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“You called me your queen.”
“I said you once were,” he corrected.
“What does that mean?” My voice came stronger now, but Cole didn’t answer. Just stared down at me in that infuriating way that said I’d get no answers. “Tell me, damn you!” I slammed into his chest, the anger of the secrets cascading over me, and though he didn’t stumble, he let me. He let me beat at his chest, pounding, demanding. Tears sprang to my eyes, my vision blurring in the dream. “Why do you have to keep so many secrets?”
Only at this did Cole answer. “The secrets are meant to keep you safe.”
Safe? What safety had I ever known?
“Trust me, little wolf.”
But I no longer trusted anyone.
Chapter VI
Anoisestartledmeaway from my argument with Cole. I instinctively stilled, drawing as close as I could to the tree while I listened. Footsteps, two sets, across the water. Loud enough to be heard by shifter hearing over the babble of the river. Whoever it was, they weren’t trying to be careful, and more importantly, they were in their human form.
I drew in a steadying breath. My face was dry of tears despite what I’d experienced in my dreams. Once again, Cole had left me with more questions than answers, but I had no doubt I’d be seeing him again.
“Stop being such a little bitch and quit worrying,” a female voice ordered.
Sabine.
My body shook instinctively as her shrill tone hit my ears. Sabine had been the worst of my tormentors, part of the Alpha Clique, and she’d been the one to deal the killing blow, tossing me over the cliff under Jett’s supervision.
I willed my body to be still and listen.
“I’m not a little bitch,” Richard whined, sounding very much like a little girl. So much for the third member of the Alpha Clique. Richard often served as Jett’sde factoBeta, carrying out his dirty work without question.
Do they know I’m here?Anxiety pulsed through me, the remnant of a decade spent hiding from their sadistic bullying. The brief snippet indicated the contrary, but what were they doing out here?
I must’ve slept for a while, my weakened body needing any rest it could get. The filtered sun falling through the leaves was a burning orange rather than simple daylight. I needed my two tormentors to leave if I was going to make it to camp.
“You know I’m basically an Alpha, right?” Richard insisted.
“Of course I do.” Sabine didn’t even bother trying to sound sincere. “You’re a big, brawny male, and just what I need.”
Big, brawny malewas right.
Having them this close, unable to move, was torture. My body wanted to flee; my mind wanted to sink into my memories.
My mind won.
Richard wasn’t bright, but he was big and single-minded. Jett and Sabine were the true instigators. Jett liked to know he ruled over someone weak, and Sabine wanted to make sure Jett felt all-powerful. She probably wanted that power to rub off on her.
Richard was a convenient tool, one who’d been given the task of tormenting me. Outside of school, I could usually avoid them. Over the years, I got good at it.
But I hadn’t always been so good.
It was hard to believe they held back at all, but as bad as school was, being caught by them outside was worse.
I’d been ten, barely a scrap of a kid. It was a summer day. Not a pleasant one, but one of those festering, humid days where your clothing sticks to your skin and the sun is a torture device. I normally stayed home, but the house was stuffy with the ceiling fans broken once again and my mother nowhere to be seen to fix them.
I’d gone out into the forest, figuring I could find relief in the shade of the forest and the isolation of my thoughts. I didn’t have anyone to hang out with—Daphne and I didn’t become friends until middle school.
My hearing sucked, which made it easy to sneak up on me, and I was also still a bit naive, unaware of how cruel kids could be. Most adults assumed we’d just eventually figure out the pecking order and everything would be good and well.
“There she is! Grab her,” Sabine ordered.
