Page 147 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

My back hit the back of the desk painfully as I struggled against the blade that was inches away from my heart. My lower back spasmed in pain, but I couldn’t give into it. I’d lost everything, and now I was fighting for the life of my unborn pup. It couldn’t end like this. All the sacrifice, the tears, the struggle to be happy.

Coyo lent me her strength, and I recalled the training Brenda gave me growing up. I brought my knee up, connecting with sensitive flesh. The dagger was released and I plunged it into my attacker with my uninjured hand. He reared back in pain and I pulled it out and plunged it in again, finally forcing him to still.

I slid down to the floor, my hand covering my mouth as I finally allowed myself to look at Brandon’s body. My mate was dead. I was alone and with a pup on the way.

I struggled to stand, the wound on my shoulder trying to mend itself, my back screaming at me in pain. My injured hand slipped on the hardwood floor covered in blood, making me drop to the floor again with a cry. I crawled toward the body, pulling the blade out of our attacker and plunging it back into his heart. Once I was sure there was no threat to us anymore, I let the tears fall from my eyes, wetting my shirt as I moved to cradle my mate’s head in my lap and sob, calling out for my brother to help me; to make this nightmare end.

A sudden sharp pain rippled through my abdomen. Coyo’s howl as I felt blood soaking my pants was deafening, as was the sob that tore from my throat.

‘Bells, wake up.’

I looked around the room as I heard my twin’s voice. Sobs wracked my frame as I looked down and I was now holding Cade’s body in my arms. His body was still warm, blood was spilling from a wound on his neck. I took his hand in mine.

“Come back to me. Please. Come back. I need you. Cory help me!” I screamed out the last part.

Cade’s eyes open suddenly. “I thought you loved me,” he gasped before the light left his eyes.

‘BELLAROSE GRACE SALONEN, WAKE UP!’

I sat up in bed, pain shooting through my heart as the dream refused to let me go.

‘Bells, I’m here. Talk to me.’ My twin’s voice was a source of comfort I was trying to hang onto.

‘Cory?’

‘That’s right. It’s just me. You’re safe. That night is over.’

‘Cory, I—That night—’

‘It was a year ago, Bells. You’re safe. Nothing like that will ever happen again.’

‘But—’

‘You’re going to be alright. This is the first one in a month. They’re going to go away one day and you won’t have to think about it again. It will just be a memory.’

I sobbed at his words, hoping they were true. After I was done talking to Cory, I left my room, intending to go to Cade’s. But, I heard movement from Violet’s room and ducked back inside my room. I choked back a sob against my locked door and crawled back under the covers, wishing everything would just disappear.

A few minutes later, I heard a light knock on the door. I got up to open it, wondering what was happening. Cade was standing in front of the door, looking down the hallway.

“No one saw me. Can I please come in?”

I took him by the hand and pulled him inside, wrapping my arms around him before I even closed the door.

“I missed you, too, but let me close the door,” Cade chuckled. I heard the door click shut and his arms wrapped around me. “Goddess, Princess, you’re shaking. What’s wrong?”

Cade picked me up when I didn’t respond and laid us down on the bed. I sniffled as I buried my face in his neck. Cade held me close, rubbing soothing circles on my back until I finally fell back asleep, nightmare-free.

I woke up first, which was unusual. I never woke up without an alarm. Cade was sleeping next to me on his stomach, onehand reaching out to touch me, resting on my hip. He looked so blissfully young and unburdened this way.

What was I going to do when he left? He was supposed to get an answer on the offer to the property yesterday, but the call didn’t come. He’d been working hard over the last few weeks, organizing contracts for building houses and a pack house the moment the bid was accepted and the keys were handed over. All he needed was a yes, and his world would right itself, while mine would be in danger of crumbling without him.

Last night was just further proof that I’d gotten too attached when I shouldn’t have. It didn’t get lost on me that I hadn’t had a nightmare since we started sleeping in the same bed, and on the first night alone, it came back with a vengeance. Was it really any wonder why I didn’t want my family to know I was fucking another alpha that was going to leave me soon?

I left the bed myself as carefully as I could. I needed to put some distance between us. I still had a pack to run after he was gone, and I needed to be ready to do so. I showered and walked down to help Charles and Lindsay with breakfast. I was early, but they had a schedule now and I knew what was needed. Elim and Adrien found me there a while later, chopping like mad as I worked through my thoughts.

“If you chop those mushrooms any smaller, you should just use them to make me a beef Wellington,” Adrien joked.

“How did tonight go?” I asked, not in the mood to laugh at his jokes.

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