His Trouble Maker

hapter 12

Chapter 12

GRAYSON

“Dude, she’s gonna cry again tonight.”

Pierce nudges my elbow like that’s something I want to hear. I don’t even turn to look at him. My eyes are still locked on the woods. The path she tore through, all wild breath and rage. He keeps talking.

“You could’ve eased up. One more lap? She was dead on her feet.”

“She needed to learn.”

“Grayson-”

“I said she needed to learn.” My voice is low. Final. And if he says her name again, I swear to the fucking Moon I’ll snap.He doesn’t get it. No one gets it. She’s not just some omega. She’s my Luna. And my Luna doesn’t get to be weak. She doesn’t get to fall apart in the middle of a battlefield just because someone hurt her feelings. Not even when that someone is me.l exhale through my nose, hands flexing at my sides like they’re itching for something to hold. ]

My cock’s still half–hard. Still aching from that goddamn kiss earlier–when her body pressed into mine and she moaned against my mouth like she was made for me.That sound wrecked me. I can still taste her. Still feel the way she arched. How her fingers trembled. The way her throat pulsed when I licked it.

Fuck

And now I’m the villain.

Now she’s running through a storm like I didn’t just humiliate her in front of the pack. Because I did. I had to. Because love doesn’t matter if she’s not strong enough to survive what’s coming. Because no one gets to break her–but me and I’ll rebuild her after.Stronger. Sharper. Mine.

“You’re cruel sometimes, man,” Pierce mutters.

“Good,” I say. “She’ll remember it.”

After a few minutes, Pierce gave up waiting beside me. He muttered something I didn’t bother listening to, then walked off across the field, leaving me alone in the middle of the storm like some goddamn fool.

The others are already gone–tucked into dorms, hiding from the cold, from the thunder that’s been crawling closer with every breath–but I’m still here. Sitting on the soaked grass, elbows resting on my knees, eyes fixed on the edge of the woods like she’s going to come running out of them at any second.

I told her one more lap.

She agreed.

So where the fuck is she?

I drag a hand down my face, pushing rain away from my eyes as the wind shifts and another crack of thunder tears

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Chapter 12

through the sky. The downpour gets harder. Louder. It pelts my shoulders, soaks through my shirt, seeps into my boots-

but I don’t move. I can’t.

She’s out there.

Jessica. My omega. My goddamn Luna.

I let my gaze scan the treeline again. Nothing moves. Not a single branch. Not a sound. Not even the faint rustle of her breath trying to hide from me.

What the hell is taking you so long, baby?

You’re not that slow. You’re not that weak.

to finish a lap in a storm and curse me out on the way back, so where the fuck

a girl who wouldn’t even look at me an hour ago

now every second she doesn’t come out of those woods, my gut twists tighter and my jaw starts to ache from how hard I’m grinding

shakes the sky and I finally exhale, sharp and rough, dragging my ass off

Enough waiting.

her on her fucking knees. I’ll drag her right back out here and

No.

Something’s wrong.

at once–no sound, no sign–but I feel it like a punch to the chest. The kind of stillness that doesn’t mean

take one step

Then another.

I start walking–fast–toward the

“GRAYSON!”

foot slips in the dirt, catches, launches

rips through the trees, high and broken—and everything inside me

My head jerks toward

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Chapter 12

“Fuck. Jess–fuck.”

My feet launch forward.

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fucking animal, shoulder–slamming branches out of the way, ducking under limbs, boots pounding into the earth as

“Grayson!”

The trees blur past me–shadows and bark and soaked leaves

is her voice echoing in my skull like it’s carved there.

one more.

me. “Let me find

boots skid through a patch of

scanning the trees like they’ll split open and show me

mouth dry, throat tight. “I swear

ache from

She’s not alone. I run. I fucking tear across the field like my bones are fire and my blood

She’s scared.

She’s terrified.

woman is

Branches whip across my face. Thorns rip my arms open. Bark shreds my knuckles as l shove past every fucking obstacle

Jessica.

the dirt. Shirt ripped open. Chest heaving. Mud smeared across her stomach. Her legs are

screams, voice cracking. “Fuck–please! Get off

I see red.

narrows so sharp I nearly

1 fucking lunge.

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Chapter 12

claws and teeth, mud exploding around us as the storm beats down. The bastard growls, tries to get leverage, but I’m already swinging, already slashing for

He bites me.

through skin–and I roar. Not in

want a

my knuckles. He lets go, and I grab the back of his head and slam it into the mud until it dents around his

rise–but I slam him back down, hard, my hand locking around his throat. I drive my knee into his ribs, feel the

fucking want her?” I growl through clenched

grab his jaw, force his face to mine–blood already gushing, mixing with rain–and I drag my claws down his cheek in