Kidnapped by my mate by Annie Whipple
Chapter 71

BELLE

Liam had shaken Laila awake after we had pulled into the parking garage of his apartment building. She was confused but didn’t argue when Liam asked her to stay the night on my account.

She was so tired that when we made our way into his apartment, she immediately plopped down on the living room couch and fell back asleep.

I walked through his apartment in awe. “You live here alone?” I asked.

His place was nice-very nice. It was huge, with a full kitchen and a large living room and dining

room.

To my left was a long hallway that I assumed led to multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. I couldn’t help but notice this did not look like the home of a twenty-something-year-old.

It was too neat, too mature, and way too big for one person. It also didn’t evade my attention that Liam had pressed the button for the top floor when we were in the elevator.

He lived in the penthouse, his living room facing out over an incredible ocean view.

Liam sighed. “I know. It makes me look like a rich as shole.”

“No! No, that’s not what I meant,” I rambled out quickly, pulling my eyes from the incredible view to meet his gaze. “It’s just…” I looked around again. “It’s kind of ”

“Big. And fancy,” Liam finished for me. I was surprised to see a frown on his lips as he also examined his apartment. “I didn’t pick it. My dad got me this apartment for my eighteenth birthday.”

That made me pause. Exactly how much money did this dude’s family have?

“Wow. Eighteen,” I mumbled. “Isn’t that kind of a slap in the face? ‘Happy birthday, son. Move

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out.’

Liam tried to smile; it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Eighteen wasn’t soon enough if you ask me. I would have gotten out of his house years before if I could have.”

I suddenly felt bad for having brought the subject up. There were obviously some touchy feelings surrounding Liam and his dad.

Trying to move the attention to something else, I said, “Well, where do you want me? I would sleep on the couch, but it looks like it’s already occupied.”

1 smiled at Laila, who was drooling all over Liam’s nice leather sectional.

“I have a guest room that you can stay in. Follow me,” Liam replied.

The room he led me to was just as nice as the rest of the place. It had a queen-size bed, a dresser with a TV on top, and a closet.

It was decorated in neutral colors, all grays, whites, and blues, and had floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the beach. It even had its own bathroom.

“Wow,” I breathed. “This is amazing.”

Liam nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked uncomfortable. “Yeah, well, it’s all yours.”

Just standing in this pristine room was starting to make me feel incredibly inadequate in my dirty clothes. I hadn’t even taken a shower since leaving Grayson.

“Are you sure you’re okay with a stranger staying in your extremely nice apartment?”

“I insist. Just don’t steal or break anything, and we’re good.” He eyed me, grinning. “You seem like the stealing and breaking type.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Thank you,

Liam. Seriously. You have no idea what a lifesaver you are.”

Liam smiled softly. “No need to thank me. I’m always happy to help out a damsel in distress.”

I hated that he could call me that and that it actually applied and made sense. The last thing I wanted was to be dependent on someone else.

“Do you need anything? Soap? Toothbrush?” Liam asked.

“Some soap and shampoo would be great if you have it.” I set my stuff down on the floor at the foot

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Being in this pristine room made me realize just how dirty I was. I hadn’t had the opportunity or motivation to shower since leaving Grayson. “Is it okay if I use your shower?”

Liam nodded. “Of course. Can I get you some ibuprofen too?”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Besides the fact that you have a black eye and keep holding the side of your neck like someone stabbed you in your carotid?”

My face heated. I hadn’t realized I had been that bad at hiding the fact that I was in pain.

“Um, okay,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” Liam replied as he walked to the door.

“Hey, Liam?” I asked him right before he left.

He turned to me.

“I’m Belle, by the way.”

His lips turned up. “It’s nice to meet you, Belle.”

***

I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

And then the dreams started.

I was in a field of red poppies, the wind rustling my hair and the long, white dress I was wearing. It was peaceful here…serene.

But for some reason, I wasn’t calm. I was on edge, my heart fluttering frantically against my rib cage like a captive bird. Something felt…off.

I whirled around, searching, although I wasn’t sure what for. All I could see were poppies, an ocean of red and green. They were everywhere, surrounding me and traveling far past the h orizon.

Clouds rolled over the sky, blanketing the sun and making everything suddenly very dark. I could

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I whirled around, searching, although I wasn’t sure what for. All I could see were poppies, an occan of red and green. They were everywhere, surrounding me and traveling far past the h orizon.

Clouds rolled over the sky, blanketing the sun and making everything suddenly very dark. I could barely see ten feet in front of me.

My panic grew, forcing me to run forward, pushing flowers out of my way as I tried to find my way out of the overwhelming sea of poppies.

But no matter how far I ran, I was stuck, trapped in this never-ending field.

Movement caught my eye. I turned. Two small lights were glowing bright red in the distance, nearly blending in with the flowers. They were low to the ground and moving closer to me.

I squinted, trying to make out what they were through the darkness, but it was nearly impossible.

I took a step forward. Then two and three. Something was pushing me closer to the moving lights. I had to know what they were. They were getting brighter and easier to see in the pitch-black darkness.

It was about ten feet away from me now. I realized with a start that the red lights weren’t actually lights at all. They were eyes. And they were connected to a low-roaming beast. A wolf.

Panic speared the walls of my throat and clogged my windpipe. I recognized this wolf. It was huge -nearly the size of a horse and covered in thick midnight black hair. It was Grayson’s wolf.

I should have found comfort in that fact. Even when Grayson was horrible to me, his wolf was not. His wolf had always wanted me, always cared for me.

However, if his dark-red eyes and prowling, evil mannerisms were any indicators, this was not the wolf I remembered.

It bared its teeth at me, growling deeply, keeping low to the ground, never taking its eyes off of me.

Grayson’s wolf was hunting me.

Without another thought, I turned and began running in the opposite direction. I stumbled over flowers and the bottom of my long dress in a panicked sprint.

The pollen of the surrounding poppies traveled up my nose, congesting my lungs to the point that it nearly felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I looked over my shoulder, my heart beating in a blur against my rib cage when I saw Grayson

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I looked over my shoulder, my heart beating in a blur against my rib cage when I saw Grayson chasing after me, staring me down with his determined, malicious blood-red eyes.

I had no doubt he was going to catch me–and soon. He was toying with me right now, allowing me to run ahead even though we both knew he was more than capable of reaching me whenever he

wanted.

Was his plan to tire me out? Or maybe he was enjoying making a game out of me?

My abrupt feet got caught in the flowers, causing me to stumble and fall to the ground. I let out a shrick of terror.

I turned onto my back and watched in horror as the wolf stood on its hind legs and then started to morph into something else. His bones cracked, and the skin of his face stretched and tore open.

Within seconds, a human was standing over me. Grayson was looking down at me with a natural grin, one that took up his entire face.

His eyes

still burned red, unlike the usual deep green or black I had become so accustomed to.

“Grayson,” I gasped. “Please don’t.” I wasn’t even sure what I was begging for.

6

His smile only grew at the sound of my whimpering voice. And that’s when I noticed them. There were long, pointed fangs peeking out from underneath his curved top lip.

“You can’t escape me, Belle,” he said. The voice wasn’t his own; it was wispier and sounded more like one long hiss.

He pounced on me.

I woke up screaming. My entire body was shaking and covered head to toe in dripping sweat. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest. I couldn’t see anything.

Was I still in the field? Was Grayson here to kill me?

My mark was burning so hard I could have sworn it was on fire, and my head was pounding as if someone was repeatedly hitting the inside of my skull with a hammer. My stomach rolled, filled with nausea.

My muscles ached.

Suddenly, the door to the room flew open. Liam came running in, followed closely by Laila.

“Belle!” Liam yelled. I could tell he had just woken up. He was wearing only pajama bottoms and

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“Belle!” Liam yelled. I could tell he had just woken up. He was wearing only pajama bottoms and had an alarmed, befuddled look on his face as if he had been shocked awake.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay! It was just a dream! It’s okay!”

I realized that I was still screaming. But I couldn’t stop. The intense terror coursing through my body made it impossible. My lungs begged for air that I was incapable of giving them.

When Liam tried to approach me, I screamed louder, pressing my body back against the headboard in an effort to get away from him.

Someone grabbed my hand. Laila was on the other side of the bed from Liam, looking down at me with wide eyes.

When I tried to pull my hand away from her, she just held on tighter, then placed it over her chest so I could feel her heart beating beneath my palm.

My eyes met her golden brown ones. My screaming faltered.

“Breathe,” she whispered. She took in a deep breath as if to demonstrate, her chest rising and falling under my hand. “You’re safe, Belle. No one is going to hurt you. Just breathe.”

I listened. Air filled my h o arse throat and traveled to my grateful lungs.

“Good,” Laila said calmly. She continued to breathe with me, grounding me once again.

My mind cleared until I remembered where I was and what I was doing here. I was at Liam’s apartment, thousands of miles away from Grayson. Grayson wasn’t here. He couldn’t hurt me. It was all just a dream.

After a few more moments, I was finally calm enough to speak. I looked from Laila to Liam. “I-I’m sorry,” I whispered. I wiped at the tears that were streaming down my face. “Bad dream.”

Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Then Laila laughed under her breath. She sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay now?”

I nodded, running a hand through my messy hair. I couldn’t help but wince at the pounding in my head. “I’m okay. I-I’m really sorry to have woken you guys.”

I glanced out the window. It was still extremely dark out. “What time is it?”

Laila pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. “It’s three in the morning.”

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I winced. I was a terrible house guest. “I’m really sorry, you guys.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for–”

“What the f uck was that?” Liam asked me, interrupting his sister and shocking me with the abruptness of his question. “I thought you were being murdered or something. Has anything like that happened before?”

I shook my head. “No, never. I…I think it was just a dream, but it felt so…real.”

“It was a night terror,” Laila explained. “They can feel really real. They’re usually a sign that a person has been through trauma.”

Both of them looked at me expectantly, obviously expecting some sort of explanation. As if I was going to walk them through my traumatic past in the middle of the night.

“I’m okay now, I promise,” I said instead. “I’m honestly just more embarrassed than anything else. Really, I feel awful I woke

you

both up. You

guys should go

back to sleep.”

They exchanged worried glances.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Liam asked. “You’re clutching your neck again.”

I dropped my hand from Grayson’s mark. I hadn’t even realized I had been holding on to it.

“I’m fine,” I said once again, setting my hand down at my side.

“Do you want one of us to stay here with you?” Liam asked me. “In case something like that happens again?”

Laila nodded. “I would be happy to stay here with you, Belle.”

My cheeks reddened. I was starting to feel like a little kid who was afraid of the dark. “I think you guys have done enough for me already, but I appreciate the offer. I’ll be fine sleeping on my own.’

It only took a little bit more convincing before they both begrudgingly agreed to leave me alone and warily started to leave the room.

Liam paused in the doorway, looking back at me. “I’m right down the hall if you need anything, okay?”

I nodded, giving him the best smile I could manage. “Okay. Thanks.”

He nodded once, then pursed his lips. “You want me to turn off the light?”

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I was about to say yes but hesitated. “Would it be okay if we left it on?” I asked. So maybe I was a

little kid afraid of the dark.

“Of course,” Liam replied, taking his hand off the switch. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

He gave me one last worried glance before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

As I laid my head back down on my pillow, Grayson’s words from my dream ran through my head over and over again.

No way I thought to myself. “You can’t escape me, Belle.”~

***

I got up extremely early the next morning. Unsurprisingly, I hadn’t been able to fall asleep again after my nightmare last night.

The entire night had been spent tossing and turning, trying to get Grayson’s face and voice out of my head. It was like he was haunting me.

I knew he would laugh if he could see me. He would find joy in the pain and turmoil he was still causing me.

Every horrible thing he said to me, every lie he had ever told me, kept playing in my mind on

repeat.

What did I do in my past life to get stuck with you? I didn’t even realize how pathetic a human could be until I met you.

Can you not do anything right, you f ucking bit ch?

The only reason alphus want their mates is for the power they give them. You are here to bring me pleasure and power. That’s it.

And worst of all, “I am physically incapable of causing you pain.”

What a lie.

Pushing those thoughts away, I quickly got up and made the bed. I couldn’t just lie around anymore. As exhausted as I was, I had to get up and get moving. I had to go find a job and a place to stay

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It had to be around five in the morning. Hopefully, Liam and Laila were still sleeping, so I could just leave them a note and sneak out of here without causing them any more trouble.

Once my backpack and suitcase were packed, I quietly made my way out of my bedroom and into the living room. I was wary of the fact that Laila was probably still asleep on the living room couch.

I paused when I looked at the couch and saw it was empty.

“Good morning,” a voice said.

I jumped and let out an embarrassingly high-pitched screech. I whirled around, coming face to face with Laila. She was leaning on the kitchen island, a mug of something steaming in her hand.

Her lips turned up in a smile. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” she said.

I let out a held breath and glanced to the hallway I had just come from, hoping I didn’t wake up Liam with my scream.

“Don’t worry,” Laila said, following my line of vision. “Liam won’t be awake for at least three more hours.”

I shifted my weight uneasily, feeling awkward. “I was actually just leaving.” I pulled my backpack

shoulders. straps tighter around

“Would you tell your

nightmare thing.”

my

brother thanks for letting me stay here? And sorry again about the whole…

Laila waved a dismissive hand. “What’s the rush?” She walked over to one of the cabinets and took out another mug. “Do you like coffee? I’m sure you could use it after the night you had.”

I watched her uneasily. Coffee did sound good, but I had already decided to catch the earliest bus out of there so I could continue my job hunt. “That’s okay. I should really get going.”

Acting as if I hadn’t said anything at all, Laila grabbed the coffee pot and filled the mug up to the brim. She glanced at me. “You need a job, right?” –

My brows tugged together. Had she read my mind? “Uh…yeah.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” She pushed the cup of coffee across the island so it was in front of me. “There’s this diner just outside of town that I know for a fact is in need of a new ‘waitress.

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“I’ve heard the guy who owns it is kind of a jerk, but it could be what you’re looking Interested?”

“Really?” I asked. I took a step forward, my heart beating anxiously in my chest. “That would be incredible. How did you hear about it?”

“Liam and I eat there a lot. It’s one of the only places around here that our dad doesn’t own. We go there to get away from watchful eyes and listening cars.”

“So your dad owns basically all of Evergreen, then?”

Laila nodded, taking another sip of her coffee. Her eyes looked far away. “Everything and everyone, it feels like.”

I hesitated. “Is he like…the mayor or something?”

She looked back at me. “Basically, yeah. Might as well be.”

So he was the reason I couldn’t get a job in Evergreen. “Well, thanks for telling me about the job. You have no idea how much that helps me out.”

Laila leaned back on the counter behind her. “Glad to help.” She smiled sweetly. “I can drive you there later today if you want. I have nothing else going on.

“We might want to wait an hour or two, though. I don’t know what time it opens.”

I finally joined her at the island, sitting on one of the stools. I wrapped my hands around the mug. “I would love that. Thank you. Truly.”

Feeling a bit more relaxed now that I had somewhat of a plan, I let myself take a sip of coffee.

Laila studied me for a few seconds before her smile grew. “It’s nice to hang out with you, Belle,” she said softly.

I was starting to really comprehend just how opposite Laila and her brother were. Liam was loud and energetic, whereas Laila was quiet and calm. They balanced each other out.

I smiled back. “Yes, it’s nice to hang out with you.”.

“You know,” Laila continued, leaning her elbows on the counter in front of her, her mug still in her hands, “now that we know you’ll probably be staying nearby, I would love it if we could be friends.”

“Friends?” I repeated. I had never had a girlfriend before. I had never really had any friends before.

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*087% 15:47 “Friends?” I repeated. I had never had a girlfriend before. I had never really had any friends before. Not since I was little. I hadn’t had the time after my dad got sick.

“Yeah, if you want. Everyone in this town is either boring or a two-faced liar.” She wrinkled her nose. “Or they got out of here and went somewhere better. Unfortunately, I’m stuck here. Liam too.”

“Stuck here? Are you kidding?” I glanced around the incredible apartment that had been provided by her obviously very rich father and out the living room window overlooking the absolutely incredible

view.

“Evergreen is beautiful. I would love to live here.”

“Trust me, it’s not as amazing as it seems. It might look like this incredible getaway on the outside, but on the inside…”

She shook her head as if she were trying to clear away a bad memory. “Just…not everything is as it seems around here.”

“Oh,” I whispered. “Well…anything is better than the place I came from.”

I could feel the way Laila’s gaze traveled over the large fading bruise that was still taking over half of my face.

“Yeah, I bet.”

I expected her to ask more questions but was extremely grateful when she didn’t push. Instead, she walked over to a kitchen cabinet next to the sink, grabbed some ibuprofen, and handed it to me.

She didn’t ask if I wanted it. Just simply handed it over, followed by a glass of water.

“Thanks,” I murmured. I didn’t argue before swallowing the pills.

We spent the next hour or so chatting. I learned that Laila and Liam were basically like royalty in Evergreen. The Blackwoods were the hierarchy, and their dad was the king.

Laila didn’t act like royalty, though. In fact, it seemed like she didn’t really enjoy talking about her father or all the money her family had, just like Liam.

She was extremely nice. She made me feel comfortable and never pressured me for information about my past.

In fact, she was so sensitive about what she was saying that I had started to suspect that Laila might have had her own past.

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There was this sort of dimness in her eyes a look that told me something else was on her mind, haunting her.

“Wait, you can’t be serious.” I laughed.

Laila giggled with me. “I wish I weren’t. This scarred me for life. Can you imagine? Liam and, like, eight of his friends-in custody at the police station, all soaking wet and only in their underwear.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s horrible! How could they do something so st upid?” I asked, unable to hold back the large grin taking over my face.

“I asked them that same question. It was one of the hottest days of the year, but still, we live on the beach, for g od’s sake! There was no reason for them to use the country club’s pool.

“And then to strip down and accidentally lock themselves in there without clothes? They were just being idiots, I swear.”

Someone groaned behind us. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

I whirled around, seeing Liam standing at the hallway entrance, looking at us both with a pained expression on his face.

Laila grinned. She popped one of the grapes she had stolen from his fridge into her mouth. “Nope.”

Liam shrugged and approached us, stealing the grapes from Laila’s hand and taking them for himself. “It wasn’t even my idea. Anous is just an a sshole.”

I nearly choked on my coffee. “You’re friends with someone named Anous? That can’t be real.”

He tossed a grape in his mouth. “Oh, it’s real all right. He gets sh it every day. Apparently, it’s a family name.”

“The worst family name ever,” Laila added.

“Like I said,” Liam continued, “Anous is an as shole.”

I laughed so hard that, for a second, I forgot all about Grayson and the pain I was in. It was nice.

I wish it could have lasted forever.

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