Chapter 114: The Mark It Left Behind
Bella barely made it to the bathroom before she collapsed to her knees.
Her stomach lurched, nausea twisting inside her.
Dante was right behind her, his body a wall of heat and tension, his breathing uneven.
"Bella?" His voice was low, raw, desperate.
She couldn't answer.
Because the second she braced herself against the sink, her eyes flickering to the mirror—
She saw it.
Not just the exhaustion in her face.
Not just the shadows beneath her eyes.
Something worse.
Something unnatural.
A mark.
Black. Twisted.
Curling like ink across the hollow of her throat, pulsing faintly.
A brand.
A claim.
Dante's breath turned to a snarl.
"What the fuck is that?"
Bella's fingers trembled as she traced the dark symbol.
It was cold.
Like a wound that would never heal.
She swallowed hard.
"It's a tether," she whispered.
She turned to Dante, her golden eyes full of something he had never seen in her before.
Fear.
"It's not just hunting me," Bella choked out.
"It's already inside me."