Page 57 of Crimson Heart

There. She’d said it. She felt better now. For the first time in her life, she was fighting for what she truly wanted, and she wouldn’t back down.

“Byron Gallagher?” her father echoed, clearly taken aback.

She gave a curt nod.

“He can’t be trusted. I know enough about him to know that he’s not a suitable match for you. There’s no way I’ll give you permission to mate with him or anybody else in his family.”

“Byron is a good man!” Charlotte protested.

“He’s not! If you really knew him, you wouldn’t say that. You’re lying to your mother and me, and worst of all, to yourself. A mating with him is out of the question. Now pack your stuff, and we’ll leave. The Leon pack is understandably upset about your abrupt departure!”

Before she could protest further, the door opened, and Jude and Mason entered.

“Dad, Mom, I didn’t know you were planning to visit,” Jude said, his voice calm and friendly as if he didn’t know what was going on here.

She’d always admired Jude for the calmness he could project even under the most stressful of situations.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on here,” her father said to Jude. “You should have called me the moment Charlotte showed up here. But no, you harbored her here without notifying me.”

At his harsh words, Charlotte couldn’t hold back. “You’re making it sound as if Jude is harboring a criminal! I’m not your prisoner!”

Her father glared at her. “You’ve said enough, Charlotte!”

Then he addressed Jude again. “Charlotte is coming with us now. By tonight, we’ll be back with the Leon pack. And she’ll mate with the alpha’s son.”

To her surprise, Jude didn’t reply to their father, but instead, he exchanged a look with Danielle. He nodded at her, and she appeared to understand what he wanted from her.

Danielle motioned to the sofa. “James, why don’t you take a seat? There’s something I have to tell you about the Leon pack.”

James narrowed his eyes, but didn’t follow her invitation to sit down. “What is it?”

The words were like a challenge, but Danielle remained calm.

“Very well.” Danielle swallowed visibly. “I wish I didn’t have to talk about this and bury this part of my past forever, but for the sake of Charlotte’s safety, I can’t remain silent.”

Utterly curious now, Charlotte hung on every word coming out of Danielle’s mouth.

“Almost seven years ago, my mother and I joined the Leon pack. It was a big mistake. As I got to know the pack members, and particularly the alpha and his son Steve, I realized that they were not just unpleasant, but downright evil and rotten to the core.”

Charlotte could barely believe her ears. Danielle had been part of the Leon pack?

“Steve was the cruelest of them,” she continued. “He beat the lower-ranking members frequently, particularly the women. One wrong word, one gesture he didn’t like, and he would unleash his cruelty on them, not just beat them, but also sexually assault them.”

An icy hand wrapped around her heart as Danielle revealed more and more of what Steve was capable of.

“Everybody feared him. After my mother died, I overheard them talking. The alpha decided that I should mate with Steve. It was meant as punishment because I’d rejected Steve’s advances every time and fought back. Everybody in the pack knew it. But I also knew that nobody would help me, and if I mated with him, I would become his personal punching bag. So I fled. I hoped that I’d never see or hear from him and the Leon pack again.”

Charlotte’s head was spinning as she tried to make sense of Danielle’s words. She looked at Danielle and Jude. Danielle’s story confirmed everything that she’d felt when she’d met Steve. She’d felt the evil he was capable of, and nobody had believed her. Her gut had been right.

“Jude, why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” she asked.

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Charlotte,” he said before taking Danielle’s hand. “I didn’t know the name of the pack Danielle fled from until last night. I had no idea it was the Leon pack. If I had, I would have never doubted your instincts.”

“Bullshit!” James cursed. “The three of you made this up, so we won’t insist on Charlotte mating with Steve Leon! Just because Charlotte wants Byron Gallagher.”

“How dare you accuse Danielle of lying?” Jude thundered.

“Because you have no proof! I’m not gullible! I know how you dote on your sister. You’ve always protected her and given in to her whims. Guess that hasn’t changed. And now you concoct some cockamamie story and expect me to break our agreement with the Leon pack. That’s not happening! We’re taking Charlotte back now.”

“No!” Charlotte protested. “I believe Danielle. Don’t you love me at all, Dad? Because if you did, you wouldn’t force me to mate with a monster!”

She turned on her heel and hurried to the door.

“We’re not done, Charlotte!” her father growled. “You’re coming back with us!”