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I check my phone again and saw that it’d been nearly thirty minutes. Turning around, I saw that the same opening I came from wasn’t too far behind. There must be molasses in my feet because what the fuck? Another set of headlights shines behind me, and I duck back into the trees, but this car slows until they match my pace. My feet don’t stop moving until their window is rolled down, and I recognize the voice.

“Noah?” I ponder. Shouldn’t he be at the hospital or resting from what happened earlier tonight?

“Get in,” he says, but his tone sounds venomous.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I whisper.

“Get in the fucking car, Luna.”

My feet begin to move faster away from his car, and the sound of a door slamming shakes my bones. I begin to sprint until I’m full-blown running, but I’m too slow. Of course, I’m too fucking slow.

Noah grabs onto my sweater, but I rip my arm out of it. He holds onto an empty piece of fabric. The brisk coldness in the air bites into my skin, but my adrenaline takes over until sweat beads on my forehead.

“Get back to the damn car, Luna. I fucking mean it!”

“No!” My pace finally picks up faster, carrying me further away. Then, I trip on a branch.

Some cliche horror movie-type shit, and it pisses me off. Right now, I am the girl that I make fun of in movies, which makes this situation much more infuriating. Noah chuckles darkly, and I’ve never heard or seen him like this before. I try to scramble to my feet, but Noah is behind me and yanks me up by my hair.

The pain is excruciating, and it doesn’t feel like this when Jax pulls my hair. It doesn’t feel like this when Jax doesn’t want me to get away and makes me fight. Jax draws pleasure from me, but this? This is genuine fear.

The moon casts a light over Noah’s face, and I steal a glance. Even in the darkness, I can see the bruises that mar his skin along his nose and cheeks, and I feel guilty.

“I’m sorry you got hurt,” I murmur.

“Oh, this?” He points to his face with his free hand as he yanks me all the way to my feet. “This is nothing. It’s what’s inside that hurts, babe.”

“H-How’d you know I was out here?”

“There’s a tracker on your phone,” he whispers into my ear as he pulls me backward into his chest. Goosebumps coat my skin as a shiver runs down my spine. “You always seemed a little… Lost. I never knew what was going on inside that pretty little head of yours. I always wanted to know where you were,” he tells me with another tug on my hair. “You want to know the worst part? That he got to Chase, and he’s not even being punished for his violence. I saw the way he looked at you, Luna, like a fucking prize. So, I wonder how he’d feel knowing his prize is ruined? Hm?”

Jesus Christ. Did Jax give him a lesson on anger management?

“You’re sick,” I turn my head and spit on him, but the look on his face tells me that I should regret my choices. I don't.

“You bitch,” he shouts. Any semblance of patience he had is gone, and Noah is dragging me to his car by my hair. The pain makes my scalp itch, and I try, with everything in me, not to wince from it. I try not to let it show that it's hurting me.

He shoves me into the passenger seat of his car, and I feel too defeated to try to run. I tried already. Look where it got me.

“You won’t get away with whatever you have planned,” I say as he closes the door. Noah stares hard at me as if searching for my soul when he gets into the car. I’m not sure it can be found. I lost whatever was inside of me a long time ago.

“Tell me, Lun. Was any of it real?” I swallow because I’m afraid to answer.

“Yes.”

“Liar!” He screams as he slams his fists against the steering wheel. Noah puts the idling car into drive, and slams on the gas. The tires squeal in the dead of the night. I lurch forward, extending my arms toward the dash to steady myself. “Let’s try that again. Was any of it real?”

“No,” I admit, blowing out a breath. His foot pushes harder on the gas making his Acura engine grumble.

“Why? Why did you use me?” His voice cracks, and the damage I caused is visible.

“I wanted to forget. You were an easy prey. You fell for me when I never fell for you,” I say with the most confidence I have, playing a trick from Jax’s deck of cards. I should be trying to smooth things over. Maybe even apologize. I’m just too tired.

“Well, maybe you should be an actress instead of a fucking social worker because you put on a world-class act.” Noah’s words barely have time to settle before I feel a sting on my cheek.

Noah just smacked me.

All I can think about is the damage that Jax will cause when he finds out about this. I play this push-and-pull game with Jax, and currently, we are on the push, but all I can think about is him right now. I should have let him drive me home.