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Thirty minutes later, Romeo was behind the wheel of his truck with Ashley next to him, and two vehicles followed behind as security as they made their way to the lab to get her blood test.
“Are you sure you don’t just want to call your folks?” he asked.
“I’m sure. I’m angry and feel like I lost Kerry all over again with what you told me.”
“I’m sorry.” He reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.
“It’s not your fault. You set me free from the chains of the past. I feel terrible right now because of everything I did with Brent and Humans Against Shifters, but I actually feel freer now too. And sadder.”
“I get it.”
She cleared her throat. “You never told me your past, you know. It’s all been about my stuff since we got out of bed.”
“Are you trying to distract yourself?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Maybe.”
“I’m happy to tell you. I always wondered what it would be like to tell my mate about my past.”
“You’ve forgiven me for working for Humans Against Shifters and helping Brent take out shifters. I can forgive you for whatever it is.”
“So sure about that?”
“You didn’t punch any nuns, right?”
He gave her a side look. “Is that the line of the most terrible thing someone could do that you couldn’t forgive?”
She let out a light laugh. “It seems pretty up there on the moral chart.”
“Right, okay, so no, I never punched a nun.”
“Whew.” She made an exaggerated motion of wiping her brow and laughed again. Damn, he loved to hear her laugh. “I want to know all about you, no matter what it is. I was scared to pieces to tell you the truth of my history with Brent, but you were so gracious to me. I’ll be that way with you too.”
“You’re a better mate than I deserve.”
“Not hardly. You’re an amazing guy and you deserve all the good things.”
She was really the sweetest female on the planet.
He didn’t like talking about his past, his old ambush or his former king. He hated the male he’d become, how he’d allowed himself to be trained to hurt instead of help. His hands had always been used for destruction and harm until he’d come to Whisper Creek. Midas had seen something good in him and nurtured it. He’d helped him become the male he was now, which had always been there…buried.
“In my old ambush, the king used me to dole out the punishments to the members.”
He paused, thinking about how to proceed. Ashley said, “The way you’re saying the word ‘punishments’ makes me think they were awful. Not something like being unable to shift and hunt with the ambush or house arrest.”
“Those would have been decent punishments, but no, the king was cruel and had a hair-trigger temper. He wielded me like a weapon, forcing me to do terrible things to people who’d wronged him or who he didn’t trust.”
Once, he’d whipped a male who’d wanted to leave the ambush to take a mate. The male had been tied to a pole and then left bloody and near death for a day before he’d been allowed to shift and heal his wounds.
“Life in that ambush was rough, and eventually, I realized that even though he demanded loyalty, he wasn’t actually loyal to anyone but himself. He would turn on his most trusted males in a heartbeat if they pissed him off. If anyone came against him, they were his enemy and he wanted them taken out. I killed for him in the name of keeping the ambush safe.” He glanced at Ashley. Her face was grim, but there was compassion in her eyes. “When you talked about the blood on your hands with the wolves you’ve helped Brent take out, I felt that same way. I let myself be used and I ignored the voice in my head that said it was wrong, that I could be next at any moment.”
“When did you decide you’d had enough?”
“A year ago. I heard about Whisper Creek and what a good king Midas was, and I knew leaving was the right thing.”
“How do tigers leave an ambush?”
“By whip.”
