Love and Loss
1083 Words
CHAPTER 5
BELLA'S POV
A loud voice suddenly rang out behind us, just when we had nearly made it out of the battlefield.
We both turned back at the same time, just in time to see the angry buyer aiming his revolver directly at us.
Whatever tiny ounce of hope I had left disappeared completely in that moment.
Seth immediately stepped in front of me, using his own body as a shield.
"You’re not going anywhere. I already paid for you, so get back here," he ordered, his voice sharp and entitled.
"Bella, run," Seth whispered under his breath, his voice so low it nearly disappeared in the air between us.
We both took off sprinting, bullets whizzing past us in every direction, but by some miracle, none of them hit.
We didn’t stop running until the buyer’s shouting faded into the background, swallowed by the distance behind us.
"I think we’re safe," I said, turning to look at Seth as I tried to catch my breath.
He gave me a small, tired smile,then suddenly collapsed. I rushed to his side, panic already rising, and flipped him over to check on him.
My eyes widened in horror when I saw the bullet hole,he’d been hit.
"No, no, no," I said quickly, pressing my palm over the bleeding wound and trying to keep it together.
The sound of heavy steps pounding the ground pulled my attention up,and I saw the buyer and three of his goons running straight toward us.
"Seth, we have to go. Try to stand," I urged, wrapping my arms under his and trying to lift him,but he dropped back down like dead weight.
"I... can’t," he breathed, wincing in pain.
The buyer was nearly on us when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes snapping past me like he’d seen something worse.
I followed his gaze and saw it too,a strange, towering lycan in humanoid form, making its way toward us from the distance.
It was flanked on both sides by smaller lycans, but they looked just as terrifying, just as ready to tear something apart.
"Oh s**t, it’s the Alpha!" he screamed, his whole face twisted in fear.
"Run! Leave everything and run!" he shouted to the goons chasing behind him. In the next second, he shifted into wolf form and bolted away.
My heart pounded out of control as I looked in both directions,toward the fleeing buyer, and the danger that was still coming our way.
Regardless, I dropped to my knees beside Seth, desperate to help him.
Frantically, I tried to stop the bleeding, but the blood kept pouring. I let out a desperate cry, and that’s when I noticed a figure approaching us from the distance.
The Blood Moon Alpha stopped in his tracks, his eyes locked on me for a long, heavy second, like he was deciding something. Then, just as suddenly, he turned away and went after the buyer and his pack.
"Bella..." Seth groaned, his voice barely there.
"I’m right here, okay? We’re okay for now. Let them rip each other apart. I’ll figure out something for you," I told him quickly.
"Don’t bother... I was hit with silver bullets... there’s nothing you can do," he said, looking at me with that quiet truth in his eyes.
I bit down on my lip, knowing deep down that he was right. Tears threatened to spill as I watched him fighting death itself, and I just knelt there, useless, unable to help.
"I’m so sorry. This is all my fault," I said, my voice shaking hard.
"What... are you saying? None of this... is your fault," Seth whispered through uneven breaths.
"But I should’ve stopped you from helping me. If I had, none of this would’ve happened to you," I insisted, voice cracking.
"Even if you had tried... I still would’ve helped. And the reason... it’s simple... it’s because I love you, Bella. I’ve always loved you... even when I knew... it was hopeless," he said, and then his tears came too.
My mind went completely blank at his confession. What?!
I looked down at his blood-covered face, my tears falling faster now, soaking into my skin.
"You... love me?" I asked, barely able to process it.
"I always have," he said, before coughing hard, his breathing growing heavier by the second.
"Why didn’t you tell me?" I asked, stunned. How did I not see it? All this time...
"Fiona... said you wouldn’t feel the same," he murmured, like it still hurt to admit.
Fiona knew Seth had feelings for me? Was that why she set us up in the first place?
A flood of unanswered questions slammed into my brain. I could barely think. All I could do was cry with Seth still in my arms.
"I’m so sorry," I choked out, sobbing as the words left my mouth.
"I never thought... she’d actually do something like this... to us. It’s not your fault," he whispered, forcing a weak, broken smile, then he went still.
"Seth?!" I called, but he didn’t respond.
"Seth?!" I shouted again, shaking him hard,but his body had already gone still.
His eyes stared at me, unblinking. I pressed two fingers against his neck, but my heart sank when I felt nothing.
That small smile flashed through my mind like a snapshot burned into place.
He loved me. He loved me, and I got him killed. He died trying to protect me.
A sound I didn’t know I was capable of tore from my throat as I looked up and screamed.
He was gone. I had just lost the only person I had left.
I collapsed beside him, my head resting on his lifeless body. Tears streamed down my face without control, and my heart felt like it had been torn apart. The pain was beyond anything I had known.
I didn’t even realize how much time had passed, but by the time I pulled myself together, the sun had started to set.
My eyes burned, my throat ached, but nothing compared to what I felt inside.
I reached out slowly and closed his eyelids with trembling fingers.
It was the only comfort I could give him now,the only thing I had left to give.
I stared at his lifeless body, and the pain inside me slowly began to shift into something heavier. Anger.
I closed my eyes, let it all soak in, and whispered to the wind.
Fiona. Kaden. Glade. I will never forgive you for this.
- Writer
