Chapter 85 – Kidnapped by My Mate Series II: His Lost Queen

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

I was destined to be in love with a man who didn’t love me back, who only wanted me for the power I could give him, and who resented me because he got stuck with me.

And yet, although all of that was true, he still couldn’t seem to let me go.

“Does this mean that you’ll finally let me explain?” Grayson asked. “I promise it’ll be worth your time.”

I leaned back, wiping the tears from my eyes. I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t matter. No explanation will change the fact that I’m not the one for you. I can’t be your luna.”

I licked my lips, tasting the saltiness of my tears. “I have to go.”

I started to move away, but Grayson grabbed my arm. “No, no more of this. It wasn’t me who—”

“Stop! Let go of me, Grayson. I mean it!” I yanked my arm out of his and took a step back. To my surprise, he didn’t try to grab me again. “Please, ~please, just leave me alone.”

“You know I can’t do that,” he replied in a low voice. “I’ll never be able to leave you alone. I can’t live without you, Belle.”

I backed away from him. “For your sake, I really hope that’s not true.”

BELLE

I was grateful that Grayson let me walk away from him back at the diner. I was grateful for the walk home by myself, where I could gather my thoughts and cry without feeling like someone was watching me.

I entered my dark apartment, violently kicking off my stupid heels, not caring where they landed. My tears continued to flow, dripping down my neck and onto the cotton of my shirt.

My heart nearly stopped when I flicked on the lights. A huge figure was standing in the middle of my kitchen. I let out a loud shriek, immediately turning to run back out of the door.

“Luna! Stop screaming! Jeez, it’s just me!”

My eyes adjusted, and I was finally able to see. “Kyle?” I asked. “Oh, my god, Kyle?”

I barely even recognized him. He looked different—like, really, really different. He seemed to have gone through the same transformation that Grayson had.

His body was bigger, stronger, and more mature. He had grown at least a foot in height, just like Grayson, and his muscles were larger and much more defined.

But it was the big goofy grin he was sporting on his face that told me he was still my same old Kyle, despite his intense physical transformation.

I stared at him for several long moments, trying to decipher if my exhausted mind was playing a trick on me. “Are you really here?” I asked him, approaching him slowly.

“Come give Daddy some sugar,” he responded, opening his arms wide.

I launched myself into his arms. He grunted from the forceful contact but didn’t hesitate before wrapping his arms around me, pulling me in even closer.

The tears came rushing from my eyes, and sobs exploded from my mouth. I wasn’t even sure why I was reacting this way to seeing him again.

I just needed a friend. I needed someone I trusted who knew about everything I had gone through.

“Ah, hell, babe,” Kyle said consolingly, leaning his cheek on the top of my head and squeezing me tighter. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry,” I sniffled into his chest. Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I looked up at him and smiled. “I’m just really happy to see you. Really happy. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Of course you have. I’m very missable.” Kyle rolled his eyes, returning my smile just as enthusiastically. “I’ve missed you too.”

I disentangled myself from his arms and stepped back, wiping at my tears. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on you,” he explained. His eyes darkened a bit as they ran over my face. “I heard you were having a rough time.”

I couldn’t stop the heat that rose under my cheeks. I knew I looked bad, but I still hated that Kyle was able to see it on my face.

My brows tugged together. “How did you hear that?”

“The alpha, of course.”

Just a tiny bit of disappointment settled in my stomach. “You… You’ve been talking to him?”

Kyle nodded.

I wasn’t sure why I had been hoping Kyle had stopped talking to Grayson after everything that had happened between him and me. It wasn’t fair of me to wish for that.

Grayson’s pack, as toxic as it may have been for me, was Kyle’s home. It was where Elijah was and where he had spent all his life.

I guess I had just been hoping to have a common advocate in all of this, a friend I didn’t need to keep secrets from.

But now… There was no way I could tell Kyle everything I was thinking and all I had experienced now that I knew he was still under Grayson’s thumb.

All of the questions I had been wondering over the last few months came rushing to the edge of my tongue, waiting eagerly to be asked.

I wanted to know what had happened after I left, how Elijah was, and did Kyle confront Grayson after finding him in bed with another girl who wasn’t me?

I asked the most obvious question first. “Why are you a literal giant now? Have you and Grayson gone on steroids or something?

“Or is there a new werewolf disease I don’t know about that is making you all fifty feet tall?”

Kyle laughed. “No steroids, I promise. And, as far as I’m concerned, I haven’t caught any diseases, although Elijah might disagree with that.”

“So what happened?”

I looked over his enormous form. He wasn’t nearly as big as Grayson was now but still looked extremely intimidating—much more intimidating than before.

And that was a hard thing to accomplish since both he and Grayson had already been much larger than the average human before the transformation.

Some part of me was a little relieved that it wasn’t just Grayson who had grown significantly. It meant he didn’t get stronger because he was away from me, but rather due to another reason.

Something else must have happened.

“I think that’s something the alpha would like to explain to you himself,” Kyle told me.

I looked around, suddenly worried that Grayson was watching us or maybe listening in. What would he do if he knew Kyle was here?

“Does Grayson know you’re here? I don’t think he would like—”

“Alpha knows I’m here,” Kyle replied to my question. “In fact…” He jerked his chin behind me.

“I invited him here,” a deep voice finished.

I whirled around to find Grayson standing in my doorway. Of course he was here.

Even when I couldn’t see him, he was always nearby.

Grayson’s eyes immediately narrowed in on Kyle’s hands that were still on my waist. He let out a low growl. “Get your hands off my mate, Beta.”

Kyle’s arms dropped to his sides in less than a second.

I glared at Grayson. My temper rose. “Not your mate,” I snapped at him. “Kyle can touch me if he wants. You shouldn’t even be here.”

Kyle whistled low under his breath. “You weren’t kidding, Alpha. It is bad.”

I turned back to Kyle, ignoring Grayson’s glare. “Beta? You’re the beta now?” I asked him.

He shrugged sheepishly. “It’s a long story.”

“A story I definitely want to hear,” I said. Had it happened after Adalee died? “You don’t have to leave soon, do you?” Sudden panic hit me. I didn’t want Kyle to leave.

I wanted him to stay here as long as possible. The friendship I cultivated with him was the only thing I didn’t regret from my relationship with Grayson.

After months of being by myself—if you didn’t count Liam’s overprotectiveness—

the amount of comfort I found in him standing here in my apartment was immeasurable.

Kyle shook his head. “I’m here for as long as I need to be,” he replied, sating my worries.

I let out a deep breath. “Okay,” I said, feeling less tense. “Okay. Can I get you anything to drink?” I hurried over to my cupboards, grabbing the only glass I owned. I paused. “Actually, I only have water.”

“That’s okay. Not thirsty,” Kyle answered, raising a brow at the old plastic cup in my hand.

I set the cup back down on the counter. Then my attention swung back to Grayson, who was still standing in the doorway of my apartment. I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Is there a reason you’re still here?” I asked him.

Kyle snorted.

“I’m here,” Grayson started, giving Kyle a look that could make anyone’s blood turn cold, “because we need to talk.”

“Is that why you invited him here?” I asked him, motioning to Kyle. “Bringing him here is part of your plan to try and lure me back to your evil lair to torture me some more, huh?”

Kyle coughed to hide another laugh.

“I’m not planning to—” Grayson didn’t finish that sentence, growling in frustration.

“He’s here to help me explain. If you won’t listen to me, then maybe you’ll listen to him.”

“I already told you—”

“I know what you said,” Grayson said, cutting me off.

“And if I have to hear any more bullshit about how you’re not good enough for me or not meant to be my luna come out of your mouth, I might lose my fucking mind.

“I could understand if you thought that what I did was unforgivable—”

“Well—” I interjected, trying to explain that what he did was unforgivable…

“But I’m not going to let you go on thinking that you’ve done anything wrong,”

Grayson continued. “Or that there is anything wrong with you because it’s a fucking lie, Belle.

“You hear me? It’s a lie that your brain is telling you because of years of assholes telling you you’re not enough when, really, it was them who had the issues, not you.”

He took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself before his anger took over.

He took a few steps toward me. “I need you to let me explain what really happened, baby. Will you let me do that? Please?”

I tightened my arms around myself, feeling intensely uncertain. “I…” I swallowed.

Exhaustion was starting to hit me, and for a moment, I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole just so I could have some peace.

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