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Another sharp pain pierces through my skull before all I see is black.
twenty-two
LUNA
I blink my eyes as they try to adjust to being open. I’m in a room that I feel like I’ve seen before, but I can’t quite place where or when. It looks like a basement of sorts. A single light bulb with a string hangs from the ceiling to cast a glow over the room. Shelves line the walls with totes and random junk.
There’s a throbbing pain in the right side of my head, and when I lift my hands to rub it, I realize they’re zip-tied together. I scan the room to see if anyone is around, but I’m alone. It's cold, and I remember that my sweater was left on the side of the road. As if my sweater is of any importance right now.
Pulling my wrist apart with strength to try and break the ties doesn’t work. I keep being reminded over and over just how weak I am. Nothing but a pathetic girl. I grew up being hurt and abused. You’d think I’d take the time to learn to fight or build up my strength, but I never thought I’d end up in this situation. When Jax was stalking me, I thought I'd end up in a situation like this with him, but he just wanted to possess me. And oh, how easily I let him.
I never knew what lurked inside of Noah’s mind. I’ve studied psychology. I should have fucking known, but he’s so good at putting up a front. He was never abusive towards me. Not physically or mentally. This is a complete shock to me, but I suppose when you’re hurt, you’ll learn things even you didn’t know about yourself.
The door on the opposite side of the room creaks open. Noah walks through.
“Look who decided to join us.” Noah drawls, but I see Chase when I look over his shoulder. My mouth drops open. I’m stunned.
“Chase,” I gasp. His bruises are even worse than Noah’s. You can see the wrath that Jax held more on Chase’s skin.
“I’m sorry,” Chase says. “You keep choosing him when all he does is hurt you and the people around you.”
My eyebrows rise.
“So, what? Is this a punishment?”
“You can call it that.”
“Why me? Why not just go get Jax?” And why am I so quick to throw him under the bus?
“That’s an idea, isn’t it?” Noah chimes in.
“Please, don’t do this. Whatever it is, please,” I sob. Tears begin to freefall down my cheeks until they slip into my mouth. The saltiness hits my tongue. It tastes like Jax’s lips tonight.
“It sucks when someone you trusted hurts you, doesn’t it?” Noah growls. I cry harder, and it’s not over the fact that he’s hurting.
I’m crying because of Jax. He got me into this mess, but deep down, I know he will be the one to get me out of it, too. And I'll open my arms for him when he does, as I always do. Or my legs. That’s the hold he has on me.
I’m so lost in my head that I didn’t know Noah or Chase moved. Chase holds my head in place from behind, and Noah punches the side of my head that’s already throbbing. A whimper escapes my lips from the pain, but it’s not the physical that hurts more. It’s the emotional that’s going to kill me.
“Did you think of him while we’d be in bed together?” Noah asks, and it makes me think that Chase said something. Have they been plotting all this time? I thought Chase was in the hospital, too, but maybe he got out the second he was in. He went and found his way to Noah to plot this scheme.
“Yes,” I squeak. “I did.”
“Time to turn the tables. You’ll think of me when he touches you,” Noah says in outrage. I close my eyes, hoping and praying that this is just a bad, bad dream. My mind has been playing all of these tricks on me for months. Surely, this is just another one.
Chase crouches down behind me as he continues to hold me in place.
“Chase, please,” I beg.
“Why would I choose you when you stopped choosing me?”
“I chose myself!” I scream so loudly that my throat hurts.
Chase pushes me to the floor as Noah’s belt buckle jingles. I mentally grip the pendant around my neck, and I think of Jax just like I have every other time Noah has been inside of me.
twenty-three
JAX
