Chapter 74 – Kidnapped by My Mate Series II: His Lost Queen

Filed To Story: Kidnapped by My Mate Novel (Belle & Grayson) Online Free by Annie Whipple

Setting the glass back down, I realized with a start that my injuries didn’t hurt nearly as much as they had when I had woken up.

There was absolutely no pain in my head—not from Grayson trying to force himself into my mind, nor from Adalee slamming my skull into a wall multiple times.

I tentatively reached up and touched the back of my head. I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, but all I found was a mild bruise and dried blood.

It was a similar case with my neck. Bruises that I was sure were in the shape of hands wrapped themselves around my throat, but the pain wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

I had definitely been through worse.

I distinctly remembered Adalee’s hand crushing my airway last night. This should have left me dead or, at the very least, in the hospital.

And I wouldn’t have been surprised if the wound on the back of my head caused internal bleeding or brain damage.

When Adalee had slammed me against that wall, I could have sworn I felt my brain rattle in my skull.

I should be dead right now—it was the only thing that made sense after the trauma I had gone through.

How was it possible that I was sitting here, experiencing barely any pain after the beatdown I had received last night?

My gaze went back to Liam and Laila, giving them a questioning, flabbergasted look. They glanced at each other, neither of them seeming like they wanted to give me an answer.

After another moment of hesitancy, Laila was the first to speak. “We gave you Amelia Mortar’s blood. It has healing properties. It’s the only reason you’re alive right now.”

I stared at her. “Yeah, I’m gonna need you to back up there for a second. You gave me whose  what?”

Laila shifted uneasily. “Amelia Mortar’s blood. She’s the royal clan’s healer and the daughter of the king of vampires, Zagan Mortar. Her blood can heal someone on their deathbed with just a few drops.

“Thankfully, she packages it and gives it to clans all over the world. We had some stashed away for moments like this. Perks of being related to our father.”

“One of the only perks,” Liam grumbled.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You injected me with some vampire princess’s blood?”

Liam shook his head. “It’s not in your bloodstream. You took it orally.”

I moved around slowly, testing out my limbs. Everything felt completely normal.

“And that’s why I feel okay now? That’s how I healed so quickly?”

Healing wasn’t the only difference I noticed. I felt better than I had in months.

“You’re not fully healed yet. You still have a nasty bruise around your throat, and the gash on your head will take a bit longer to close up,” Laila said.

I brushed my hair out of my face in frustration, needing to take a moment to try to process all of this. I squeezed my eyes shut. There was a lot of information being thrown at me way too fast.

“You okay?” Liam asked in a calm, even tone. “How’s your head?”

My eyes opened. I touched the wound. “Fine. Well, better than fine, actually. I don’t remember the last time I was able to think this clearly.”

Liam still looked concerned. “So that migraine you’ve been dealing with the last few months has finally gone away?”

I sighed. “That wasn’t a migraine,” I told him dryly. “My former mate was trying to break into my consciousness so he could keep tabs on me.

“He was finally able to last night when Adalee almost killed me. Even though I’ve blocked him out again, I don’t know what information he got from me while I was blacked out.

“He might know where I am. He might come for me.”

I thought about how I had unintentionally let him into my mind last night while I had been unconscious and felt embarrassment rise up my throat.

I had clung to the comfort he provided me during what I thought were my last moments, even though I knew he was the one who had ordered me to be killed.

Embarrassment made my heart rate pick up and my palms sweat. I could only imagine what Grayson had thought of me.

“But he marked you,” Laila stated, confused.

“I don’t know a whole lot about werewolves or their fated mates, but I thought once they marked their other half, wolves were bonded for life. Don’t you want him to come for you? Don’t you miss him?”

“I found him in bed with another woman,” I explained, the words tasting like vinegar in my mouth.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not I miss him. I can’t be with him. He rejected me.

He mated with someone else. He doesn’t want me.”

There was a long pause. Nobody knew what to say.

“I’m so sorry, Belle. I can’t even imagine what that must be like,” Liam said.

He hesitated before continuing. “But if that’s the case, you have nothing to worry about, right? He’s not going to come for you if he doesn’t…want to be mated with you anymore.”

I looked up at him. I could feel tears starting to pool in the corner of my eyes again, threatening to fall the longer we talked about Grayson.

Liam was right, though. What the hell was I afraid of? Grayson wasn’t going to come for me. He hated me. He didn’t even care if Adalee killed me.

I nodded, wiping under my eyes. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Besides, there’s nowhere safer for you,” Liam continued. “If he does come here, you have a bunch of vampires willing to back you up.”

Laila grabbed my hand in hers. “So you’ll stay?”

I gave her a small smile. “I’ll think about it. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

BELLE

After leaving Liam’s apartment, he gave me a ride back to my place so I could take a shower and change out of my bloody clothes.

He wasn’t happy when I came out of my bathroom dressed in my waitress uniform.

“You are not working today,” he stated. “You need rest.”

“What I need is to make money so I can afford my apartment instead of being forced to live under a bridge like some sort of troll. My shift is about to start.”

I walked past him, grabbing my heels by the front door and sliding them onto my feet.

Liam looked huge in my tiny apartment. Although I suppose that wasn’t necessarily a hard thing to do. Anyone would look big in here. Hell, I looked big in here.

The entire space consisted of a single room with a sink, a few cupboards, a dresser, a tiny round table, and three chairs, and just enough room for the twin-sized mattress that was lying on the floor in the corner.

There was a communal bathroom just a few doors down.

So, yeah, the apartment wasn’t much, but it was mine. I was just happy to be living on my own instead of depending on someone else.

“Belle, you opened and closed the diner last night.” Liam continued to argue. “They cannot expect you to keep going on like this. It’s not healthy. Or legal. You’re overworking yourself.”

I rolled my eyes. He was so dramatic. “I think I can handle it.”

He glared back at me, clearly not about to let the subject go. “I’ll be fine, Liam. I feel great—the best I have in months. I’m still a little freaked out over everything that happened last night.

“But I’m not in any pain, and I feel well-rested for the first time in forever. That vampire blood you gave me really is magic. Even my mark doesn’t hurt as much.”

It was a miracle, really. Grayson’s mark on my neck still looked horrible—I think it may have been infected at this point—but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it usually did.

The deep, under-the-skin throbbing had lessened significantly, and it didn’t burn anymore. It made me want to cry in relief.

Was it possible that I might be able to actually enjoy my day rather than being incapacitated by horrible pain?

Or maybe, just maybe…it meant that Grayson had finally decided to leave me alone after feeling what I had gone through last night. Maybe he thought I was dead.

But that was probably just wishful thinking.

“I don’t care,” Liam continued badgering me. “You hardly slept last night. You need rest. Especially after everything you’ve been through.”

I laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, no thanks.” Sleep meant nightmares, and nightmares were the last thing I needed right now. I wanted Grayson out of my head, thank you very much.

Liam continued to argue with me for another ten minutes. He finally relented when I walked out the door without him, threatening to walk to the diner by myself, which I knew he would hate.

He begrudgingly followed behind me, leading me to his car and muttering under his breath about how I was going to work myself to death one day.

 The diner was busy today. I was grateful for the distraction. Saturdays always brought in a huge crowd, making the time go faster.

When we got to Pom Pom’s, Liam reluctantly followed me in, still grumbling under his breath about how I hadn’t gotten any sleep last night and needed more time to heal.

When I ignored him, he found a booth in the corner and sat down to order breakfast.

“What’s up with you?” another waitress, Candice, asked me about twenty minutes into the breakfast rush.

“What do you mean?”

We both grabbed food from the cook’s window to put on trays and bring to our customers.

It was still early morning, and the general chatter of the cafe’s breakfast rush added to the pleasant atmosphere around us.

The sun shone in through the windows, painting the walls with a warm glow.

Candice grinned at me. “You’re smiling.”

I gave her a weird look. “Are you insinuating that I don’t normally smile?”

Candice shrugged, grabbing her last plate of food. “You’re just happy, that’s all.” She lifted the tray filled with meals over her shoulder. “It’s a good look on you.”

I watched her walk away, a warm, fuzzy feeling spreading through me. I was happy.

Every second that passed, I felt better and better.

I sighed in contentment, picking up my own tray of food and carrying it around the counter, making my way to a table of high schoolers.

Before I got there, though, the front door to the diner suddenly slammed open. The glass door smashed into the wall, shattering, covering the floor in glass.

Everyone in the diner jumped, some letting out surprised exclamations, before turning to look at the man standing in the doorway.

My gaze clashed with the red eyes of my former mate.

Grayson.

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