Page 61 of The Wolf's Bullied Bride

They were all men, dressed in black from head to toe. Their faces were covered as they raced over to me, making me tense in my seat.

I couldn’t make a sound or move a muscle, not while they moved so quickly and hardly gave me the chance.

When my mind finally caught up, I sucked in a deep breath to muster up a scream, but a hand clamped over my mouth before a sound could come out.

“Not this again,” the person behind me muttered.

Just as the cloth registered in my thoughts, I inhaled, and the room began to spin.

There was nothing but streaks of pale color until it all vanished, blending into patches of black before it consumed my vision entirely.

The commotion died down, blurring until there was nothing left.

Chapter 26 - Liam

On most days, a workout could fix just about any problem I had. But something was different this time.

Too many conflicting emotions were moving through my head, and I couldn’t even begin to reconcile with any of them. Before, it had been my overwhelming feelings for Cora that felt like too much to handle at times, but after everything, it didn’t seem to compare.

While that longing was still alive and fighting for a place at the forefront of my mind, I couldn’t ignore the obvious blip in all of it. How she found no issue in digging up my past problems the moment she had a gripe with me.

Her attempts to ruin me put me in the worst danger I had ever been in, and while I could’ve turned tail and run out of town without another word, I forced myself to stay long enough to consider my options.

Even if I was devastated by what she had done, I didn’t want to completely write off my future in Rose Valley. I didn’t want to think that we were completely over.

Pushing through my set on the bench, I couldn’t help but think about her.

Everything had been going so well, yet it went down the drain so quickly. The day changed in a way that I hadn’t expected, yet there was nothing else I could do but try to push forward.

I still didn’t want to believe that Cora was somehow able to contact The Triplets, or that she was determined enough to even follow through with it.

Regardless of her doubt about writing the article or spreading the information about me, the very fact that she put herself in the woods that night, prepared to meet with the Gleason’s, was true. She had every intention of talking to them in person, and there was something unspeakable about it.

A part of me wanted to blame Cora entirely, but I couldn’t. It was all only possible because of how furious I made her. Because of how badly I hurt her with my actions, part of that blame rested on my shoulders.

If I hadn’t given her a reason to hate me so much, then she never would’ve sought revenge against me in the first place.

I was sure there were things we would both take back if we could. I felt like an idiot for ever rejecting her. For concealing and ignoring my true feelings rather than trying to better understand what it meant.

Before, I wanted to believe that it was just nothing. That my feelings were just a harmless crush and I’d eventually get over it one day. But as time went on, it felt farther from the truth. I wanted to think I wasn’t capable of loving anyone, and by pushing everyone—including Cora—away, I wouldn’t have to confront the reality of it.

There was something special about her, and I wasn’t ignorant enough about mates to assume I was immune to having one of my own. Based on how, no matter what happened, we always ended up in the same place, stuck together regardless of the circumstances, I was willing to bet we had that connection with one another.

Which only made the pain of it harder to bear.

If only I had trusted myself and my emotions, things likely would’ve gone much smoother. We could’ve skipped the unnecessary fear, pain, and deceit and jumped right to the part where I apologized for being nasty as a kid.

I wanted to believe that was how easy it could’ve been, even if it was far from reality.

But daydreaming about what could’ve been would never fix things. Only I could do that, so long as Cora wanted the same thing.

I hoped that with time, and after figuring out what to do about The Triplets, maybe then the wound would close, and we’d have a genuine shot at better understanding what was going on between us.

Regardless of how many sets I pushed through or how much I tried to sweat it out, my mind was just as jumbled, and it seemed like nothing could put me at ease. Nothing but Cora.

My wolf was practically pacing within me, telling me over and over again that it was her. She was the one I needed, and no matter what, it would always be that way.

But that restlessness seemed to grow as I stopped what I was doing and tried to zero in on that feeling.

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