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I was captive for over fifteen years. With the drugs pumped into us, it felt as if I was only awake for five of them, which is how long I thought I’d been gone.
When Lykem told me the year after getting off the phone with his friend for the second time, I told him I was tired and wanted to sleep, but really, I laid on the couch and stared at the ceiling.
Fifteen years.
Where was my family? Did they think I was dead? Had they spent months looking for me? Years?
So many questions and yet, I have no clue where I’m supposed to begin finding answers or figuring out how to get home.
Though, the moment Lykem walks back into the cabin, strands of his reddish-blond hair falling over his forehead and his blue eyes bright as they search for me, I don’t know if I want to go back.
Maybe it would be easier if I just pretend that I was never kidnapped and start over. My parents would have surely moved on by now.
But every time I close my eyes, I see the black curls of Quinn and the red eyes of Jameson. They were the two closest to my cage, my only companions for, apparently, the last fifteen years.
I can’t forget them or pretend they’re not still trapped.
I only escaped because my IV ended up breaking, but my masked captors never noticed. I kept it hidden, pretending to sleep for days at a time, only stirring when Quinn would since she’s also a wolf shifter and what they gave me, they also gave her.
Selfishly, I hadn’t even said goodbye to my friends. I regained my strength after a week and broke out while they were still unconscious.
My heart broke with every step I took away from them, but I couldn’t help them, knowing that they’d have to be carried out. They’d kept us near starving, and I was so weak. I hadn’t even known if I could help myself.
I just knew I needed to run as far and fast from that place as I could possibly manage.
Which is exactly what I’d done. Hell, I’d run so swiftly that I don’t even remember where I was, and it didn’t seem my wolf did either.
We’ll figure it out, she promises.We won’t leave our pack behind.
No, we won’t.
But first we have to deal with our…mate and what the hell it means that he’s a dragon and not a wolf.
Unexpected, but he might be just what we need to save the others, assuming he’s as strong as I sense.
He was sent as a protector, so hopefully, I reply. Yet, it had been the strength I sensed in him that had scared me the most last night.
Lykem is my mate, but I also know nothing about him or his kind. Are they kind? Or are they power hungry and I’ve just traded one captor for another?
My wolf insists we can trust him, and I’m doing my best to do so because I’m so tired. Having this be something good… Well, I want to cling to that more than I want to run from it after all these years.
He wipes snow from his jacket and smiles softly at me. “The storm has stopped, and I scouted the area. We should be good to get out of here now.”
“And where will you take me?” I ask him again. He mentioned something about another pack last night, but I need to be certain the plan hasn’t changed.
“Like I said before, my friend River, he’s also part of the protectors,” Lykem replies, speaking with patience and care. “He’s with my other friends, who are all good people and have saved the world more times than I can count. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Roman and Cait from East Texas, but that’s where he is.”
Heard of them? I try not to gape at the dragon, but those two shifters are a legend back at my pack. They reunited the wolves in ways I’m not sure they’ll ever understand. Or maybe after all this time, they do. Either way, my parents used to talk about how they were responsible for stopping the previous leaders of the supernatural communities from continuing to abuse their power. By doing so, they allowed the rest of us to come together without fear.
Since I don’t want to sound too crazy like I used to think my parents did, I merely nod. “Yeah, I’ve heard of them. How are we getting there?”
Holy shit. I want to smack myself. Am I really just going to trust that he’s telling the truth? How can I so easily place my life in this man’s hands after what I’ve been through?
It’s the mate bond, my wolf says.Though, it’s not just that. You’re scared and rightly so, but pay attention to our senses. Deep down, you know his intentions are true. He hasn’t tried to touch you since you flinched away. He watched over us all night instead of sleeping. We might not understandwhathe is, but it doesn’t take much to figure outwhohe is.
She’s not wrong, and I’ve noticed the same things she just pointed out. Yet, it feels too easy. Too…good.
Life hasn’t been kind, but I’m supposed to believe that Fate has finally stepped in and led me to happiness after fifteen years of hell?
