“Better,” he rumbles. “Everything’s better if I’m touching you.”
I kiss his naked chest. “I agree completely.”
He shifts my weight around, then settles me so his half-hard cock rests against my thigh. “Ignore that,” he instructs me. “With how close the full moon is, I’ll be hard for you most of the time.”
My cheeks flush with heat, but I do my best to follow his order. “You don’t have to tell me everything today. But if you’d like to start, that would be great.”
“I was born near here,” he begins. “My mother lives not far from Clearwater.”
“Yeah, I remember you saying that. You were on your way from her house when you found me, weren’t you?”
“That’s right.” Troy hugs me close to his chest, his arms warm bands around me. “My parents had me quite late. They were true mates, but they only met each other in their forties. They didn’t know if they were going to be able to have kids, so I was a surprise baby.”
I grin, trying to imagine baby Troy crawling around, chewing on furniture. “They must have been very happy.”
“They were,” he agrees, sadness creeping into his voice. “So much so that I felt…smothered as a teenager. You know? They wanted to do right by me, of course, but I was a little shit who knew best.”
I wince in sympathy. “To be fair, I think most teenagers are little shits who think they know best.”
Troy chuckles, but he doesn’t loosen his hold on me, so I know the story won’t be so pleasant from now on.
“A pack came through town,” he tells me softly. “They were visiting one of the festivals the witches put on for the supernatural community. The summer solstice, I think. Their alpha was a real tough guy. Charismatic. Everyone in his pack looked up to him, and he had two beautiful mates who doted on him.”
A low rumbling starts in his chest, a growl so menacing, I’d be terrified if it was aimed at me. I don’t know if he’s angry with himself or that alpha, but I wrap my arms around his chest and stroke his back until he quiets down again.Pressed as I am against his chest, I hear his heartbeat slowing down until it settles in a steady, calm rhythm.
“You wanted to be like him?” I prompt him, sensing that he needs it. “Did you join his pack?”
Troy nods. “My parents tried to warn me. They saw the signs that I missed.”
I tip my head back and meet his gaze. “The signs?”
He grimaces, his expression full of disgust. “He was compelling them. Using his alpha commands to keep them in line. In public, at least. In private, he liked to let them have an illusion of free will, but everyone was too afraid of him to try to leave the pack.” Troy’s eyes darken at some distant memory. “One of his mates tried to run away after she got pregnant. Didn’t want her kid to grow up in that toxic environment. He tracked her down, beat her up, and brought her back. She nearly lost her baby.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, my eyes filling with tears. “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah.” Troy scrubs a hand over his face, weariness descending over him. “That was the night I challenged him. I’d been living with them for several years at that point, unable toget away. He kept me pinned with his commands, but after what he did to Sonia, I jump-started an attack I’d been planning for months. He still nearly killed me.”
His big body is all tense now, so I rub his shoulders and chest, wishing I could do more. “But you won?”
He gives me a curt nod. “I muzzled him. Gagged him so he couldn’t use his alpha voice on me. Or anyone else so they’d be forced to help him. He was strong, though, older and a better fighter than me. Ripped me half to shreds before I tore out his throat.”
A jolt goes through me at his confession. He’d killed a man. A dangerous, violent, abusive bastard, but still—a person.
And I know that this is the reason why Troy is suffering so much. Not because of the physical injuries done to him but the knowledge that he did what he must consider an unforgivable thing.
“You saved those people, didn’t you?” I ask softly. “They were finally free after he was gone?”
He nods. “Yeah. They were free.”
“Then that’s a good thing. You did what you had to. It’s not like you could have called the cops on the guy, right?”
I wonder if there is a supernatural police force that serves the magical communities.
“No cops,” he agrees. “The packs police themselves. The witches do, too.”
I purse my lips thoughtfully. “That doesn’t sound like a good system. Did that make you the pack’s alpha?”
Troy relaxes against the headboard, drawing me with him. “It did. But the pack was too broken to stick together. I let everyone go, and they were all too happy to disperse.” He traces his palm over my back, up and down. “I stayed in touch with Sonia. She lives in Texas with her kid, and we see her at big supernatural gatherings sometimes.”
