Page 25 of Hunt

But I can't. My mother's face flashes through my mind, her gentle smile, the way her eyes crinkle at the corners when she laughs. She's already lost so much. I can't be the reason she loses anything more, even if it means sacrificing my own freedom. My own future.

I'll bide my time. Play the obedient omega for now. But this isn't over. Not by a long shot. Liam and the rest of the pack may think they can control me, but they've underestimated me for the last time. I'll find a way out of this, a way to save both myself and my mother. I just need time to think, to plan.

With a heavy sigh, I haul myself out of the pool, water cascading off my body as I stand. Rivulets run down my skin, dripping onto the tile below. I grab a towel and start drying off mechanically, my mind still churning with dark thoughts.

As I towel the chlorine from my hair, a prickling sensation on the back of my neck makes me glance up. I startle when I see Sam sitting at the edge of the pool, his eyes fixed on me with an inscrutable expression.

I freeze, the towel hanging limply in my hands as we stare at each other in tense silence. My heart stutters then begins to race. Why is he here? Anger and humiliation war with a traitorous flutter of longing in my chest.

After what feels like an eternity, Sam rises slowly to his feet, never breaking eye contact. He takes a measured step towards me.

"Bella," he says, his voice low and controlled but with an undercurrent of something dangerous. "We need to talk."

I lift my chin defiantly even as my fingers tighten on the towel. "I have nothing to say to you, Sam." I'm proud of how steady my voice is.

His jaw clenches and he takes another step, closing the distance between us. I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. He's so close I can feel the heat radiating off his body.

"Nothing to say?" he asks, a dangerous edge to his voice. "After everything that's happened, after you just abandoned me with the Carbones without a word, you have nothing to say to me?"

I flinch at the accusation in his tone but I refuse to back down. "I didn't abandon you," I snap. "I did what I had to do. For both of us."

Sam scoffs harshly. "Bullshit. You ran, Bella. Like a coward. You left me to clean up your mess with the Carbones while you scurried back to the safety of daddy's estate."

Red hot anger surges through me and my hand itches to slap the sneer off his devastatingly handsome face. How dare he call me a coward when he has no idea the sacrifices I've made, the threats hanging over my head. Over my mother's head.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," I seethe through gritted teeth. "No idea what I'm going through, what I'm up against. So don't you dare stand there and judge me, Sam."

Something flashes in his eyes, there and gone too quickly for me to decipher. His gaze rakes over me, taking in my dripping form, the angry red mark on my cheek, the defiant set of my jaw. For a moment, his expression softens and I see a flicker of the old Sam, my Sam, beneath the cold mask of fury.

"Bella," he says again, quieter this time. Almost pleading. "Talk to me. Tell me what's going on. I can help you, if you'll just let me in."

I feel my resolve waver for a split second, the magnetic pull to confide in him, to unburden myself of the secrets and fears weighing me down, nearly overwhelming. But I can't. I can't risk it, can't put him in danger too. This is my fight. My sacrifice.

I take a step back, putting some much needed distance between us. "I can't, Sam," I say, hating how my voice breaks slightly. "Please, just... just leave it alone. Leave me alone."

Hurt flashes across his face followed by a resurgence of anger. "I can't do that. I won't. Not after everything we've been through." He steps forward again, crowding me until my back hits the wall. "You owe me an explanation at the very least. Imight not be an alpha, but Ifeellike you’re supposed to be mine. That didn’t stop just because you left."

"Sam..." I begin, my voice strained. "You don't understand. It's not that simple anymore."

His brow furrows and he grips my shoulders, his touch searing my damp skin. "Then help me understand. Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble, leaving the four of us to face the fallout alone."

I wince at the bluntness of his words, at the hurt bleeding through his anger. "I didn't have a choice," I whisper hoarsely. "The alphas, they... they threatened my mother, Sam. If I don't go through with the auction, if I try to fight this, he'll hurt her. I can't let that happen."

Comprehension dawns in Sam's eyes, followed swiftly by a fresh wave of fury. His grip on my shoulders tightens reflexively. “Excuse me,auction? What auction?”

The raw fury in Sam's voice both thrills and terrifies me. I've never seen him so incensed, his entire body practically vibrating with barely contained rage.

"The auction I was just warned about an hour ago," I say numbly, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. "Where I'll be sold off to the highest bidding alphas. To be claimed and bred for the good of the pack."

Sam's eyes blaze with a dangerous light. "Over my dead fucking body," he snarls vehemently.

He pulls me flush against him, one hand remaining on my shoulder while the other cups my face almost tenderly, his thumb brushing over the mark on my cheek. I shiver at his touch despite myself.

"Listen to me very fucking closely," he says intensely, his gaze boring into mine. "I don't care what those alpha bastards havethreatened. I won't let them sell you off like property. You're nottheirsto auction."

My heart pounds at his fierce declaration even as hopelessness claws at my chest. "You can't stop it. They'll kill you. Or they'll hurt my mother. I can't... I won't let you put yourself at risk for me."

Something wild and desperate enters his expression. "Damn it, don't you get it? There's nothing I wouldn't risk for you. No length I wouldn't go to keep you safe."

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