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I felt a sick kind of anger knotting my stomach at the way he talked about me—like I was just some piece of property he was going to auction off to the highest bidder! Plus, I hated that my mother had told everyone about the operation she’d forced me to have. I might still be fairly innocent but I knew enough to know that kind of thing ought to be private.
“Remember,” Esteban went on, stabbing a finger at my stepbrothers. “You two are in charge of your sister while I’m gone. Keep the Alphas away from her and guard her virginity with your fucking lives! She’s not worth a damn thing if a male gets his cock in her pussy before I can sell her.”
I felt my cheeks heat and knew my face was turning dull red with mortification. I kept my eyes down, staring at my oatmeal and biting my tongue. If I said anything now, I would just get beaten for having a “smart mouth.” Or possibly I’d be locked in my room the whole time they were gone and I didn’t want that. I might want to go to the library for more books or maybe I could convince Christopher to take me out of the Compound for some other reason. And if he did, maybe…just maybe I might try running away.
I didn’t know if I had the courage to do that or where I would go if I ran, but the thought had been growing in my mind as a possibility. I knew if they caught me I’d be killed, but was that really worse than my eventual fate of being sold to a stranger who would breed me against my will?
“I understand, Pack Master,” Gabriel said, drawing me out of my morbid thoughts. “Christopher and I will keep an eye on her.”
“Good. All the Alphas have been told to keep their distance, but if she starts into her first Heat Cycle…” My stepfather trailed off, shaking his head. “Just keep a close eye on her.”
“We will,” Christopher said. He and Gabriel were watching me from across the table, making me feel uncomfortable all over again.
“Goodbye, Zoe. Be good while I’m gone.” My mother’s voice was soft and pleading, as if she wanted me to beg her to stay.
But I couldn’t do that. Nor could I hug her goodbye. There was too much between us now—too much I couldn’t forgive. So I just nodded mutely and turned my head away as she left the table. And the minute she and my stepfather were out of the dining room, I jumped up myself and bolted for the door.
“Zoe!” Gabriel called after me.
“What?” I paused but didn’t turn back.
“Stay in the main house.” His voice was low and commanding. “Whatever you do, don’t go outside—and especially don’t go near the bunkers. You might start your first Heat Cycle at any time.”
I could feel my hackles rising like an offended cat. Did Gabriel really think I would go out looking for a man to breed me? I wasn’t going to end up acting like my mother, no matter what they all thought!
“I’m just going to my room,” I said sharply. “I’m going to stay up there and read—will that make you happy?”
“We just want you to be safe, Little Sis.” Christopher’s deep voice was soft and coaxing. “Don’t be angry. Gabe is right—a female’s first Heat Cycle is unpredictable.”
I rounded on them both, fists clenched at my sides.
“Will both of you big jerks stop talking about that? It’s not going to happen to me! I’m not going to act like that! So just leave me alone!”
They both stared at me. Christopher’s green eyes were wide and Gabriel’s silver eyes were narrowed…calculating.
“Just keep telling yourself that, little mouse,” he said. “I’m sorry for what you had to see last night, but it’s the fucking way of life for Weres.”
I didn’t want to hear any more. Without answering, I turned and ran from the room, determined not to speak to either one of them for the rest of the day.
ELEVEN
My determination lasted all the way until dinner time. I should have been hungry because I hadn’t eaten all day…but somehow I wasn’t. Instead, I had a strange feeling that something inside me was different…wrong.
I had spent the day reading, just as I had said I would and I blamed the strange feeling on the book I had been perusing. I’d gotten as much as I could out of the books on reproduction and though I tried to read the YA Fantasy novels, neither one of them held my interest. At last I had given up on them and picked up one of the smutty werewolf romances I had grabbed on impulse.
Let me just say, I was surprised the library was allowed to stock such a book. I read with increasing interest about a girl who was born into a Were Pack but refused to be part of it. She tried to act human, to live among the humans and pretended to be one of them.
