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Griffin
The bruises… her face… When Emily walked out of my bedroom in my shirt my heart stopped. I wanted to march right back to my old pack and rip Kellan to shreds for what he did. I brought Emily back two days ago, her body was so small in my arms. She barely moved when I put her in the backseat of the van I’d borrowed as soon as I found out where she was. She slept the entire two hours back to my apartment and I spent half an hour staring at her on my bed, fighting the urge to drive back and wreak havoc on the pack.
The moment I’d decided on doing just that, Emily had woken up briefly, fear ingrained in her battered face. Even though the change was minutes away at that point, I’d used the time to calm her down and pull the dirty clothes off. She shivered while I cleaned her and put my shirt on her. She fell back asleep within minutes. I cursed the change. Despite the conflicting emotions whirling in my head, I wanted to stay with her and make sure she was okay.
I barely used the apartment since leaving the pack. It wasn’t normal for younger wolves to work because the pack covered all costs, but the moment I’d decided that I wanted to leave, I picked up odd jobs in the years leading up to the day I left. I’d saved enough money to survive comfortably on my own, and the apartment was my first purchase. I didn’t want them to find me, but in my naivety I’d used my actual name in the sale. I’d closed the sale the day they beat me up outside of Morgan’s bar. After that, Morgan and a handful of trusted witches placed wards on the place. The apartment was an escape when I wanted to be alone, and it was the only place I could think of to bring Emily,where she would be safe from Kellan.
Since bringing Emily here, I barely left. I stayed until just before the change and then went to Morgan. Emily had been asleep for nearly two days, and I had a constant battle in my mind. Was the protectiveness because of the bond? Was I starting to feel something for her? When Emily emerged from my bedroom, my heart had squeezed with guilt knowing she’d heard what I’d said. It was for the best, though.
The idea of falling for Emily annoyed me, and Morgan’s question about my feelings pissed me off. I didn’t want to be vulnerable to anyone ever again. It meant that I could be controlled, and since I deserted the pack, I’d vowed that I would never be controlled again.
Talking to Morgan helped me get a handle on whatever I was feeling. Her dislike for Emily put things into perspective, and I was able to keep that in mind whenever the confusion bubbled up. But the bruises—gods, the bruises were so bad.
All I wanted was for the bond to end. The Ancient One said the only way to sever it was death, but I was determined to find another way. Two mating bonds were rare, so maybe a loophole hadn’t been discovered yet.
Cassian had also been a pain in my ass. He’d called me the morning after the trip asking about Emily. I left her, figuring she wanted some time to herself after the information overload, but he was adamant that something was wrong. I convinced him to wait another day, to give her some space to work through everything. When she still hadn’t appeared—along with her phone being off—we started searching. The bond once again forced us to work together.
Cassian wanted to ask Morgan to do a tracking spell, and after her change in attitude toward Emily at the end of our little adventure, I figured that she would be happy to help, but Morgan refused. Cassian sent his pack out on a search, and I spent hours every day listening to rumors, the bond ticking away urgently in my chest. For three days, we searched but nothing came of it, and Cassian and I became more and more aggravated.
I didn’t even consider my old pack since they’d been quiet for a long time. Eventually, when Morgan grew tired of my short temper, she decided to track Emily. It took two days—at that point Emily had been missing for six days. The moment Morgan pinned her location, Cassian wanted to go to war, but I knew that his pack would be ripped apart if he did.
My father and brother were ruthless, bloodthirsty males, and they’d trained every member to share their mentality. They thrived on pain and torture, and they attacked without fear. Every wolf was willing to die if my father gave the order.
There was no convincing Cassian, though, so when he disappeared to rally his pack for a fight the next day, I borrowed a van. Borrow was perhaps a very soft version of it, but the human that I asked threateningly was fine and I returned the van.
I left immediately—the two hours stretched into eternity as images of what they would do to Emily played over in my mind. My brother, Kellan, had a thing for women. He enjoyed seducing them, and then torturing them until he lost interest or they died, whichever came first. I had no doubt that Emily was strong, but not strong enough to face them, and if they’d connected her to me, the pain would’ve been much worse. The only comfort was that they wouldn’t kill her, they would use her against me especially if they got wind of the bond.
I’d worked hard to close myself off to people, to being cold and not creating relationships in any form, but I hated seeing people hurt, no matter the species. It was part of the reason why I left the pack in the first place.
I knew if they caught me, I’d be killed, but only after Kellan and my father, Victor, exacted their revenge. The threat didn’t slow me down. The thought of Emily in chains or hanging up for the wolves to do as they pleased with her got me to the camp in record time.
The jog through the woods was silent, I knew the path like the back of my hand and the smell of burning flesh and smoke filled the air. I couldn’t stop to think of what they were doing in the camp. The moment my old cabin came into view I could smell Emily’s scent, my heart squeezed and I was pulled by an invisible thread to her.
I only stopped when I reached the cabin and heard Kellan’s voice. Relief flowed through my entire being when I heard Emily—she was alive. An unfamiliar pride built in me at her defiance and bravery. I could see Kellan’s expression in my mind, and I was sure that no one had ever spoken to him the way Emily had. When I heard the punch and Emily’s voice going silent, every emotion was replaced by anger. Every fiber of my being wanted to break through the wall and kill Kellan, my wolf begged for it, but I had to have control, for Emily. When Kellan left, I waited for a few minutes to make sure he wasn’t returning.
I’d created a small hatch in the cabin wall when I was younger for fresh air when they locked me in for days and then to sneak out for work. Clearly they hadn’t discovered it yet. The goddess or the moon or whatever greater power was smiling down on me that night; I got through the woods and the edge of the camp without being scented or heard, I’d reached the cabin without Kellan becoming aware of my presence, and the hatch was still there.
I’d initially peaked through the hatch to make sure the cabin was empty, that Kellan hadn’t used guards or anything. And there she was, my mate, tied like an animal to a chair. The smell of her blood was overwhelming, and at such a close distance I could almost feel her pain through the bond. I focused on the bond, it was all I could do to stop myself from chasing Kellan and seeking retribution.
Holding her in my arms on the way back had done something to my heart, to my wolf, but I couldn’t think about it, wouldn’t think about it.
Back at the apartment, I saw Cassian had blown up my phone. After a typical alpha lecture and a heated argument, I forced him to stay at his warehouse for the change. The next morning he was there as soon as the sun came up.
Seeing her in his arms today made me realize that whatever I was starting to feel had to be shut down, it had to be locked up. Emily was nothing to me, she was a problem that needed to be fixed, and then I could go on with my life. I didn’t want a mate, I didn’t need another burden in my life, and that’s all she was.
As soon as she came out from the shower we would question her, and I would keep going with my search to break my part of the mating bond. All while trying to find a cure for the werewolf curse and preventing a war that would probably wipe out thousands of people—humans, wolves, witches, and everything in between if Samara’s reputation was anything to go by. Easy as pie…
