Perry
“Okay,” Arnold says nonchalantly.
I flinch when her wolf pushes up against her skin, hurting her the way she’s hurt her. Maria cries out as she gets on all fours. Whatever she’s eating comes out violently from her mouth. I look away, knowing exactly what it’s like to have that happen. Waking up in the hospital after Darren’s death was the only thing that saved my life. I wanted to die, and my body had time to recuperate a bit from being under after the miscarriage. It was the most painful thing I ever experienced and I had to live with that shit for five years.
“Maria-”
“Shut up!” she cries out. “Just shut the fuck up.”
“How is this my fault?” he scoffs.
We all groan at the same time.
“You’re an asshole.” I hear Phoebe say.
“How is this your fault?” she growls out painfully. “This never would have happened if you hadn’t fucked up our son! You ordered him to kill me, you son of a bitch. And now what?” She doubles over in pain, and for the first time in my life, I see him actually react. He steps to her wanting to comfort her but the asshole doesn’t quite get there and he’s able to shake it off. “And I’m just supposed to forgive you?”
“I never asked you to forgive me,” he has the audacity to say. “Nor will I ever. Our son did exactly what was expected of him, more than I could have predicted.”
Rage fills my chest, and my eyes get watery because those were the same exact words my father said to me when I confronted him about what he had done to me and all of my siblings.
“He’s not a fucking experiment, Arnold. He’s my son,” she stands, despite the evident deterioration her body is going through. “You have no fucking idea! None! He has been all alone because of you, because of that order. It’s been years since I’ve been able to properly hug my son without him scaring me up. You ruined everything.”
“I gave you everything,” he shouts, finally giving in to the anger we all know is in there.
The man fell in love with her and then just watched her make a new life without him with her fated mate, like it was nothing. All I would have taken was a little bite because, as much as I hate to admit it, Jonas is right. At some point, maybe even now, she was in love with him too. How could she not be? Arnold Knight is a bad ass.
“What exactly did you give me, you piece of shit? Trauma?” She throws up again, and i don’t mean to laugh. “This?”
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“You are one of the most powerful and influential Lunas in the world, Maria. Isn’t that
what you always wanted? You had a good life at the side of your fated mate. I let you go so you could have more,” he snaps.
“Aww,” Phoebe coos. We all roll our eyes.
“Eat your pasta.” Knight scolds her.
“I love this show,” Lillies laughs. “I can’t wait to send it to Violetta so we can watch it again.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I growl. “All of you.”
“I was in love with you,” she says quietly. The resignation in her voice catches me off guard. I think it also takes Arnold by surprise because he straightens up, unable to look at her. “I didn’t want anything or anyone else. I just wanted you. I loved being in your ranks. The training and fuck, even the killing.
“Knight didn’t just lose his father, Arnold. I don’t know what I did to deserve you betraying me the way you did. Because you betrayed me! You forced me into submission for this fucking man that never took me seriously. Reduced to a fucking Luna no better than a fucking breeding machine! Why?” she screams that last part, and I swear, for the first time since meeting her, I feel some sympathy. It makes me think of my mother and what my father did to her. She died thinking she was going to be with him in the next life. “Why did you do that to me?”
Arnold lets out a heavy sigh and crouches down in front of her. Her eyes are dark from this angle. She’s a mess. Her eyes are flashing from red to black as the wolf inside of her undergoes every feral stage all at once. He smiles, and I swear I’m watching Knight on the monitor. He’s going to say one thing to her, and she will have to forgive him. There is no other way out of shit like this. I went through this with Darren over and over again. It was toxic and filthy, but it was us, and I always forgave him.
“You made me weak,” is all he says. “This is going to happen one way or another, Maria. Say yes now, and I will make the pain go away, or I’m going to tranquilize you, extending your feral state for days.”
The few seconds of silence feel like an eternity.
“Why are you here?” she asks him. He stares at her, watching the blood drip down her face. “Tell me and I’ll let you bite me.”
“Maria-”
“Tell me you fucking coward!” she shouts.
“I’m here for you. You’re mine. You’ve always known that.”
“I fucking hate you.” she starts to sob. He grins, cupping her face to wipe away the blood.
“No, you don’t.” he leans in and kisses her.
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121
“Turn it off,” Knight demands. “Perry turn-”
Arnold scoops Maria up and takes her to the gazebo to sit on his lap. He buries his big hand in her hair and exposes her neck. He pauses, staring down at her. She’s not fighting him, but he is one hundred percent fighting himself. He knows that he’s about to damn her the way I did Jonas when I let him mark me. He had just bought me, and I couldn’t care less if he rotted. My heart is breaking for him–the man we’ve all hated for so long. We really became our parents in the end. Repeated all their mistakes and then made them fucking worse.
“Please,” she chokes out, and it’s all the confirmation he needs. I let out a sigh of relief when he bites her. I cut the feed and rest my hands on my desk.
“That was worth all the time we wasted here.” Jordan clears his throat. “Excuse me, I
am going to make sure my mates both feel very worshipped tonight.”
Lillies snorts and moves out of his way when he picks up Bunny, who didn’t wake up at the sound Maria made when Fredrick died. She follows him out, and I stay where I am, letting what just happened sink in.
He did it. That motherfucker did everything he ever set,out to do. Does he feel better about any of the shit he was put through? Was there closure or anything that made it all worthwhile? Does he think what he’s holding in his arms was worth all that pain and every sacrifice he had to endure to get there?
“Perry?” the King calls out to me. I look back at him. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I nod, deciding it’s better if I don’t get an answer. “That just hit a little too close
to home.”
“Right?” he chuckles. “Come on. I also want to make sure my mate feels worshipped tonight.”
