His Trouble Maker

Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Chapter 129

JESSICA

413

I can’t keep track of what’s real. I don’t remember moving. My chest is tight, breath sharp, rain drilling down my back like it’s trying to get under the skin.

Theo. Did. It.

I don’t believe him. Except I do. Except I always knew. Except something in me went quiet the second the words left Riot’s mouth.

Now I’m trying to count my breath but it’s off. I keep hitting the same number twice. I keep skipping three and five. The cold’s finally sinking in–deep, sharp, mean—and I try to pull my arm back but his grip doesn’t slip. I dig my heel in. I stumble. I twist. His fingers just dig harder.

I blink and everything’s too sharp. Leaves dripping black. Sky cracked open with veins of light. The wind keeps changing direction. Like it’s trying to find me. Like it’s smelling for something already dying.

It’s not rain. It’s not cold. It’s something worse. It’s the feeling right before something sinks its teeth into the back of your neck.

Am I fucking guilty? Absolutely. It’s a trial I chose, thinking I could change the course of our lives. I just…didn’t expect it would turn

out like this one.

He said Theo ate the whole village.

No. No. Fuck that. Fuck that-

1 jerk against the rope again. My wrists scream. Good. I yank until it feels like something’s tearing under the skin. I need this part to hurt. I need to know where my body ends. I need to hold on to something that doesn’t shift and rot and grin with meat in its teeth.

He ate them. He turned the pack into red streaks and fucking confetti.

I curl forward, forehead to my knees. Sweat and dirt sting where the bark’s bitten me.

Grayson.

Oh fuck.

Grayson’s going to walk into that. His pack. His home. Bits of it in Theo’s mouth. Bones scattered.

He’s going to look at the worst thing I’ve ever done and know—she did this.

Not Theo. Not Riot. Me.

I breathe hard, Fists shaking. I count it. One breath. Two, Three. Try to fold it into order. Try to wrap the panic in numbers like I can control it.

Four. Five. Six. Stop shaking. STOP.

But it won’t. My whole body’s gone to war with itself. I’m hot and cold and bile and rage. My wrists are raw. My eyes won’t close without flashing red.

“Walk faster, Jessica!”

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Chapter 129

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yanking the chain again like I’m something to haul, not someone. My feet slip on the slope. Leaves slick under my boots. Cold needles stab through the gaps in my clothes. Rain like knives now,

matter with

I snap.

mean to. My

spit, throw my elbow into his ribs. Not enough to hurt him. But enough to

cracks. My shoulder burns. Rain hits my back like whips now. My nose smashes against the trunk. I feel

“I’ve trained you, Jessica. And now you’re trying

harder,” I hissed. Voice half–gone. Tongue

you,” Riot mutters finally. “If I wanted

quieter. “I’m getting

cracked. “Why should I believe you…after

through branches like bones popping in the dark. My hands are shaking again and Riot keeps looking behind us like someone–no,

“Shit,” he mutters.

I’m hearing fear in

through the

it?” I

“Run.”

Mud, bark, undergrowth–everything slick, everything biting back. I don’t move fast enough. His hand yanks again. The

“RIOT–”

leash. Just the sound of him crashing through the woods like nothing’s sacred anymore. Not the rain, not the trees, not the skin I’m inside. He’s moving too fast, too

Cold and sharp and full of pressure.

the fuck is it?” I shout, spitting mud,

He doesn’t answer.

just looks back–and I

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It moves so fast I can’t make what

shakes.

tilts. The roots rise. I’m going to

“MOVE!” Riot barks.

I don’t.

spit and fear. My mouth tastes like iron.

this isn’t the first girl he’s had to drag out of hell. He hauls me up and throws me forward. My knees hit

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