To think I’d come to Forest Grove to leave all my worries and problems behind and finally have peace away from monsters…
My shoulders slumped as I walked out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. I washed the sleep off me, and when I came out, Kayden was in the living room.
I jumped. “You spooked me.”
“Sorry. Good morning.” His gruff voice was raw with sleep and full of masculinity. It went straight to my pussy.
“Good morning. You need the bathroom?”
“To wash my face, nothing else.”
I laughed under my breath. “And maybe pee. You look like you need it.”
“No, baby. That’s all you. Get used to it if you ever ask me to sleep next to you all night again.”
He moved past me, his front brushing against mine, and a delicious shiver ripped through me. “Sorry, your place is so tiny.”
I heard him chuckle in the bathroom as I plopped on the nearest seat. Looking down, I saw my nipples through my nightgown. If we stayed like this—I in the thin thing, him in boxers—what he was avoiding last night could be inevitable now.
I donned a robe and a fresh pair of underwear that would soak up pretty soon. “You put my potential mates on a timeout, yes?!”
“Yup!”
I tied the robe and headed back to the armchair. “When does that end?”
“When your blood is clean.” He got out of the bathroom, his face and hair dripping water on his naked chest. “Do you have a towel? I’d have loved to use yours, but I didn’t want to without asking you first.”
That was so intimate. “You can use it.”
He vanished into the bathroom, and I smiled.
“Coffee?” He came back all dry.
I nodded. “About the timeout, I get that Alec must listen to you because you’re Alpha, but why would Joshua? He comes from a different clan.”
He didn’t answer and entered the kitchen. “You seem to know so much about clans for a skeptic, for someone that passed out when they saw a shift.”
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of information I have.”
“Where did you get it? Your porn books?”
I giggled. “Yes.”
The smell of hot coffee nourished my senses as he emerged into the living room. He handed me a cup. “You’re asking about Alec and the leech because you miss them or your pussy does?”
“Both. If I turn into a shifter, I’d be a bunny instead of a wolf. My sex drive certainly supports that conclusion.”
He sipped at his own cup. “I thought you’d make a cute lemur.”
“What? Is that because of my big eyes?”
“Yup. They go so big when you’re staring, it’s so cute.”
Hearing that word coming from this face, out of this body sent more giggles out of my throat.
“What’s so funny?”
“You said cute.”
He looked at me, perplexed. Then he shook his head and grabbed the jeans he left on the floor last night. “I’m going to get us some breakfast. I bet you’re hungry.”
My stomach growled on cue. “Starving. But how are you going out like this? Don’t you need a shirt or something?”
“Not in Forest Grove.” He winked at me as he buttoned his jeans. “It’s not like I can wear any of your blouses anyway.”
As he headed out, he stopped in his tracks and leaned on the front door frame. “Is it weird that I’m not jealous?”
“Of?”
“Alec and Asher. The way you want them. The way you want the three of us.”
“Not to me.”
He smirked and shut the door behind him.
Oh, Kayden, why do you have to be so dreamy?
I wished the other two would have been as levelheaded as this wolf. Especially, when they knew how I felt about having to choose.
I went over to my phone and checked my messages. I’d found two from Detective Magnolia. She was assigned to my case from the beginning. Had they set a verdict date already?
Coffee filled my mouth as I tapped to listen. “Professor Ferro, this is Detective Magnolia. I’m afraid I have some bad news.” There was a pause, and an ominous chill ran through my body. “Montgomery has escaped…”
I choked on my coffee, my eyes bulging painfully in their cavities. She was talking some more, but I couldn’t listen. Swiftly, I threw my phone on the table, grabbed the TV remote and switched it on the News.
A reporter stood opposite to my old house with a red strip under her.
Beast Escape before Verdict.
“Professor Declan Montgomery, known as the Beast from the Beauty and the Beast domestic violence case has escaped last night…”
The reporter’s voice droned. Every rational thought torn apart. Only desperation left.
I hurled my cup across the TV. Brown liquid spilled on the smashed screen, the cup in pieces all over the room. Terror shredded me open, ripping a scream from my throat.
I was a sobbing wreck on the floor when Kayden came running through the door. “Belle!” He’d thrown the bags in his hands and collected me into his arms.
“He’s out. He escaped. He’s out.” I trembled. Quaked.
He looked around for a second, and then he hugged me closer. “Oh, baby. Baby, no. You’re safe. As long as we’re here, you’
re safe.”
I shook my head in a manic frenzy.
“Look at me! Look at me, Belle.” He cradled my face in his hands. “He can’t get anywhere near you. We’re here now. He can’t hurt you.”
Kayden couldn’t stop what was hurting me. All that pain. All that agony that wouldn’t leave me be. Nothing could.
Mindless panic took over me again. I had to get away. To never let that monster find me. Screaming, I lurched out of Kayden’s grip for the open door. Dashing over one flight of stairs after another, I leapt down and down until I landed on the sidewalk outside my apartment building. Then I sprinted away from the horror that awaited me, as if running fast enough and far enough would stop it from ever catching me.
I crossed to the woods, Kayden’s shouts after me. The trees lashed at my face, the dirt digging under my toenails as I ran. It wasn’t long before I’d collapsed, and Kayden was on top of me.
“Please, baby. You can’t be that afraid of that fucker, not when we’re all here for you. The whole pack not just Alec and I. Even Asher. We can protect you. From anything.”
“Where were you when I needed it?”
“You know we couldn’t or—”
“The devil would have me. Well, I have news for you. The devil did have me, Kayden. For ten fucking years. And now he’s back for me.”
CHAPTER 28
BELLE
Forest Grove police officers swarmed in my apartment and around the building. Joshua sat with me while they kept telling me not to worry and they had it under control.
Kayden and Alec stood against the living room wall, arms crossed over their chests. I’d told them to go before the police asked them for a justifiable reason they were at my place. But the wolf twin had invited over their bear brothers and told the police they could all help patrolling the neighborhood.
“Your students really care for you, Professor Ferro,” one of the officers had said. I couldn’t decide whether he was being nice or just mocking me.
Even if he was one of those people I was afraid would turn on me if any rumors had spread about me screwing around, I didn’t care. The monster was already out. The worst had happened. I had nothing more to fear.
Detective Magnolia had flown to Oregon and arrived at my place around nightfall. I didn’t know what hour exactly; it was hard to look at clocks when time was another monster moving slowly and rapidly at once. Every second fell heavily as it delayed the inevitable or brought me closer to my awful destiny.
“A police car will be outside your building at all times. An officer will escort you to campus, too,” she said.
“No need. I’m not going back to work,” I replied, my mind spiraling.
“Sure. Take a few days off—”
“I’m not going back. Ever.”
“You just started your job. Why would you say that? Did something happen?”
I exchanged a glance with the boys.
“Did Montgomery threaten you while he was in jail? Did you know anything about his escape?” she pressed.
“What? No! Why are you interrogating me?”
“I’m not.” Her voice softened. “But, Isabella, if you know anything, you have to tell me. Anything at all can help us capture him and put him back where he belongs.”
“I’m not going back to work because my boss is the devil, and I’m sick and tired of working with monsters from hell, not because I know anything about Declan or his escape.” I darted to my room before I’d explode.
I felt as if I was shattered into a million volatile pieces inside one vessel, awaiting to erupt. When I’d no longer be.
No more Declan. No more cursed blood. No more devils.
Just peace.
“Why did she say her boss was the devil? I’m sure you know something. If you’re really looking after her, you must speak.” The detective’s voice reached me clearly, not even muffled behind my closed bedroom door.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have said anything.
I stood by the door in anticipation, only negative hums echoing.
“Professor Asher, you work with Isabella closely?” she asked.
“I do,” Joshua answered.
“Have you noticed any change in her behavior in the past week or so?”
There was a pause and then a sigh. “A couple of days ago, she was agitated. Then she stopped coming to class.”
What the fuck?
“Have you contacted her to know the reason behind that?”
“Listen, Detective. Sexual harassments aren’t easy to prove. Especially, when the woman is involved in a case such as Isabella’s. She didn’t want to say anything or press any charges. It’s her word against his. She couldn’t risk the fuss another charge would create. With the verdict coming out in a few days, she chose to remain silent so she wouldn’t jeopardize anything.”
I threw my head between my hands and cried. Why would he say this shit now? Did I really need to start another war…with the fucking devil?
A grunt.
Another sigh.
Silence.
Why isn’t anybody saying anything no more?
“Thank you, Professor, for your time,” she said.
That’s it?
Looks like I was worried for no reason. Thank you, Joshua, for your lie. It shut her up.
A knock on my door made me flinch. “Isabella?” she called out.
I rotated the knob slowly and met her gaze with weeping eyes. “Yes?”
“Stay strong, Professor. You’re in good company here. We won’t stop until we find him, and you’re safe again.”
CHAPTER 29
JOSHUA
Three weeks had passes, and the son of a bitch hadn’t shown himself yet. The police were getting tired. The patrol car was pulled out. Even though the fugitive was never found or captured trying to escape borders, the police strongly believed he didn’t break out of prison to come after Isabella; he escaped because he was guilty and only wanted to flee the country, if he hadn’t already.
I didn’t care about the police leaving. We were more capable of protecting her than any human.
I, alone, was.
But to tell her she didn’t need any shifters around was only going to add to her distress. They made her feel safer when they were around. That was all that mattered.
We worked as a hive around her, in harmony as though we were best friends, not eternal enemies— even the brown bears got along with us— and she was our queen.
A tired and sad queen.
My gaze drifted to her as she stood by the bay windows of her bedroom. She still looked so damn beautiful, but I hated to see her like this. Hollows in her cheeks. Her clothes hung off her body loosely as if she had been on one of those trendy diets. A diet might carve away the softness in her cheeks, but it sure as hell didn’t put those shadows in her eyes or give her the haunted, hunted look she couldn’t manage to conceal.
That bloody Montgomery had been consuming her from the inside out for the past three weeks. I wished she could have understood that whatever he would do, it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t get anywhere near her. If he even thought about it, I would take him out in no time. I would be there to help her through whatever she was going through. We all were.
Yet nothing had convinced her to stop being afraid. He had tampered with her mind severely. The psychological tricks he had worked on her were worse than magic. She needed a lot more time to heal than what was given to her.
“Admiring the curtains, Professor?” Alec joked—bragged.
Kayden slapped the back of his twin’s head. “Not because you bought the fucking curtains, you get to mention them every five minutes.”
“Quit picking on each other.” She dropped the edge of the curtain. “As much I love your taste, no. I’m cursing at the ass of the last officer walking away. How could they leave like that? Declan must be watching, waiting for them to leave so he can pounce.”
“They weren’t doing much. We’re better off without them.” Alec left h
is brother’s side on the floor and stood.
“Yeah. They’re full of shit. I can’t buy that the fucker didn’t escape to have Belle back.” Kayden rose, too, and they both flanked her as she walked to her bed. “If you had given anything with his smell, we would have tracked him down for you and brought him to his knees at your feet.”
“I didn’t take anything when I left, not even my old clothes. I didn’t want anything to remind me of him or my old life,” she said.
“I just don’t understand why he hasn’t made a move yet? It doesn’t make any sense,” Alec said.
“Psychological warfare.” Isabella swallowed and glanced at me as I leaned against her dresser. “He’s failed to kill me the last time he tried. Now he’s doing it slowly, until I break and go find him myself to beg him to stop.”
I straightened up. “That will never happen. Not on my watch.”
Alec glared at me. “Not on our watch.”
“I told you to stop picking on each other. That includes Joshua,” she said.
“But—”
“No buts.” She wet her lips as she lay down on the bed. The wolves set pillows behind her back and sat on either side of her. “Look, there’s something that I need to discuss with you. I’ve been putting it off for so long with everything that’s happening, but now is the time.” She held Alec’s gaze. “But you have to promise me to stay calm and understand that this’s really how I feel and what I want.”
He held her hand. “Anything you want is yours, sweetheart.”
“Our sweetheart,” I retorted.
“That’s precise. This is exactly what I want to say.” She glanced at Kayden for a few moments, longer than usual. Then she held his hand.
His lips shivered. “Belle.”
“No,” Alec growled and darted off the bed. “You can’t… This is…” His fists clenched and unclenched. Then his fingers turned into claws.
I blurred to stand between Isabella and him. “Hey, you need to calm down.”
“Stay out of it, Parasite. This is between me and my fucking brother.”
Kayden jumped in front of me and held Alec’s shoulders. “You need to listen. Nothing happened. I never betrayed you. It’s not what you think.”