Chapter 129: The Breaking of a Hollow One

Firelight flickered against Bella's skin.

Dante had dragged her deep into the forest, far from the pack, far from anything that could stop him.

He didn't need witnesses.

Didn't need warriors.

This was his fight.

His mate.

His Luna.

And he would tear the darkness out of her himself.

Bella sat on her knees in the center of a circle of black ash, her hands tied behind her back, her breath coming in sharp, shallow pants.

Her eyes flickered between gold and black, her body trembling with something unseen, violent, breaking.

The Hollow One was fighting him.

Fighting to keep her.

Dante stood over her, his chest bare, his hands bloodied.

"You are not this thing."

Bella gritted her teeth, her entire body shaking.

"Stop."

Dante's eyes burned.

"You are Bella Santos."

Bella snarled, her blackened eyes flashing.

"I am nothing."

Dante grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him.

"Wrong."

Then—

He ripped the collar of her shirt, exposing the mark on her throat.

The darkness had spread.

But deep beneath it, there was still the original mark.

His mark.

His claim.

And as long as that was there, she was still his.

Dante's fingers tightened on her throat.

"I don't care how deep you are, Bella."

His voice was low, shaking, unrelenting.

"I will find you."

Bella's body convulsed.

The Hollow One screamed.

And then—

Bella threw her head back and howled.

The sound shook the trees, split the sky, ripped through the night like a dying thing.

And in that moment—

Dante knew.

He was winning.

But the Hollow One?

It would not die quietly.

And before the night was over, one of them would break.