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I stroke her back to settle her and it seems to be helping. “I should explain everything to her. Maybe that’ll put an end to whatever’s going on in her pretty little head.”
“How do you think Lizzie will react?”
I stifle a sigh. Lev makes another good point. My little brother has always been more logical than me. More empathetic, perhaps. Caleb and Dom aren’t ready to tell her and Lizzie isn’t in any condition to hear that news. As the Alpha of the pack, their needs come before my own. My heart hurts for my mate, though. She doesn’t trust me or anything that she’s feeling. For fuck’s sake, she thought I drugged her.
“You could let them see each other. Caleb and Dom are going crazy because Lizzie won’t come out of the bathroom and she’s crying again. Something is really wrong with her. That’ll give your mate something to focus on.”
“Did you get their paperwork from Vince yet?” More silence from Lev answers my question. “He isn’t back yet, is he?” I clench my fists and scowl before I can catch myself. Thankfully, Grace has fallen asleep on my chest. The last thing I need to do is to frighten her anymore.
“Not yet.”
“When he gets back, I’m going to kick his ass.” Motherfucker can’t listen to orders for the life of him. I know him being MIA has something to do with finding his mate, but he could’ve waited until things were settled here. “What about Caleb?”
“Haven’t heard from him yet. He’s probably still packing up their stuff.” I nod my head even though he can’t see me. The fresh scent of Grace’s hair wafts toward me and I breathe her in. She smells just like she tastes, like caramel apples on a crisp autumn night. My mouth waters at the memory.
“You want some privacy, alpha?” I can hear Lev’s laugh.
“Fuck off.” Even as I say it, I smile. I’ll get my mate’s worries worked out and then everything will be perfect. It has to be. My fingers twine with her brunette locks and I bend down just enough to kiss her temple.
“Where do you want all of their shit when it gets here?”
“I want it set up exactly as it was in their place. Put it all in the east wing.”
“You don’t think that will freak them out?”
“They need comfort and privacy right now. They want to go home so we’ll give them their home to run to.”
“That’s fucking crazy, Dev.”
A low growl rumbles deep within my chest, causing Grace to whimper. Fuck. I stroke her back until she settles again.
“I’m surprised she’s bothered at all by your growl. I could feel those vibes you threw at her. It knocked Jude on his ass.” I can hear him chuckle.
“Yeah? It didn’t get to you too?” I know it had to because it took everything in me to get her to bow. The moment she did, though, I regretted it. She’s my equal. My temper will be our undoing.
“Course it did. But I stopped doing my laps and bowed like a wolf. Jude fucking dropped like a pussy.” I chuckle and the movement wakes Grace. At first she’s content and almost nuzzles back into me. Then her eyes open wider and she stiffens.
Damn it. This isn’t how finding your mate is supposed to be.
“Well, your mate is human.” My lips form a thin line at Lev’s words. I run my fingers through Grace’s hair and she melts back into me, although her eyes don’t close.
I sigh heavily, loving the added weight of her on my chest. This would be so much better if she were a shifter. So much easier if she knew what to expect. If Grace had witnessed a heat firsthand, maybe she would’ve recognized it. At least her body perceives me as her mate. That’s more than I can say for Dom and Caleb’s mate.
Lizzie
Every inch of me shakes and won’t stop. The nightmares come back, full force and with details that took years to forget. I’m scared to death, huddled in the corner of the shower with the curtain closed as though they don’t know I’m in here. It’s only an illusion and one not a piece of me believes, but it’s all I have. I wonder if they know I’m not human. I pray they don’t. I can’t go back to what I once was.
I’m not even completely sure what I am. Latent, maybe? My old pack said I was useless and a waste. They sold me to some assholes who beat the shit out of me, trying to force my wolf to come out. Tears stream down my face and my body shakes.
They’re going to hurt me. Dom looks just like him. Like the shifter who brutalized my body over and over again. I shudder and squeeze my eyes shut, willing the memories to go away. I thought I’d escaped all this. I thought I was finally free. How could this happen? My shoulders shake uncontrollably as sobs wrack my body. I gasp for breath, but my throat dries and closes, suffocating me.
I remember the pain shooting through my back while they whipped me. Taking turns and betting on whether I would break or if the wolf would show. The small spikes piercing into my skin and gripping on before being ripped away, taking bits of bloodied flesh with it, leaving nothing but raw, broken skin and blood. Although my vision was blurred, I can still see the splatters of my blood as they hit the wall. So much blood. I can still hear their laughter as my wounds closed before their eyes, although the brutal pain remained. That’s all the proof they needed. They kept at it, saying they would beat the latent out of me. That’s how it works with latent wolves. They show eventually … but mine never did.
I prayed every night for the healing to stop. I begged any and every deity who might have been listening to have mercy on me. Some nights I prayed for them to let my captors kill me. And then one night, my prayers must have been heard. I stopped being able to heal. Their confusion gave me relief, but it was short lived. They continued to torture me. They brought me to death’s door over and over again. Each day they invented new ways to damage me. To bring out my wolf, but she left me. Left me or died; I’m not sure which. I’m not sure if she ever even existed.
It took years before they gave up and tried to get their money back. They wanted to return me because I was broken. But my “pack” didn’t recognize my scent. They denied me. I was thrown away and left in human territory for them to claim me. No one ever did. It took nearly two years of living at the shelter for the Henders to take me. They got a check for keeping me. It wasn’t enough to stop them from the occasional smack and grab and push, though. Just like with everyone else, I was worthless to them. At that point I was so numb to the abuse I just accepted it as a way of life. At least they only struck me with their human fists, and I was grateful for it. They never tried to get “creative” like the shifters did.
I only started to heal when Grace took me in.
