Page 18 of Hunt

I clench my jaw, trying to ignore the way her taunting words make my blood boil with a primal need to claim, to possess. To mark her as mine for all to see, especially that hulking Russian asshole.

"Jealous?" I scoff, aiming for nonchalance even as my pulse pounds. "Of what? You spreading your legs for every alpha who gives you the time of day?"

The words are cruel, deliberately calculated to wound. And they hit their mark. I see the flash of hurt in Bella's eyes before she blinks it away, her mask of icy disdain slipping back into place.

"Fuck you, Dante," she spits, shoving past me towards the door. "You lost the right to ask me about anything the second you believed their lies. It was so easy for you, wasn’t it? It’s like you wanted me to be a double agent."

I grab her arm, stopping her in her tracks. She glares up at me, defiant even as I feel the tremble that runs through her. "I'm not done talking to you."

"Well I'm done listening," Bella retorts, trying to yank free of my grip. "Let go of me!"

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on here," I growl, tightening my hold. "Why are you training with these assholes? What are you and your pack up to?"

“My pack?” she laughs mockingly. “I stupidly thought you were going to be my pack. For just a fucking minute, I thought maybe I found a pack I could actually trust. I thought you were smart enough to see through the lies they spin. But once again, I was fucking naive.”

Bella's words cut deep, slicing through my anger and leaving behind a throbbing ache of regret. I loosen my grip on her arm, suddenly feeling like the biggest asshole on the planet.

"Bella, I..." I start, but she cuts me off with a sharp shake of her head.

"Save it," she says coldly. "I don't want to hear any more of your accusations or half-assed apologies. You made it perfectly clear whose side you're on. And it's not mine."

She tries to walk away again but I move to block her path, desperation clawing at my throat. I can't let her leave like this, thinking I don't trust her, that I don't care. Even if it's safer for her to believe that right now.

"Just listen to me for a second," I plead, holding up my hands. "Please. I know how this looks, but it's not what you think."

Bella crosses her arms, her jaw set stubbornly. "Oh really? So you didn't just burst in here like a jealous knothead and insult me? You're not assuming the worst of me, just like everyone else?"

I wince, knowing I deserve her scorn. "I...I was out of line. I shouldn't have said those things. But you have to understand, from where I'm standing, it looks pretty damn bad. You're here training with the enemy, getting cozy with that Nic fucker..."

Bella lets out a harsh laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. "Getting cozy? Are you fucking kidding me? Nic is the last person I'd ever get 'cozy' with. He's a tool, a weapon my father uses to keep me in line."

Her blunt words make me pause, uncertainty creeping in. "What do you mean?"

She sighs heavily, some of the fight draining out of her. "Nic has been with the De Lucas for years. He's loyal to them, not me. My father assigned him to be my trainer, my handler. To make sure I don't step out of line or try to run. Yeah, Nic and I fucked when we were younger. Don’t act like you didn’t have a line of omegas outside your door."

Anger shoots right through me. “Except I didn’t, remember? I didn’t fuck omegas. Not after Sage…”

The memory of our old omega hits me like a truck. The first and only male I ever loved. After him, I swore off omegas. I swore off pussy and dick and love and affection and everything else. Everything but violence and hatred.

Bella's expression softens slightly at the mention of Sage. She knows how much he meant to me, how deeply his loss scarred my heart. But then her gaze hardens again, the momentary flash of sympathy vanishing.

"Well, good for you," she says flatly. "But some of us didn't have that luxury of choice. I did what I had to do to survive in this fucked up world my family created."

I feel a surge of frustration at her words, even as a part of me knows she's right. Bella never had the same freedoms I did, never got to make her own choices. She was born into this life, molded by it from the very beginning.

"You think I don't know that?" I snap, running a hand through my hair agitatedly. "You think I can't see how trapped you are, how much your family controls you? But damn it Bella, I'm trying to help you! We all are!"

Her dark eyes flash with a mix of anger and something else, something raw and painful. "Help me? By accusing me of betraying you? By treating me like I'm the enemy? Some fucking help that is."

She starts to turn away again but I reach out, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to face me. Her skin is hot to the touch, slick with sweat from her training session. I can feel the coiled tension in her muscles, the barely restrained fury and hurt radiating off her in waves.

“Save the excuses, Dante. Run back to your fucking brothers and tell them that I’m done. I’m done with you all. The blows keep coming from every fucking side, and I honestly don’t know how much more I can take before I bow out.”

Taking a step forward, my heart lurches. “What the hell does that mean?”

Her brown eyes darken, their sparkle dimming. The side of her lip tilts up sadly. “I think you know what that means, Dante. I won’t live like this forever. That’s a fucking promise.”

CHAPTER 10

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