Page 28 of In My Closet

Swallowing my nerves, I scrambled out of bed to rush over to him. Only, I never did make it to him.

My feet were swept from under me, sending my body to the ground—hard. I swear, my brain rattled in my head on impact with the ground. Spots blurred my vision the moment my head hit, dazing me enough for whatever had a hold of me to drag me away from Valphan without much of a fight.

A rancid breath hit my face, causing me to gag slightly at the nauseating stench. "Shame, I was hoping you'd be ugly to make killing you easier." The room around me spun with the adrenaline surge that spurred my body into a flight-or-fight response.

Instinct took over with the adrenaline haze. I didn't even care or see who I kicked and thrashed against as long as it meant I got away and into Valphan's arms. My struggle didn't last long; an excruciating stab to my sides caused my body to freeze up with a throat-scratching scream.

"Or maybe I should keep you until you break." The voice above me cackled as I sobbed under it.

"Let her go! She has nothing to do with this!" Valphan was only a few feet from me but sounded miles away to my pounding ears.

"An eye for an eye, Gatekeeper." The raspy voice grew closer to my face, making my stomach churn with every heavy hit of his putrid breath. "You took away what was mine, so now I will take away your mate as revenge."

Valphan's aggressive voice shouted back at the being atop me. "That's not how this works! You and your wife broke the rules of nature set upon this realm by God and Lucifer, so punishment needed to follow. I didn’t do what I did out of spite or other personal reasons, nor did I set out to torment you with my actions. What you are doing is not equivalent to my actions back then!" The room shook with a loud bang, like someone slamming against a door.

Everything faded over the next few seconds as the pain dulled out to nothing because of the shock. Coldness gripped and dragged my body down to unknown depths as my screams of pain faded into the background.

I thought maybe this was the end of the line for me, given how cold everything felt and how I floated in an endless darkness, until something warm drew me back from the depths of death. However, I wasn't sure how to feel when my heavy eyes finally opened, and I saw some beast-like creature crowding my space.

My mind instantly went to the events before I blacked out, causing adrenaline to surge through my veins again. Much to my surprise, the creature didn't fight back against my thrashing, unlike before. Instead of the anticipated retaliation, the creature further shocked me by slumping itself against me with a whine.

It didn't crush me under its weight or anything, though. More like it used its body to pin me so I'd cease struggling. Strangely, the slight weight paired with the warmth and firmness of its body was rather calming with how its body rumbled against me with its… Purr? Growl?

Also, it sounded crazy, but something about this wolf-like creature felt familiar. Its smell, like freshwater or snow, and its silky, soft golden brown-blonde fur reminded me so much of my other half.

Letting my body slacken underneath the beast, I slowly turned to look at the closet. Much to my horror, Valphan was nowhere to be seen, which made me go back into a panic mode.

"Valphan! Valphan!" My small body struggled to free itself from under the beast, to no avail. "Valphan! Please, where are you!?" My worst fear of finding his body lifeless deep in the closet somewhere surfaced the more time passed without an answer from him.

Then, this stupid beast on top of me got more annoying because it kept preventing me from going anywhere. Annoyance quickly turned to anger the more I glared at the beast; the thought of this beast possibly being responsible for Valphan's disappearance ground my nerves the wrong way.

So, deciding to be stupid, I directed my emotions at the beast, lashing my hands against its head and back. "Get off me, you stupid hairball! I swear, if you did anything to Valphan, I'll turn you into a rug!" Probably won't make good on that threat because I'm pretty sure the thing would gut me way before I even get a chance to reach for the knife.

"Gracie, cupcake, it's alright. I'm here."

And now I'm hallucinating. Great, just fucking great.

I didn't see Valphan anywhere, yet I clearly heard his voice. It definitely wasn't in my head either, with how clearly it projected into the area.

"Can you please stop hitting me? It's rather annoying."

Yeah, that time got me to stop real quick as the realization hit me.

With my hands slumped against the beast's back, I hesitantly move my eyes over to search for its eyes… His stormy grey eyes filled with a familiar warmth and affection.

"Fawny?"

Chapter 18

Valphan

Waking up to my mate in my arms felt like home.

Until reality shat in my face.

"I would say 'good morning,' but I'm mad at you," Gracie grumbled with her back turned to me as the two of us lazed around in her bed after waking. "All this time, I could have had a big, cuddly werewolf boyfriend to snuggle and pet and spoil…"

Is she fucking serious?

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