Chapter 32

Alice

After burning the letter, I could do nothing but cry.

This is devastating, I thought, with a lot of pain and remorse.

The worst part was that I had to clean everything up before Bella showed up because she had agreed to stay that night with me since she could stand to be alone without Angel. The truth is that I understood her, and that's why she had given in, but I couldn't lose my temper with her, or it could be worse.

I was afraid to face the truth and to let Stefan know that I was okay.

I didn't want to lose my freedom.

I didn't want to fall into his clutches.

In all those days in the Northern Pack, I had learned to deal with the sense of helplessness, with the feeling of guilt, and with the damned feeling of inferiority. I was learning to understand that those were not problems in this territory and that, if I put my mind to it, I could make a good life with friends, with people who respected me and really appreciated me for who I was.

The very idea of Stefan taking that aw