AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She didn’t say anything and pulled away from me. I handed her a clean-ish rag and stepped away. If she didn’t want my help, I wasn’t going to offer it. Not now. Not when she was the reason I was here. But then I looked at her again. Maybe this was fair. Maybe I should have hated her. But I also had everything she’d always hoped for. I’d won, if winning also meant I still had to go parade my near-naked ass around on a stage.
“Nessa? Are you okay?”
She didn’t meet my eyes. She didn’t even grab the rag.
“Fine. But I guess if I were you, I would do whatever I could to look all pretty. Maybe you can catch a good pack. Thanks again for this exceptional mating present. I always dreamed of sleeping on a cold, dirty floor in my own excrements.”
She still didn’t say anything, so I walked away. I guess it was time to get my hair done.
I spared her one last glance and wondered if that’s what broken looked like? And then I wondered when had I stopped being broken?
* * *
I didn’t remember the air smelling so stale before. The chains rattled as we walked together through a crowd of men. My wrist burned with each movement and with every jerk.
A hand shot out from one man near me and I struggled to escape his grope. A male growl followed, and everyone seemed to move aside.I guess some of the guards took their jobs seriously. Still, I didn’t want to look up. I could pretend a little longer if I didn’t have to actually see their hungry gazes.
Follow the person in front of you. That was all I could tell myself. Follow them.
“Hands off the females,” said a guard. A familiar voice.
My head shot up. He was there. He was towering over everyone around us and he was guarding us. He was guarding me.
I told you I would be here.
The weight of the moment lifted. His strength and confidence bled into me.
We need to save all of them.
He didn’t nod, and he didn’t respond as another hand reached out from the crowd. He growled again and grabbed the male’s wrist. I winced at the sound of the bones snapping.
The wolf didn’t cry out, but I also couldn’t see where he went. He just disappeared. One less asshole seemed fine to me.
Follow the person in front of you. I just kept telling myself that. But I couldn’t stop glancing back. He was so close and yet so far away.
We shuffled forward slowly. We passed buildings, but I wasn’t paying attention.
Did you hear me?
His arm brushed mine and then he spread out from me, making the males around us give a wide aisle. He was terrifying, and right now I wanted him to use everything he had to give them nightmares.
I heard you. I am working on a plan.
I needed to remember to breathe. I’d just found a future for myself. One that I didn’t need to run away from. I wanted it. I wanted that picture where I got to have the mate and the pack.
I swallowed as a breeze found its way around us, reminding me this wasn’t where my story ended.
The chains yanked, and several females hissed in pain.
“Get up,” said a male.
I dared to steal a glance at my mate again. He was real. This was real. But it wasn’t the end. Being real didn’t mean I had to suffer here. Reality could suck and it could be blissful.
That damn tear that I’d tried to ignore earlier tried to sneak its little ass out of my eye again. I tried to blink it away, but it betrayed me and fell, tickling its way down my cheek.
Are you hurt?Devon asked.
I shook my head, doubting anyone was paying attention.
