I pulled over at the end of the trail and held her amazing gaze. “Because I’m hoping that will give you something to make you want to hold on to this life. Unfinished business of sorts.”
She laughed, but then she burst into tears.
I was barely holding myself together. Watching her cry would shatter me in pieces. “Baby, please don’t cry. You’re going to…ruin your makeup.”
She threw herself onto my chest. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like it’s a real wedding.”
I lifted my silent scream to the moon as I embraced her like I would never see her again. “C’mon, baby. It’s going to be okay. I love you, and I have faith in you. I know you’ll do the right thing.”
She drew back. “The right thing? What would that be, Kayden? What the fuck would that be?”
I drowned in the hazel eyes. “Whatever makes you the happiest.”
Her lips met mine in a heated kiss that lasted forever and ended too soon. When she pulled away, her lips were swollen, and I was burning. Another minute, and I wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore.
I pushed the door open and jumped out. Then I helped her outside, and carried her to the clearing so that her dress wouldn’t get dirty.
Under the willow tree, the four of us stood. No spoken words, only emotions thudding in our chests, and miserable thoughts spiraling in our heads.
The air felt sticky despite the chill, and I knew he had arrived. The devil manifested in the dark with his deep eyes and deceiving face.
My blood simmered. The beast clawed at me, itching to rip apart the fucker who came to steal the love of my life away.
“You look dashing, gentlemen,” Damien said and bent to kiss Belle’s hand. “And you, you look like a queen tonight.”
“Stay away from her.” Alec was about to lunge at him, but Asher and I held his arms.
“Always the reckless Beastly. I love that quality about you. Makes my work so easy.”
“Fuck you.”
“Enough.” Belle shouted. “Damien, don’t be a dick. Not tonight.”
He smirked. “As you wish, my queen.”
She rolled her eyes. “Do you have the videos?”
He reached into the inside pocket of his tux jacket and brought out a CD, a couple of flash drives and a few chips. “Here are the copies. I also deleted the originals from the hard drives.”
“Are these the only ones, Damien?”
“You really think I need to makedigitalcopies for myself?”
“Of course not. You have them all stored in your disgusting…” She snatched them from him and gave them to Asher. “Can you check?”
He let go of my brother’s arm, took the chips and worked them one by one in his phone. He muted the sound and skimmed through the videos. After all, there weresensitiveclips of Belle in there, too. Then he nodded. “It’s all here.”
She sighed in relief. “So how does this work?”
“We wait for the witch to do the ritual,” I said. “She will ask you for your choice. Then you claim your mate and finish the turn according to the clan you’ve chosen.”
“Witch? What witch?”
“The one who helped us make the deal.”
“And the witch has arrived.”
Belle gasped, twisting at the voice. “No fucking way.”
