Chapter 5 I think she's a wolf

Chapter Five

First Person's Perspective

Belle

Oh Lord! I struggled for sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, all I saw were images of him, I imagined the feeling of his hands on my skin. Heard the way he'd groaned my name against my neck

What the hell had I done?

No...I knew exactly what I'd done, I'd just committed the greatest betrayal

And I'd do it again

The thought should've made me feel guilty but Instead, for some fucked up unknown reason, it made me feel powerful

It was already past nine by the time I dragged myself out of bed , threw on something casual, and headed downstairs. The smell of food was calling me

My stomach growled happily at the sight of the different delicases laid out, despite the knot of tension sitting in my chest

The dining room was already occupied

Mom sat at the head of the table, looking perfect as always in a silk blouse and tailored pants. And across from her, reading something on his phone with a cup of coffee in hand, was Reign

I froze in the doorway

His eyes flicked up immediately, like he'd sensed me standing there and our gazes locked for half a second- just long enough for heat to flash between us and pull between my legs- before I forced myself to look away

"Good morning, darling!" Mom beamed at me. "Come sit. Breakfast is still warm."

I had no choice but to walk in and take a seat where she gestured

Right across from him

Great

"Did you sleep well?" my mother asked, buttering a piece of toast

"Fine," I muttered, reaching for the coffee pot

Lie. Total big fat lie

However, that was not my focus

I could feel Reign's eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. Instead, I focused very hard on pouring coffee without spilling it everywhere

"We were just discussing the council meeting tomorrow," Mom continued. "Reign has to address some territorial disputes."

"Mmm," I said, taking a sip of coffee that burned my tongue

Reign shifted in his seat. I saw it in my peripheral vision

Don't look. Don't look. Don't-

I looked

He was staring at his plate now, jaw tight, fingers gripping his coffee cup like he wanted to crush it. There was a tension in his shoulders that hadn't been there yesterday

Thank goddess, I was still happy to know I wasn't the only one losing my mind

"Belle, are you alright?" Mom's voice cut through my thoughts "You seem distracted and you've barely touched your food"

I snapped my attention back to her "I'm fine....Just tired"

"Well, you should rest today. Explore the grounds if you'd like, you can meet the people, Wilde even mentioned he'd be happy to show you around"

Of course he did

I nodded, shoving a forkful of eggs into my mouth to avoid having to respond

The rest of breakfast passed in agonizing silence-at least on my end. Mom chatted about pack business and upcoming events like nothing was wrong. Like her husband hadn't kissed her daughter against his office door less than twelve hours ago

I snuck glances at Reign when I thought no one was looking- I just couldn't help it- and I could swear he did the same

Once, our eyes met, and the look he gave me was so intense I had to grip my fork to keep my hand from shaking

Finally-finally-Mom stood. "I have a meeting with the council elders. I'll see you both later."

She kissed Reign on the lips for about two seconds

Blurghh! Those lips touched mine yesterday, and I looked away immediately as the thought settled in

The moment she left, the air in the room shifted and Wilde's silly grin was not helping matters at all

My legs involuntarily squeezed themselves together as I watched Reign eat away at his toast

Maybe it was all in my head, but I swear I saw him give that thing a slow lick and immediately imagined my pussy in its place...

Gosh! What are you thinking Belle?

When I couldn't take it anymore I stood abruptly "I'm going back to bed"

"Belle, what about the tour?" Wilde protested immediately and I rolled my eyes

"I think I got enough of that from mom, already" came my harsher than intended reply, then

I walked out before he could say anything else

~~~~

How good it felt when your prayers had been answered

I stirred on the bed, not wanting to wake up from this blissful sleep

It was a genuine, exhausted, dreamless sleep that my body desperately needed. When I finally woke up, it was past noon and my stomach was growling again

Ugh!

I dragged myself downstairs, hoping maybe I could grab something quick from the kitchen and disappear back to my room

But when I reached the dining room, Wilde was sitting at the table alone, scrolling through his phone with a plate of food in front of him

He looked up when I appeared in the doorway and grinned. "Well, look who finally decided to join the living"

I did a whole 180 always immediately

"Hey, wait!" He laughed. "Come on, don't be like that. Sit with me."

"I'm not hungry"

"Liar. I can hear your stomach from here"

Damn werewolf hearing

I hesitated, then sighed and walked over to the table. "Fine. But only because I'm starving"

"That's the spirit." He pushed a chair out with his foot. "Have a sit"

And I did, then without waiting for an offer, grabbed a sandwich from the platter in the middle of the table, and took a bite

Wilde watched me with an amused expression"So... how are you adjusting to Valencia?"

"It's fine"

"Just fine?"

"Yep"

He chuckled "You're not much of a talker, are you?"

"Not really" I lied through my teeth

"That's okay. I can talk enough for both of us." He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "I'm glad you're here, honestly. It's nice having someone around who isn't obsessed with pack politics and hierarchy"

I raised an eyebrow "You're the Alpha's nephew. Isn't that, like, your whole thing?"

"Technically, yeah, but it gets boring" He shrugged "I'd rather hang out with someone interesting"

"And you think I'm interesting?"

"Absolutely" His grin widened "You've got that whole 'I don't give a fuck' energy. It's refreshing"

I snorted "Oh what is this flattery!" I said sarcastically

"Thanks, I guess" he nodded and then there was silence for a while before...

"We should be friends," he said suddenly

I blinked."What?"

"Friends. You know, people who hang out and talk and don't want to kill each other"

"I don't do friends"

"Well, now you do" He extended his hand across the table"Come on- he drawled - just shake on it"

I stared at his hand, then at his face. He looked genuine. Almost... hopeful

Against my better judgment, I shook his hand. "Fine. But if you annoy me, this friendship is over"

"Deal"

We ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then Wilde broke it

"So..." He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice "I couldn't help but notice you were eyeing my uncle at breakfast"

I choked on my sandwich

"Whoa, easy!" Wilde laughed, handing me a glass of water "I'm just saying, you were looking at him a lot"

I gulped down the water and glared at him "I was not"

"You totally were"

"I was zoning out. He just happened to be in my line of sight"

"Sure" He smirked "Keep telling yourself that"

"You're delusional"

"And you're a terrible, terrible liar"

I opened my mouth to fire back some sarcastic remark when my phone buzzed loudly on the table

Then it buzzed again

And again

A frown creased on my forehead as I picked it up. The screen was flooded with notifications-missed calls and messages from Nora, my coworker and the closest thing I had to a best friend

**Nora: BELLE WHERE ARE YOU**

**Nora: CALL ME ASAP**

**Nora: OMG ARE YOU OKAY???**

**Nora: CHECK THE NEWS**

My stomach dropped

I opened the messages first, my hands already shaking

Nora had sent links, A whole lots of them

Articles, blog posts, social media threads...but that wasnt what shattered me

The headlines did, and Immediately, my blood ran cold

**"Belle Westwood: Abuser or Something More Sinister?"

"The Truth Behind the Viral Assault Case"

"Friends Say Belle Westwood Was 'Different'-But How Different?"**

I clicked on one of the links

The article was filled with speculation, rumors, theories. But it was the comments section that made my heart stop

**User203: I know this sounds crazy and out of the blue, but what if she's not human? Like, what if she's a vampire or something?**

**User447: LMAO that's insane but also... she did take down a grown man by herself and that's certainly beyond not normal.**

**User891: My friend said she saw Belle's eyes glow once. I'm not saying she's a werewolf but I'm also not NOT saying it.**

No

No, no, no

This couldn't be happening

I jumped up so fast my chair scraped loudly against the floor

"Belle? What's wrong?" Wilde stood too, concern flashing across his face

I didn't answer, actually, I couldn't

So instead I just ran out of the dining room, down the hallway, and up the stairs. My heart was pounding so hard I could barely breathe

I needed to get to my room, I needed to think, I needed to-

OMPHH!!!

I slammed into something solid...no, soft

Wait...

A hard body, mine tilted sideways, but strong hands gripped my shoulders to steady me, and I looked up

Straight into Reign's dark eyes

He was standing right outside my bedroom door, his hand raised like he'd been about to knock

"Belle, you're just in time" he said, his voice low "We need to talk"