AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And you think joining this asshole’s army is going to help with that?” Cade snarls. “We don’t know shit about him or the people he’s with. How do we know if the Order is really doing that? I’m not willing to put the lives of my pack and my mate on the line for a gut feeling that something bad is coming.”
Son of a bitch.
I grind my teeth, trying once again—and failing—to reach my magic.
“I think you’re leaving out the part where I was held captive by the Order, forcibly imprinted on another, and raped with the sole purpose of creating a super soldier.”
There is a collective flinch at my words, someone gasps and mutters of dismay fill the silence, but I ignore the others, focusing on Jackson who looks crushed by my admission.
“Fuck,” he mutters, and guilt smashes through me.
I grip his bicep. “You didn’t rape me,” I tell him. “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t even remember what happened.”
He squeezes his eyes shut. “That’s exactly what happened, though. The imprinting is done to force a heat cycle, and we all know exactly how heat works, Dove. I would have been out of control with the need to knot inside you. I would have overpowered you to make that happen. I would have?—”
He breaks off, his voice cracking, and I can barely breathe. “I love you. I would have wanted it to be you.”
I don’t know if that’s true or what Jackson and I felt for each other when we were introduced for… breeding purposes. The thought of it makes me feel sick. Was I scared of him? Was he reluctant to take me? Did I know him before? How did it happen? Were we thrown together or bound and forced?
My temple pulses, a throbbing agony splitting through my skull. There are so many questions and no answers—at least not here. Ayden and his group could offer more understanding, and I desperately need to know what happened while we were in the Order’s grasp.
“It would still have been against your will, Dove.” He tears his fingers through his hair, and I cling tighter to him, scared that he might pull away if I allow him to.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me!”
I squeeze him. “Then help me put a stop to it. I don’t remember everything, but I know I was locked in a room until I thought I would go crazy. I recall being forced to practice my magic hour after hour until it felt as if my skin was on fire. I remember the feeling of fear that sat in my stomach all the time.” I raise my eyes and lock on to Jackson's. “We don’t know if our imprinting was successful. We may have a child together. One that was left behind in the facility.”
I sob out the last words, unable to keep my composure any longer. His face blanches, the color draining from his skin, before I’m crushed against his chest, his fingers gripping my nape.
I cling to him, as if he is the only thing stopping me from drowning, because he is.
Chapter 16
Jackson
Ihold her tight against me, soaking up her scent and the feel of her petite frame in my arms.
Fuck. It feels like forever since I last touched her, though it has only been a couple of days. I didn’t want her to move out, to sleep away from me, not for a second, but I also understand she was coming apart and needed space.
Never again.
If she needs space, she can have it in our cabin. In our bed. Time without her just doesn’t make sense to me.
I can’t stop myself from clinging to her, like she is the breath I need in my lungs to survive. Seeing Wyatt manhandle her almost had me tearing his head off, and if she wasn’t twisting her fingers in my shirt, I just might do it anyway.
“I’m here,” I soothe, my hand running over her hair. “You’re safe.”
She thinks we may have a child out there.
I guess I did wonder about it after Ayden mentioned the imprinting, but I didn’t allow myself to truly consider it a possibility.
I rest my chin on top of her head, her hair tickling my jaw as I see Cade staring at me. My alpha looks furious, but I’m just as pissed.
Dove is mine to protect, mine to take care of, and I take that role seriously. It breaks me the way she is sobbing against me, more so because my pack—my brothers—have led to her meltdown.
“I’m not okay,” she whimpers. “This whole thing is so fucked up. I need to remember. I need the truth?—”
