Chapter 30. Unleashing the Beast Within

BELLE

I hated that he was here. I hated that, as hard as I tried to ignore him and focus on my work, he was the only thing I could think of.

I was aware of his every move, of his eyes that followed me everywhere I went in the small diner.

And most of all, I hated that my traitorous body wanted nothing more than to go to him and forgive him for every single horrible thing he had ever done to me.

Because I still needed him. God, why did I still need him?

He had rejected me. He had tried to mate with someone else. There was no way to make it any clearer that he didn’t want me. So why was I still reacting this way to him?

Why was it so physically painful to stay away from him?

I grabbed the tip left for me on the table of my last customers of the night. It was dark out now, and the diner had finally cleared out, leaving only Grayson behind.

Candice and Brenda had left a few hours earlier, and the cook, who was still in the kitchen, was goi