Chapter 40
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The woman lying unconscious on the hospital bed was someone I never thought I’d see again. Someone I’d hoped to never see again.
it I’m being completely honest,
Seraphine Ashworth.
Even after all these years, even with her face swollen and bruised beyond recognition, I knew it was her. The same perfectly straight
blonde hair, now matted with blood.
The same sharp cheekbones that used to look down at me with such disdain. The same small scar above her left eyebrow that she’d gotten
when she tried to fight a senior girl who’d told her she wasn’t pretty enough for Tristan.
Seraphine had been my senior in high school, two years older and infinitely more confident than I ever was. She’d made my life a living hell for months, all because she had a massive crush on Tristan and he didn’t even know she existed.
I never told Orion or Tristan about what she put me through. It seemed like such a silly girl thing compared to the real problems they were dealing with – pack politics, training, preparing for their futures as leaders.
How could I complain about mean girls and stolen lunches when they were learning to protect our entire community?
But Seraphim’s torment had been relentless. She’d slam my locker shut on my fingers, “accidentally spill drinks on my homework, spread
rumors that I was sleeping around with human boys.
Once, she’d cornered me in the bathroom and told me that freaks like me didn’t deserve protective brothers, that if I didn’t stay away from Tristan, she’d make sure something really bad happened to me.
–
The worst part was that Tristan never even looked in her direction. She was pretty enough – all the boys in school thought so – but something about her desperation seemed to repel him.
Maybe he could sense the cruel streak that she hid so well from adults, or maybe he just wasn’t interested in someone who tried so hard
to get his attention.
Did they end up together later? Had she finally worn him down after I left for London? But that didn’t make sense either. It wasn’t her picture plastered all over Tristan’s apartment – those belonged to some mysterious woman with dark hair and kind eyes that I’d never been brave enough to ask about.
–
It wasn’t the fact that Seraphine was the one lying on the bed that made me speechless, though. It was how she looked.
She looked like someone who’d been hit by a truck, then backed over for good measure. Her face was a canvas of purple and black bruises, her lip split in two places, and her left arm was in a cast that suggested multiple fractures.
There were finger–shaped bruises around her throat that made my stomach lurch with recognition.
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Chapter 40
I turned my gaze toward Tristan, and he nodded grimly, letting me know my horrified thoughts were absolutely correct.
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“Her mate did this,” the young pack member said quietly, his voice filled with disgust. “Left her for dead behind the packhouse. If Lucius
hadn’t been doing perimeter checks…”
I felt the blood drain from my face. Her mate had done this to her. The person who was supposed to love and protect her above all others
had beaten her nearly to death and left her broken body like garbage.
I felt a sharp pain on my heart.
The machines around her bed beeped steadily, monitoring vital signs that were apparently stable but fragile. She had tubes in her nose helping her breathe, and the IV in her arm was delivering what looked like a significant amount of pain medication.
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R Visitor
is it Victoria or seraphine, Daxon or dixson…
7 days ago
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
