My mind slowly processed what just happened, the fact that Sawyer killed Vicon.
His words replayed on a loop inside my head and pinged around my soul, settling in my heart.
He’s never going to hurt you again, Demi. Or anyone else.
For the past five years, I never once thought that he could be doing this on the regular. That he would hurt another girl … I assumed since that “wild animal” had murdered three of his friends for raping me, he’d have been scared off. But what if he wasn’t … what if…?
The thought made me sick. I should have pushed harder for him to be arrested, I should have gone to the alpha maybe … but being banished, I had no rights.
My chest constricted as heavy emotions welled up inside of my body.
He’s dead.
He couldn’t hurt me or anyone else again.
Sawyer went hunting and slayed my nightmares. Tears leaked from my eyes as the reality hit me and I diverted from the open classroom door to the bathroom. Luckily, there was no one inside, because the moment I burst in the open doors I broke out in sobs. Rushing to the large bathroom stall, I opened it and slipped inside, sliding against the door to fall on my butt.
Vicon Drake stole something from me.
My virginity, my innocence, my youth, my safety, my ability to trust, everything. I’d shoved it all down because it was the only way to survive, but now that he was gone, it bubbled up to the surface, begging to be freed.
Before I could even think about it, I felt my wolf stir, and then she was walking out of my body, like a spectral ghost, becoming semisolid within seconds. It didn’t really hurt anymore, it was just a tightness on my skin and then she was there. No tearing of my clothes or fur on my arms. It’s like we were learning to become more and more separate. She turned and looked at me with those patient yellow eyes.
‘It was me that night. I’m sorry I couldn’t get the last one.’Her voice was mine but deeper, and it hit me. She was the darkest part of me, split off to help me survive. She held all of those memories of that night, the ones I blacked out. She held them for me so I didn’t have to deal with them.
“Thank you,” I sobbed, and reached out to her as she nestled into my open arms and I wrapped her in a hug. I might be a demon, or a split shifter, or whatever the hell these fairy tales called me, but my wolf saved me that night. As far as I was concerned, I was a fucking survivor.
* * *
I legitimately hadno idea what this surprise was. My mind was still chewing on the fact that Sawyer had straight-up disappeared for three days and killed Prince Drake. Sage drove me all around campus for thirty minutes, confusing me as to what this surprise was, and then turned the car around and parked back at the dorms.
I looked at her. “Woman, what in the hell are you doing?”
She grinned. “I had to waste time while your surprise was set up in your room.”
Emotion clogged my throat, she was clearly going to painstaking lengths to give me something, and that really touched me. I didn’t grow up with many friends. Mostly just Raven, and so having Sage here meant the world to me. She went to get out of the car and I grabbed her arm.
She looked back at me with her beautiful red hair splayed around her shoulders and I swallowed hard. “Thanks for being so awesome. Seriously, I couldn’t have survived the past few months without you.”
She grinned, and she looked a little like Sawyer when she smiled. “I always wanted a sister, and when you marry Sawyer, it will be close enough.”
I chuckled. “Well, he hasn’ttechnicallyproposed yet.”
And the very thought simultaneously had nerves crawling up my spine and excitement thrumming through my belly.
Sage looked back at me, halfway out of the car. “You know when you’re not around what he calls you to Walsh, and me, and all his guy friends? What he called you the day he ordered us to get you out of that shithole school and end your banishment?”
My stomach tightened into knots. “Wolf Girl?”
“‘My futurewife.’” She emphasized the wife. “Hey, Sage, go get my futurewifeout of Delphi. Hey guys, I need to buy my futurewifea camera, what is the best one? He’s never called you by your name, Demi. Not to me, or any of the guys he hangs with.”
A lightness fell over me, a pure feeling that I’d never felt before. It started deep inside of my gut and then grew upward until it feathered out of my chest and into my arms.
I’d never felt loved before. The guys at Delphi hit on me and I knew Isaac was attracted to me, butthisfeeling, feeling adored and loved and wanted, I’d never felt it in a relationship with a guy before.
With that, she left the car and beckoned for me to follow. I wiped at my eyes and scrambled after her.
“Did I mention I’m not a fan of surprises?” I ran after Sage, ducking into the dorm and down our hallway as she waved me closer.
