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“Please don’t beat me.” Her sad blue eyes burrow into mine as she begs, “Please don’t hurt me again. I swear she won’t come. She’s dead. I can’t shift. I swear I can’t shift.” Her words are barely coherent, but I’ve heard enough that I understand her terror. I close my anguished eyes. Now I get why she hates me and it shreds my insides.
If I could bring my father back to life, I would.
When I killed him, it was for me but if I could do it again, I’d torture him first for her.
“It wasn’t me.” I choke the pitiful words out. I was just a child, just a pup, but I knew what my family was doing. I knew what my father did to those kids, but it took years for me to gather the courage to fight him. Years of listening to their tormented screams. He recorded everything as proof of their identity when he sold them on the black market. As I grew older, he made me watch. First the videos and then in person. I’ll never forget their haunted eyes as my father and uncles beat them mercilessly, forcing their animals to the surface. His large hand on my shoulder kept me pinned in place as he made me watch. Even as I vomited in revulsion, he insisted I needed to see it to be a man.
The day he handed me a weapon to do as he told me, as my Alpha commanded, was the day I fought back. I bludgeoned him with the bat he used to break his victims’ bones. By the end of our battle, we’d both shifted and he lay in front of me coughing up blood with what little life he still had left. Before he could heal, I ripped out his throat; his hot, sticky blood gushed into my mouth before spilling onto the floor. The only regret I’ve ever had in my entire life was not stopping him sooner. If I hadn’t been so scared of dying, I could’ve saved nearly half a dozen children. I never once had any remorse over killing him. Not until today. I wish he were still alive so I could kill him for her. So she could watch as her tormentor took his last breath.
“It wasn’t me. It was my father.”
“Just stay away,” she cries and I swear my heart breaks.
“It wasn’t me,” is all I can answer, the words only a whisper.
Caleb’s consoling hand on my shoulder brings me back to the present. Back to my sobbing, shattered mate. She’s so fucking damaged. My heart aches for her. I reach out my hand to her unable to stop myself, but she backs herself into the corner like a scared animal. Her rejection is deserved as I drop my head in shame. I take a deep breath and square my shoulders.
Now that I know why she’s been acting the way she has, I can make this right. I’ll fix this.
I meet Caleb’s eyes. “Bring her to the bedroom.”
Part IV
Their Mates
Dom
“What the hell, Dom?” Even though he’s screaming in my head, Caleb looks back at me with a neutral expression.
“She’s scared. I’m going to fix it.”
“By tying her up?” His shocked tone is laced with disapproval. “She’s scared out of her mind, you sick asshole!”
“Knock it the fuck off,” I sneer with disdain before calming myself and adding, “you know I’m not going to cross the line.” He presses his lips into a thin line, his hands clenching into fists before quickly relaxing and then he looks back at our mate. She’s still huddled in a ball shaking uncontrollably, intently focused on ignoring us. As though we don’t exist if she can’t see us. She’s got the blanket cocooned around her like it’s going to protect her. I shake my head at the sight of her. Nothing’s coming in between us, little one.
“Tying her up is crossing the line.” His low growl is fortified with an unspoken threat.
“Bring it on, motherfucker.” The low growl I thought was inaudible awards me with a small whimper from our mate. One that shreds me. “I’m doing this for her.” I leave him with anger pouring off of him in waves. With long, determined strides, I make my way to the other side of the estate. I need to gather rope from the dungeon. I couldn’t care less if Caleb doesn’t like it. She may be both of ours, but that isn’t going to stop me from doing right by her on my own. She needs to be subdued and reconditioned. Now that I know what she’s been through, all bets are off. Our mate isn’t a scared little human afraid of the big bad werewolves. No, she’s an abused, latent wolf in desperate need of being given a kind, devoted touch. Except she’s shown she’ll fight us tooth and nail before she lets that happen. She’ll do anything to keep us away because she’s petrified. All of her past experiences have her on edge and frightened.
I scowl thinking of what she’s been through. My chest tightens and my throat constricts. My poor mate. Fate’s one cruel bitch. She’s scared of me and by extension all of us, simply because I look just like my father. Just like the man who bought her and tortured her. She’s been taught to fear the very sight of me. I know just as well as her what he’s done and seen how his victims look at him with sheer terror in their eyes. That’s how she looks at me. I clench my fists and grip on to the rage and resentment; better that than the sadness threatening to destroy the last bit of hope I have of claiming my mate.
She may have learned to fear my presence, but I can retrain her. I’ll have to tie her down at first so she can’t hide from me. That way she won’t be able to ignore me or run from me anymore. I nod my head as I collect what I’ll need. I’ll soothe her and relieve her of her agony. Instead of the pain and fear she’s used to, I’ll condition her mind to crave my touch and her body to want me. She’ll let go of the past once she can see her future with me.
Then there’s the issue of her latency. Her wolf was there. I heard the poor broken creature whimper in pain; she reached out to our wolves. But somehow Lizzie held her back and hid her. She vanished; there one split second and gone the next. We couldn’t hear her or feel her or even scent her. It doesn’t make any sense. I should know, since latent shifters were my father’s main perversion. You can’t hide your wolf. They’re always able to be heard, felt and eventually seen. Even if you’re latent and can’t shift, there’s always something that will bring your animal to the surface. Lizzie, my sweet, haunted mate, is not latent. She’s something else and I have no fucking clue what. But her wolf is in there somewhere and my own wolf is chomping at the bit to get to her. He knows she’s hurting and he claws at me to protect her.
If only it were that easy. If only you could protect someone from their past.
My strides pick up as I get closer to my mate. I’ve only been gone a few minutes, but I don’t want to miss a thing. If her wolf comes back, I want to be there for her. I want to be there for Lizzie every step of the way.
First thing we have to do is tell her we’re her mates. I don’t know if she’ll know what that means or what she remembers from her pack, but I’ll figure it all out in time. I’ve got forever with my mate and today is just the first day. There’s no way I’m going to let her deny me. I’m not going to let her, or her wolf, hide from us anymore.
“You tell her yet?” I silently question Caleb as I push the door open. The room looks just like the kind of room I’d expect any typical twentysomething to have. Caleb made sure to get everything set up exactly how it was for them back at their apartment. These girls really love the color pink. It’s everywhere with splashes of yellow and the occasional pale shade of teal. Lizzie is still huddled in the cream-colored damask comforter from the guest room. She’s right in the middle of her bed with her head resting on her knees, nuzzled into the blanket. She’s got her arms wrapped around her legs and she holds on to them like they’re her anchor. When she hears my boots thud against the wooden floors, she lifts her head slightly and her red-rimmed, blue eyes peek through her dark, thick lashes at me. The soft movement of her shoulders becomes rigid with fear.
Her eyes dart to the rope in my hands and terror flashes over her face. Her kissable, pouty lips release a small gasp and she quickly backs away from me, crawling on her hands and knees to the headboard and pushing her side up against it. She wraps her arms around her bent legs and hastily rocks her body, resting her cheek on her knee so she can keep her eyes on me. Her big doe eyes are drenched in panic and tears fall carelessly down her reddened cheeks. She sniffles before swallowing and saying in a small voice, “Please don’t.”
With his arms crossed, Caleb stands in the corner on my right; the corded muscles in his neck and arms make him look like a rock-solid beast. At least he has a tight smile on his face. Although that’s obviously not doing anything to calm her.
“Nah, I figured you’d want to be here.” I glance at him and then walk slowly to the edge of the bed. I sit my massive form down and feel the soft bed dip. Our little mate lets out a squeak. Caleb follows me but doesn’t sit.
