Chapter 81

Hannah’s POV

“Were you ever going to tell me?!” I asked, storming into our bedroom.

I paused at the door when I saw Sebastian’s half-naked body standing before me. My heart stopped in my chest and my breathing got caught in my throat. I stared around his broad torso, remembering the events from the night before. My face flushed from the memory of his arms wrapped around me; his lips kissing every corner of my body.

I wanted to drape my fingers through his hair and kiss him all over the place. My heart was fluttering just thinking about it. I felt the heat rising in my face, illuminating my body and I making me feel like I had just come out of a sauna.

“I wanted to wait for the right time,” he said, keeping his tone low and even as he stared around my reddened features.

I blinked a few times, bringing myself back to reality and out of my trance. I swallowed hard, pulling my eyes away from his chest and meeting his blue gaze.

“Caroline is dead…” I whispered; I wasn’t trusting the full extent of my voice at that moment. “She’s dead…”

“I’m sorry,” he said, lowering his gaze slightly. “I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

“How did it happen?” I asked. “Who killed her?”

“Magnolia,” he told me.

Of course, it was Magnolia. I should have known.

My heart tugged painfully as I thought of Caroline dying at the hands of that monster. She must have been so frightened and so alone. I haven’t spoken to her in so long; she was one of my first friends since arriving at the palace; the first person I had trusted. I hadn’t spoken to her since before I left for Bluemoon; she was such a good friend to me, and I was a terrible one to her.

I should have checked in with her more; but instead, I traded her for Raya.

Raya who was currently back in Bluemoon dealing with her demons head-on and I don’t even know if she’s okay.

Caroline has been dead, and I had no idea that it happened.

Tears were threatening to spill from my eyes as I stumbled backward and towards the door. I leaned against the door to keep my balance because I thought I was going to fall over. My heart lay so heavy in my chest that it was weighing me down and throwing me off balance.

Sebastian looked like he wanted to leap toward me and catch me. I met his eyes again; I couldn’t believe he had known this information and he didn’t tell me. He let me rest easy last night without the knowledge that Caroline was dead.

We had a night of passion, and he didn’t once mention this to me. I couldn’t help but feel a certain level of betrayal. It’s like we take one step forward and two steps back. One minute I think he’s this terrific misunderstood, and trusted guy; the next minute I’m not sure I can trust him and can hardly look at him.

“Valerie says you found her body in the living quarters… was she…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence; I choked back tears as I thought about the scene. My imagination was taking over my mind.

“She was tormented by Magnolia’s wolf,” Sebastian told me, keeping his eyes steadily on mine. “She had scratch and bite marks all over her body. She was drained of blood when we found her.”

“We?” I asked.

Valerie said she showed up after Sebastian had already gotten there; who else was there with him when he found her?

“Raya and Arnold were here as well,” Sebastian answered.

My eyes widened and a sob escaped through my lips.

“They left for Bluemoon over 24 hours ago. You’ve known about this that long?” I asked.

As I looked at him, it was like staring at a stranger.

“You were healing,” he said gently. “I didn’t want to disrupt that.”

“Caroline was my friend…” I whispered, my words quivering as my body trembled violently.

“I know,” he said in return. He took a step toward me, but I flinched away. I didn’t want him near me right now. I didn’t want him to touch me; I didn’t even want to look at him. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt completely disgusted. “I just need space…”

“Space?” He asked with a frown; he narrowed his eyes at me. “What kind of space?”

“Space from you…” I told him as more tears escaped from my eyes. “I need space from you.”

“Hannah stop this,” he said; I could hear the aggravation behind his words.

He was sick of me running away from him. I just didn’t know what else to do; he frightened me. As much as I tried to convince myself that he didn’t frighten me and that I was okay, it was just a lie. He scared me more than anything; he always has. Even before I met him, the thought of the wolf king scared me. After I got to know him, he still scares me. I didn’t know what to do other than run away.

“You’re my mate… you can’t run from me,” he told me.

I know he keeps saying that I am his mate; ever since Bluemoon, that’s all he’s been saying. That he chose me to be his mate and he marked me to make that official. Now Nora was feeling all sorts of mating bonds with him, and I felt like I couldn’t truly escape him. That was why I could feel him so strongly when I was in Bluemoon before I knew he was there. That was why I kept dreaming of the night he marked me. That was why my wolf reached out to his wolf when I was in trouble at that party.

But this wasn’t something I asked for; it was forced on me. He took a part of me the night he marked me, and I no longer felt like my own.

“He chose us as his mate…” Nora breathed. “You can’t say that you didn’t want this too. You did. There’s just so much going on that it’s clouding your judgment.”

“He didn’t ask,” I said in return. “He took away our choice. We were supposed to accept him as our mate before he marked us. That’s how it works. Now I’ll never know if…” my voice trailed off; I didn’t want to finish my sentence. I didn’t need to.

“You never know if we have a fated mate somewhere out there,” Nora finished for me.

Once we are marked by our chosen mate, any bond we feel toward our fated mate will cease to exist, unless they mark us first. Now that Sebastian had marked me, I will never know if my fated mate is out there. He took that from me, and I won’t ever get it back.

“It’s not like you would be able to run away with our fated mate,” Nora said. “You married Sebastian. He was never going to let you go that easily.”

She was right; even if Sebastian didn’t mark me, it’s not like he’d grant me the divorce. Any chances I had of finding my fated mate were gone the moment I walked down that aisle.

I kept telling myself that I was doing this for my brother, but I wasn’t so sure anymore. What would have happened if I didn’t marry Sebastian?

“Hannah?” Sebastian said, trying to bring me back to him.

I stared over at him.

“I want to see her,” I told him, trying to keep my tone firm.

“What?” He asked, eyeing me carefully. “See who?”

“Magnolia,” I answered. “I want to see Magnolia.”