Craving The Beast I Hate

Vida's POV

“Vida… wake up… you have to…”

The voice drifted through my mind like smoke, familiar yet distant, echoing from somewhere deep and unreachable. I tried to grasp it, but it slipped away. Nothing is making sense. I felt like I was in an abyss. Someone was caging me.

“Now.”

The command snapped like a whip, and my eyes flew open.

My breath caught. My hand moved on its own, brushing hair from my face and those thick sweat forms on my head. It's like I was pulled into a strange world. My eyes scanned the room. This wasn't my room nor my bed, it was a different bed, and then my eyes moved, and they fell on a figure.

Meredith!

My brows furrow, watching his expression.

Meredith stood against the far wall of the room, his shoulders tense, jaw clenched, eyes locked on me with a storm brewing behind them.

He looked… wrecked. His eyes were red and his Face drained.

Like he hadn’t just cried, not just cried, he looked like someone who had been crying for days, and that mood was like someone who had been fighting it for hours.

But this was Meredith Ramsey. He didn't cry. And he certainly didn’t cry for me. The man hated me and would do anything to see me locked up in that office for an entire week without letting me see the sun.

Fear tightened my throat.

The last thing I remembered was Akira, her scream, the terror in her eyes, the way her hands shook as she grabbed me.

Then darkness.

I pushed myself upright, my heartbeat loud and uneven, my stomach twisting with dread.

“What happened?” I whispered. “Where’s Akira?” my head pounding like it was going to burst out of my chest.

Meredith didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He just stared at me like my existence itself offended him, or maybe it was me reading lies in unspoken words.

My gaze swept the room, for the second time, white walls, antiseptic smell, machines humming. A hospital. But nothing was attached to me. No IV, no wires. Yet my stomach burned, my throat felt scorched, and something inside my body felt… wrong. Different. Like I had been torn apart and stitched back together by a stranger’s hands.

My memories were shredded. Every time I tried to remember, the fog thickened.

“What’s going on?” I demanded, my voice cracking. Austin stood in the doorway. Pale. The looks exchanged between him and Meredith told me they both knew something I didn’t.

Then Meredith exhaled, sharp, annoyed, as if every second he spent looking at me irritated him. “We need to get the rejection done.”

My breath stumbled.

He stepped forward, stopping just outside my reach. Hands shoved into his pockets. Hair tousled. Eyes cold.

“I, Meredith Ramsey..."

“Wait.” My voice trembled. “What are you talking about?” His expression didn’t change.

"...Beta of the Gold Moon Pack...”

Confusion tore through me. Fear twisted in my stomach, painfully tight.

Rejection?

For me?

My fingers moved to my lips as horror slowly dawned.

“You’re not saying…” I whispered. “I’m not... You can’t be..."

His eyes hardened. “You are,” he answered like he knew what I was dying to ask. His reply threw me into another round of confusion.

No spark.

No pull.

No craving.

No, mate, tug that every wolf talks about.

I felt nothing.

But he looked at me like I ruined his life. He took a breath, voice sharp as broken glass. “I, Meredith Ramsey, Beta of the Gold Moon Pack, reject you, Vida McCarthy, as my mate.” The words sliced through the air.

I froze.

Mate?

My heartbeat didn’t change. My chest didn’t ache. Nothing inside me reacted, not warmth, not pain, not even instinct.

I was human, yes but Akira was human too, and she felt her mate bond from the first glance. She told me it was undeniable. Akira's explanation was exactly as I had read it in books, even though she was human like me, but...

Me?

Nothing.

Empty.

“I don’t even feel the bond…” I whispered. A flicker of pain crossed his eyes. It vanished instantly behind that cold mask he wore.

“I don’t care what you feel. The bond exists. I want it gone.”

Not heartbreak.

Just confusion.

If he were my mate… why did my entire being feel numb?

“Fine.” I shrugged. “I accept.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, perhaps he didn’t expect me to say it so easily. But I didn’t have time for his icy attitude.

“Meredith,” I said quickly, my voice rising in desperation, “Akira was with me last night. Your Luna. Is she okay? What happened to her? And the Alpha?”

Silence.

A muscle in his jaw ticked. Something flickered in his eyes. Was it regret? Fear? Guilt? I just can't place it before he forced it away.

“What happened to her?” I demanded again, louder. He still didn’t answer.

I shoved past him, nearly tripping, and rushed toward Austin. “Austin, please... tell me what happened to her!” He opened his mouth, but before he could speak. The door flew open.

A nurse rushed in, breathless, trembling. In her shaking hands was a piece of clothing. Blood-soaked. Ripped. Familiar.

Akira’s top.

My world tilted.

“Where is she?” I choked out. “Where is Akira?” The nurse’s lips parted

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

A shrill alarm exploded overhead. Red lights flashed. The entire hospital seemed to thrum with fear. Austin cursed under his breath. Meredith stiffened. The intercom crackled

“All staff to the lower wing. The subject is awake. I repeat: Subject is awake.”

The nurse blanched, clutching the bloody cloth closer.

My pulse hammered. “What subject?”

She didn’t answer.

Meredith did.

For the first time, his voice wasn’t cold, it trembled. With fear. With something he didn’t want me to hear.

“You weren’t supposed to survive last night.”

His eyes locked onto mine.

“You should’ve died with her.”

My blood froze.

“With who?” I whispered. Meredith’s jaw clenched. The hospital lights flickered

once.

Twice.

Then everything went black.

And somewhere down the hall…

something screamed.