Chapter 95: A Choice Worse Than Death

Bella's pulse roared in her ears.

Gabriel's words hung in the air, thick, suffocating.

Kill herself.

That was the only way to end this.

To break the bond that shouldn't exist.

To erase Gabriel from existence.

Her fingernails bit into her palms, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps.

No.

There had to be another way.

There had to be—

"Don't listen to him," Dante growled, his wolf still trembling, still raging, still desperate to destroy.

Gabriel laughed.

"It's the truth, Alpha."

He tilted his head toward Bella, his expression mocking, knowing.

"You feel it, don't you?"

Bella's body ached, her veins burning with something unnatural, something suffocating, something that tied her to the monster before her.

And she did.

She felt it.

Gabriel wasn't just linked to her.

He was feeding off her.

Using her life force to return.

And if she lived?

He would always live.

"You'll never be free of me, Bella," Gabriel whispered. *"No matter what you do. No matter where you run."

Bella's stomach twisted violently.

Because she knew.

He was right.

Dante's chest heaved, his blue eyes burning.

"There's another way," he growled, his hands shaking with restraint, with fury, with desperation.

"There has to be another way."

Bella's throat tightened.

Because she wanted to believe that.

Wanted to believe that this wasn't the only option.

But deep down?

She already knew the answer.

"You have a choice, little wolf," Gabriel murmured.

"Kill me once and for all—by ending yourself."

He smirked.

"Or let me live inside you forever."

Bella's blood turned to ice.

Because this?

This was a fate worse than death.