**CHAPTER 33**
**THE REPLACEMENT**
**BETTY’S POV**
I stopped going to the library.
At first I told myself it was only for a few days. Just until the raw ache in my throat eased and the faint purple marks around my neck faded enough that I wouldn’t have to keep yanking the collar of my shirt higher every time someone walked past. The bruises were already turning a sickly yellow at the edges, but they still throbbed when I swallowed, a constant reminder of fingers that had closed without hesitation.
Staying in my room felt safer than walking the corridors of the pack house. Safer than risking the stares. Safer than remembering the way the Alpha’s hand had felt against my skin.
But after a few days I realized I wasn’t going back.
The library had been the one place I looked forward to
