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It was enough to make a girl cry.
How had I ended up with mates who didn’t seem to want me? I’d shrug off the fact that the one named Wolf was my mate based on the way he was staring at me. Except the moment I’d set eyes on him, my mind had practically screamed the word at me.
Great. Hunter’s punishment in the woods had turned my wolf up to full volume. Just what I needed. It was a lot to get used to. She was all up in my mind in full HD when all she’d ever been before was background noise.
Not what I needed.
“Inside.” Wolf growled the command at me, stepping aside so I could scoot past him. I folded my arms against my chest and stood my ground. His lips twitched at the corner when I didn’t move. “Did you not hear me?”
My gaze met his, and I stared into his icy ocean depths without faltering.
“I don’t respond to commands,” I hissed. “If you want me to do something, then ask.” His narrowed eyes widened for a moment before he flicked them toward Hunter.
“You’re in my house,mate.” He spat the word out as if it were a sour taste on his tongue. A sudden sharp pain shot through my heart, and I flinched. There was a flicker of concern on his facebefore he masked it with another glare. “I’m the boss here, and you do what I say. Understood?”
“You could be the king of the entire world for all I care,” I sneered. “If you want me to do something, then ask.”
His sudden smirk had my gut churning, an uneasy feeling shifting through me. His hand shot out, his fingers delving into my hair and pulling. I cried out when he forcefully yanked me inside the lodge. My hands went to the one he had buried in my hair. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to ease the pressure as I pulled on his hand, attempting to dislodge it.
The room, which had been bustling before, quieted as the scene played out.
“Wolf.” Hunter’s voice held a warning. The same warning it had held in the safe house when I thought he was protecting me from his own alpha. Now I realized that they were both alphas of the same pack. They were brothers, and I was nothing more than their inconvenient mate.
“We’re going to learn about respect.” Wolf pulled at my hair until I fell before him. I winced when my knees hit the tiled floor. “Aren’t we, little omega?”
“Respect is earned,” I spat at him, pushing at his hand. His grip on my hair was starting to burn. Fucker was going to tear a chunk out of my hair if he pulled any harder.
“And I’ve more than earned it,” he told me. “You, however, haven’t.”
A cold laugh left my lips unbidden. “You haven’t earned it from me.”
Another sharp tug that had me crying out. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes.
“Remember something, Freya.” He smiled menacingly. “I’m the big bad wolf here.”
“My, what big teeth you have.” Goddess, I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“The better to eat you with, my dear.” Fucker had an answer for everything. “Do we understand the hierarchy, Red?”
My body trembled at the unintentional reference. Shit. Would I forever be reacting to my past? Was it doomed to constantly be repeated? I’d stepped from one prison to another. Part of me suddenly wished I had just let them kill me. Why bother living when all life seemed to offer me was more pain? The wolf inside me had gone quiet. Any bite she’d had was gone. It was like she’d been muzzled and accepted defeat.
A tear slipped down my cheek.
“Yes,” I murmured dejectedly, bowing my head in respect as much as I could with his iron grip on my hair. “I understand the hierarchy.”
“Red…” Hunter’s voice, though a whisper, cut through the room as if he’d screamed it from the top of his lungs. I flinched. Is this not what he wanted? A submissive mate who understood her place? He’d basically said as much with his performance at the truck, and now this…
“Mariah.” Wolf released his hand from my hair and stepped back. Heels clicked on the floor behind me. “Take her up to my room. Get her cleaned up.”
“Gotcha.” The voice was deep and alluring. Sensual.
Ignoring Wolf’s proffered hand, I stood, brushing my hair down before turning my eyes to the one he’d called Mariah. Her eyes flicked between my two mates before she shrugged and turned on her heels. I followed her without a backward glance.
She led me to a back staircase that was set off the large galley kitchen.
“Wow,” she whispered. “I haven’t seen excitement like that before, and I’ve been here since the club’s inception.”
She had to be kidding, right? Excitement? Had the bleach she used on her hair settled into her brain?
