He flashed his wolf eyes at me, and his nostrils flared for a second before he pointed. “End of the hallway and take a left.”
He sounded so sure that for a moment I frowned. “How can you be so sure?”
“I can smell lust. Primal, undeniable lust.”
“Lust?” I echoed dumbly. “Why would anyone here be…”
He cut me off. “A male’s lust, and a woman’s terror.” His voice was deadpan.
“Oh...” I let my words trail off. That made more sense. “You think he is raping them?” I didn't even try to keep the rage out of my voice. It made my words shaky.
“I think he is doing something to one of them, yeah, what an asshole,” he muttered, his anger right there at the surface like mine was.
Rapists were the lowest of the low. Taking with force something that was meant to be given freely. Yes, I used the girls in the clubhouse, but they wanted us as much as we wanted them. It was mutually beneficial. There was no rape.
“You think it's Briella?” I already had a sinking feeling in my gut that it was. I didn’t even know the woman and I cared about her. Her smiling face in the picture I had tucked inside my cut swam before my eyes. “Or does he have a sickness for children?”
Raze met my eyes. “Not that I know of.”
Briella then. Which made things a thousand times harder. If he had taken a fancy to her, then would he sell her? Or try to keep her for himself? If he had forced himself on her body would she even be sellable now?
Not that it mattered to me. I had a job to do. I couldn't let myself be side-tracked, because the thought of someone taking away the trust in Briella’s eyes might keep me from completing my mission.
“Are you ok?”
I shook myself, nodding as I started to stalk the way he had pointed. I kept quiet but I didn't try to hide. It was more than likely that Acco already knew we were coming.
“Stay alert.” Straightening my back, I turned the corner and was greeted by wide double doors made of wood ornately carved.
Something caught my attention. A sweet smell. Like honey buns fresh out the oven. I reeled back as everything else faded to nothing. There was just me and that delicious scent as it swirled around me, wrapping me in a cocoon like a blanket.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Raze muttered coming up to my side. Still I couldn't speak. I couldn't form into words what I was feeling. It was so new, so unexpected. Like nothing I had ever felt before.
“I can smell her.”
Raze's eyes snapped up to me. “You can…smell who?” His hand paused on the doorknob, waiting for my answer.
“Whoever is in that room. The woman…” I closed in on him, covering the distance between us with one stride. My free hand balled into a fist.
I could smell her. And she smelled delicious. But she was also afraid. Fear and self-loathing mingled in equal measures.
“She’s frightened. Open the damn door and let’s get this over with.” If someone was hurting her, they would die. And it wouldn't be quick. I would make them suffer. Make them feel the same kind of fear she was feeling.
As Briella was feeling. I already knew it was her.
“Dude.” Raze whistled softly. “If you can scent her, it means...”
I didn't let him finish. I knew what it meant. Just like I knew how much more complicated it made matters. Especially with Levi.
“Just open the damn door.” I wanted to, no, Ineededto make sure she was ok. And more than anything I wanted to see her in the flesh for the first time.
Raze pushed open the door, no one attacked us. No one even turned to us. The men and women in the chairs in front of us didn't even acknowledge we had entered; their eyes were locked on the front of the room where a small stage had been erected.
Acco stood there. I didn't know him, but it couldn’t be anyone but him. Golden haired and beautiful if somehow you missed the lizard eyes staring back at you, but it wasn't to him that my eyes wandered. It was to the woman standing by his side. Her shoulders were slumped, her hair hanging low to hide her face.
Briella.
Even petrified and broken she was the most beautiful creature in the room. My mouth was suddenly dry. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, making it hard to breathe.
Briella.
Her head snapped up like she had heard me think her name, and our eyes locked. Hers became even more terrified than before as I took a step into the room. She had every right to be afraid. But I hated seeing that look on her face.
This moment should have been wonderful. Full of happiness. Not tainted with terror and shame. Because I was pretty sure she was my mate.
