Mutual Anchors || Liam Dunbar [1]

Chapter 53 |One of us|

I sit quietly with Theo in the apartment where none of us speak. In fact, none of us have any idea what to say.

I get up and slowly go to bed when suddenly there's a big noise that startles me quite a bit.

"I was waiting to see how long it would take you to come and kill me," I hear Theo's voice, and when I turn around, I see him fall to the ground together with the chair he was sitting in.

For my not-so-great surprise, it's Malia pressing her claws against his neck as if to kill him at any minute. "You're lucky I've calmed down a bit along the way, or I'd fucking rip your stupid head off!"

"Malia!" I scold her, but she won't look at me.

Instead, she starts hitting Theo. Quite savagely and brutally. I run over and try to get Malia from him somehow, but I'm not doing very well.

"It's okay. You don't have to stop," Theo gasps, when she doesn't beat him for a moment and my heart breaks almost at the words.

"Trust me- I won't," she sighs furiously, but doesn't get to hit him again because I grab her bicep and yank her off it with all my might. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I won't let you just come in here and beat him," I kneel before Theo and give a quick glance at his bloody face.

"Just come in here? This apartment is more mine than the two of you put together."

"I don't know that you start calling yourself Hale. Am I right?" I ask, and I see she won't answer. "When you call yourself Malia Hale and not Tate, we can talk about who's more entitled to this apartment."

I look at Theo, who is watching Malia derisively. I touch his bloody face and wipe it on the sleeve of my hoodie.

"Get away from him," Malia tells me earnestly, and I hear her low growl.

"No," I throw the arm around Theo's shoulders in a protective way, not moving an inch. I'm not gonna let Malia beat him up.

"Get away from him, Valeria, or I swear I'll kill you along with him," she pulls out her claws as if to intimidate me, but I smile with amusement as soon as I hear Theo laugh. "What are you laughing at?"

"Well, I don't know if you'd understand," Theo says, still laughing. "Months ago, you would have been able to lay down your life for her, and now you want to lay down her life? I'm sorry, but it's ridiculous because this is so absurd, I don't know what's coming next."

"You're just like him. What happened to that girl I knew? She certainly wouldn't jump into bed and wouldn't be screwing a sociopath! If you're defending such a mean son of a bitch yourself, you're just like him!" Malia growls and takes it a step further, but suddenly there are rapid footsteps away from the door.

I'm gonna stop right there because this hurts. It hurts to hear it from someone close to me. And I know she remembers me now. I could tell the moment she looked into my eyes.