Chapter 16
"What!" Oh no. "You're my trainer... what's going on here?" I asked, frozen in place, my mind spinning. I was staring at Bryan, hoping he would tell me that what I was thinking was wrong—that this was all a misunderstanding, that maybe he was just a dog trainer or something harmless. But the look on his face, his apologetic expression, confirmed my worst fears.
He didn't say anything, just stood there looking guilty, and that guilt only fueled the anger boiling inside me. Before I could control myself, I felt my hand fly up and slap him hard across the face. The sound echoed in the kitchen. He barely flinched at the slap, though, his eyes still fixed on me, full of regret.
"Prisca... I'm so sorry," he began softly, trying to explain, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear any excuses. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t..."
I cut him off, my voice rising, trembling with rage. "You *what*? You couldn't tell me? Let me tell you what you did, Bryan! You lied to me! How could you? I trusted you! Every time I thought I was going crazy, you couldn’t tell me the truth! I confided in you, Bryan! I trusted you with everything!" My hands clenched into fists at my sides, shaking. "Oh my God!"
I paced around the kitchen, trying to breathe through the overwhelming emotions flooding me. This couldn’t be happening. My life felt like it had been shattered into a thousand pieces. How many lies had I been told? What else wasn’t real? My relationship with Bryan had always felt like the one constant in my life, the one thing that grounded me. And now even that had been ripped away, leaving me feeling hollow and betrayed.
My chest tightened, my breathing shallow. I felt lightheaded, my vision starting to blur. I was having a panic attack. Bryan, the one person I thought I could always trust, had lied to me about everything, and the weight of that betrayal was suffocating. The walls seemed to close in around me, and I needed to get out. I needed to escape. I couldn’t be here anymore—not in this house, not around these people who’d been lying to me my whole life.
"I can’t breathe..." I gasped, my lungs feeling like they were collapsing. My legs gave way, and I felt my body crumple to the floor, my fingers gripping the cold tiles as I tried to drag air into my lungs, but it felt impossible. My thoughts were a whirlwind, spinning faster and faster, and all I wanted was to be free of everything. I couldn’t stay here any longer. I had to leave, to run far, far away from this madness.
Suddenly, I felt warm, firm hands grip my waist, lifting me off the ground. "Breathe... You need to breathe, Priscilla," Jake’s voice said softly but firmly, his breath hot against my ear. I wanted to push him away, to scream at him that he was part of the reason I was in this mess in the first place. But I couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think clearly. He was a lie too, wasn’t he? This whole werewolf thing was absurd, like something out of a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Was he even real? Was *anything* real?
Jake shifted so that we were face-to-face, his hands gripping my shoulders, his face so close that our noses were practically touching. His intense green eyes locked onto mine, and something about the way he looked at me made me stop, just for a second, and take a shaky breath. "If you don't start breathing right now, I’ll make your death much easier by sucking the life out of you," he threatened, his tone dark, his lips curving into a smirk, and for a second, I actually thought he might mean it. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Was he... trying to help or just being a psycho?
I struggled to suck in air, but my panic was still overwhelming me. Tiny black dots swarmed in my vision, the edges of the room fading, and I felt like I was slipping further and further away from reality. My body was trembling uncontrollably, my chest heaving as I desperately tried to breathe, but it wasn’t working. The panic was too strong.
Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Jake’s hand shot out and grabbed my chin, pulling my face toward his in one swift motion. His lips crashed onto mine with such force it knocked the air out of me—literally. I froze, my eyes wide open, completely shocked by the sudden kiss. It wasn’t gentle or soft. No, it was like an assault on my senses. His lips were hot, rough, and demanding, sending electric jolts down my spine.
My heart pounded in my chest, my pulse racing, and I instinctively began breathing through my nose as if my life depended on it—and maybe it did. My lungs began to expand, finally pulling in the oxygen they so desperately needed, but I could feel Jake sucking my breath right back out, the bastard actually doing what he threatened. "The psycho actually meant it," I thought, my mind still reeling.
I pushed at his chest, trying to break free, but he held firm, his lips still pressed to mine, his body warm and solid against me. I could feel the tingling warmth of our connection, the mate bond pulling me toward him despite my fury, but I wasn’t having it. With all my strength, I shoved him away from me, finally breaking the kiss.
"You bastard! Are you fucking crazy?!" I screamed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, my voice filled with disbelief. "Who even does that? You psychotic asshole!"
Jake just stood there, smirking like he found the whole thing amusing, his eyes glinting with mischief. "I told you to breathe, didn’t I?" His voice was maddeningly calm, as if what he had just done was the most normal thing in the world.
"You’re insane!" I yelled, still panting, my chest heaving as I glared at him, my fists clenched at my sides. "You can’t just... kiss someone to make them breathe! That’s not how it works!"
Jake shrugged nonchalantly, the smirk never leaving his face. "It worked, didn’t it?"
I wanted to scream, to throw something at him, but I was too exhausted to do anything except glare at him. "You’re unbelievable," I muttered, rubbing my temples as I tried to calm myself down. My whole body was still shaking from the panic attack and the adrenaline from that... ridiculous kiss.
Bryan, who had been silent this entire time, finally spoke up, his voice soft and apologetic. "Prisca... I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I swear. I just want to help you."
I turned to him, my expression hard. "Help me? You want to help me now, after lying to me for who knows how long?" I shook my head, feeling tears sting my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "You could have told me the truth, Bryan. You should have told me."
Bryan’s face crumpled with regret. "I know. I’m sorry. I just... I didn’t want to lose you."
"You already did," I whispered, my voice breaking. The betrayal felt too deep, too raw. I didn’t know if I could ever trust him again.
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