Page 30 of Blackmailing Belle (The Lost Girls #4)

Chapter 30

Going Feral

BELLE

D ominic’s claws glint like steel, fully extended. His breaths come in short, sharp growls. The space around him seems to darken, his rage a palpable force that ripples outward, heavier than the rain-soaked air.

Inside me, fear curls low and sharp, but it’s not for myself. It’s for him—this man, this beast, undone by the grief that my own flesh and blood is responsible for. My chest tightens, and the weight of what Roman revealed crushes me anew. My cousin murdered his family. I thought I knew the extent of pain my family could dish out, but this is different. This is more than grief-soaked resentment; it’s a blade. And it’s cutting me apart piece by piece.

"Move, cher ," Lucien orders again, his body now angled protectively in front of me.

"No," I whisper, my voice thin but steady. I can’t leave him like this.

I watch as his body trembles, the muscles under his shirt rippling unnaturally. His shoulders broaden, the fabric straining before tearing as if his skin itself is rebelling against him. His face contorts, a snarl revealing longer, sharper canines. He’s not fully a lion, not wholly human—he’s something monstrous and in between, and the sight of him sends an involuntary shiver down my spine.

Tock steps closer to me, his usually easy demeanor replaced with razor-sharp focus. "You don’t understand, Belle. He’s not human right now. He’s barely Dominic. He’s?—"

"Feral," Lucien finishes grimly.

Dominic’s head snaps toward the sound of his name, his green eyes blazing. They’re not the warm, teasing shade that sometimes catches me off guard in the quiet moments when we’re alone. No, these are sharp, more predator than man.

His growl reverberates through the air, low and guttural, and my pulse spikes. He can’t hear Tock. He can’t hear any of us. He’s lost, consumed, and I can see that the enormity of his pain has swallowed him whole.

My family did this. Not to me this time, but to him. I knew they destroyed lives, twisted everything they touched, but to bring down someone like Dominic—to rob him of his family, his foundation—it’s monstrous. Worse, I don’t know how anyone survives that kind of loss.

Tock curses under his breath. "We need to get you out of here before?—"

The moment Tock moves toward me, Dominic’s head snaps toward him. His lips curl back in a feral snarl, revealing sharp, gleaming canines that are far too large for a human mouth.

He’s magnificent and terrifying in the same breath, but it’s the kind of terror that doesn’t scare me. It hurts me. Every growl, every swipe of his claws—it’s grief spilling out of him in the only way it can. I can’t hate him for it, and I sure as hell can’t leave him alone in it.

"Stop," I say sharply, surprising even myself. "Don’t touch me." Dominic is possessive, controlling, and Tock touching me is just going to make things worse. Whether Dominic views me as something to claim or kill in this moment, it doesn’t matter. I’m his.

"I’m not going to let him hurt you. It would kill him," Tock says.

My heart lodges its way into my throat. "No."

But Tock grabs for me.

Dominic lunges.

It happens so fast I barely register the blur of movement before Dominic slams into Tock, sending him sprawling into a stack of crates. The wood splinters on impact, the sound loud and sharp against the rain.

The violence of it is breathtaking, raw and unrestrained, but it’s not blind. Not quite. He could have killed Tock with a single blow, but he didn’t. That restraint—the shred of humanity still clinging to him—tightens something inside me. He’s fighting it, even now.

My family didn’t just take his pack away—they took his control, his sense of self. And now he’s left with this: half man, half beast, his grief so consuming it’s physically tearing him apart.

" Merde, " Lucien curses, stepping between me and Dominic as Tock groans from the ground, clutching his ribs. There’s the click of his lighter, but then both his hands go up in flames. He holds them up in warning.

Holy witchtits, Lucien is a fire mage. And he’s going to get himself killed.

"Dominic, stop," I yell, but my voice is swallowed by the next guttural growl that tears from his throat .

Lucien moves to intercept him, fire blazing from his fists, but Dominic swats him away like he’s nothing more than an annoyance. There is a splash as Lucien stumbles right over the pier.

So much for fire.

But Tock is up and headed toward me even as he bleeds from his head.

"Don’t!" I shout at everyone. My heart pounds as I raise my hands, palms out, trying to project calm even as my knees threaten to buckle.

Dominic’s head swivels toward me, his nostrils flaring. His claws twitch again, scraping the air as his gaze locks on mine. His chest heaves, his breath coming in sharp, animalistic pants.

I can feel the rage radiating off him in waves, a heat that seeps into my skin and sets my nerves on edge. He’s wild, a dangerous predator on the edge of losing control entirely.

"Dominic." I force my voice to stay steady despite the terror clawing at my insides. "It’s me. It’s Isabelle."

He growls, a sound that’s more animal than human, his lips pulling back in a snarl. His claws flex, digging into the wood of the dock, and I swear I hear it groan under the pressure.

"You can’t reach him, cher ," Lucien warns, climbing up the side ladder of the pier, soaked to the bone. His voice is tight with pain. "Not like this. He’s too far gone."

"I have to try," I whisper, the words trembling on my lips. Because if I don’t, I’m no better than Roman. No better than the family I left behind for their ability to wreak this kind of havoc.

But it’s not just about what my family has done. It’s about what Dominic needs. Someone to face the fire with him, to hold steady when the world has burned to ash around him.

Dominic closes the distance, his movements slow and deliberate, like a predator stalking its prey. My breath catches as his massive frame towers over me, his claws twitching at his sides, his eyes locked on mine.

"Dominic," I whisper again.

His head tilts slightly as he stares at me. I think I’ve reached him.

Then his claws flash, slashing through the air, and I barely have time to duck before they rip through the space where I’d been standing.

"Move, Isabelle!" Lucien shouts, panicked.

"No," I snap, spinning to face him and Tock. "Stay back."

They hesitate, their instincts warring with their concern.

I turn back to Dominic, my heart pounding in my chest as I inch closer. His growl deepens, a warning that rumbles through the air, but I don’t stop.

"You need this, don’t you? You need to let it out."

His claws flex, his lips pull back in another snarl, but he doesn’t move.

He’s not just angry—he’s drowning in his pain. And somehow, I have to be the lifeline.

I take a small step forward, my hands shaking but my resolve solid. He could kill me. I know that. But I also know he won’t. Not because he can’t—he’s stronger, faster, more dangerous than anyone I’ve ever met. But because deep down, I know he still knows me.

"Take it out on me," I say, my words barely more than a whisper. "I can take it."

For a moment, he freezes, his eyes narrowing as he stares at me. Then, with a growl that shakes the air around us, he moves.

He doesn’t attack me, not exactly. His claws close around me, firm but not crushing, and he lifts me as if I weigh nothing. The world tilts as he bounds away, his massive form moving with a speed and grace that shouldn’t be possible for something so large.