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The thought floats through my mind and ice floods my body. My vision becomes hazy, and my breathing tightens, panic filling me entirely.
That monster was about to kill Dad as it was. If he only stopped because I screamed, was in pain at the idea of losing Dad and I refuse to be his…
No, I won’t think about that right now. I can’t.
I am not going to become his mate. Never.
I’ll go with him today because there’s clearly no fighting that part, but as soon as I can, I’ll convince Dad that I’m not able to be that monster’s mate, and hope that he’ll get us out of there.
I know Sammy and Ryan will do it if I beg them to. They’re smart enough that we could evade even Cole Arthurian long enough for me to get somewhere safe. Then Sammy and Ryan can go back for the others.
That’s the only thing that gets me to move from my spot when Mom comes back with new clothes for me. The hope that I can get away from the brute as soon as possible, be free of shifters entirely—beyond my family at least.
“How does your leg feel?” Dad asks as he helps me stand.
“Better but that doesn’t mean I believe that he’s…”
“Once you’ve rested, calmed down, you’ll understand, sweetie,” Mom says, stopping me from arguing that he’s not my mate. “I’m sure he’ll give you time to settle in, finish healing before he tries anything else again. At that point, you’ll see. You’ll realize how fast you can fall for someone, for them to become everything to you,” she adds, helping me change into a new set of comfortable clothes.
They’re nothing fancy, not even compared to what I would have worn to school before all this happened. It’s just a pair of bootcut yoga pants, a bralette, tank top, and cardigan. And despite the warmth of the day still lingering, she helps me with a pair of fuzzy slipper boots before giving me a warm hug.
“I swore I was going to lose everything today,” she whispers to me, holding onto the back of my head. “You, your dad, the boys…I love you so much. I never want to feel like that again, and while he may seem like a bad match, what I saw from him today…he’s not. He didn’t realize you were our daughter at first, I can see that now.”
“What?” I ask, confused still as to how she could think that monster could possibly be a good mate.
“He didn’t like the boys near you because he could tell you were his and they were shifters, unlike you. He didn’t know that you were just mine biologically and that’s why you’re human and your brothers aren’t, why they were so protective of you. I’m sure he thought they were trying to take you away from him. Shifters don’t like other men near their mates, especially not alphas. They can be hotheaded but they’re the most loyal to their mates,” Mom adds and my brow lifts in surprise. “You wouldn’t know that from what you saw here since you were never around other alpha couples. Anna wasn’t Alpha Thomas’ true mate. Your father said he rejected his fated mate because she wasn’t a full blood. It was when they were young, long before he found us. Years after he rejected his real mate, he chose Anna as a mate, but she didn’t matter to him. When she died…he went on as though it was nothing. Most of the pack didn’t approve of that but they were too afraid to say anything about it. Your father wasn’t and that’s what widened the rift between them.”
That explains how Thomas just went to work the day after Anna died. It didn’t make sense to me considering how worried Dad would be if Mom were simply sick with the slightest thing. But it still doesn’t change my mind. The first chance I get, I’m getting as far away from that monster as I possibly can.
I’m not about to let him take out that savagery of his on me if the truth comes out. I won’t live worrying that someone’s going to hurt me that way or try to kill me again. I hope in the human world, I can keep to myself without everyone asking why. They won’t know that I’m terrified to sleep in the dark, to close my eyes because I know there are monsters out there that are ready to attack at any moment.
I can’t do that with my family—at least not entirely. They only know the top layers of my terror. They don’t have a clue the ones I’ve kept hidden for the last two years. I never want them to know that because there’s nothing, they can do to help make it better. No one can.
Chapter 4
Cole
The taste of fear in the air as I move to leave the packhouse is one I relish. In the past, I’ve only gone after packs that threatened us, and reveled in the victory, but today’s accomplishment is far more satisfying. It doesn’t bring my mother back, but the look in Thomas’ eyes as he died, hearing my mother’s name on my lips and what his actions caused, soothes parts of my soul. The rest is still riled because I’ve yet to be able to claim my mate as mine.
I know Rennick is simply doing his job, keeping my ass calmed down, so I don’t do something stupid, but I want my mate. Want her in my arms. Want her taste in my mouth. It’s better than the taste of victory, of the fear washing through those that remain alive.
“Have you seen Ryan?” one of the girls near the back of the room whispers to another nearby.
“No, I haven’t seen any of the beta’s kids or the beta,” the girl next to her replies, her face paling as her gaze flows over my way. She looks away quickly and I smirk at the tremble that flows through her.
“Hopefully they finally killed that bitch of a human daughter,” a third utters and my feet slam to a stop, a low growl flowing from me that silences the space.
“You,” I snarl, pointing at the girl that was stupid enough to say something vile about my mate. “Step forward, now,” I add, pushing my dominance over her, making her clutch her stomach as she drops to a knee when she doesn’t immediately comply.
“Cole, what are you doing?” Rennick questions through a mind link as several other women hold back another just beyond us.
She knows who hurt my mate, I respond before letting up on the girl just enough for her to stop choking on her breath. “You have five seconds to tell me who attacked Mora the day of her graduation or you’ll join the rest of your pack in the mass grave.”
The girl’s face pales as another screams, and I push my dominance over them again, quieting the room entirely. “Two seconds,” I warn.
“Dana came up with the plan,” the girl states, her body shaking, face white as death.
“You helped,” I return, not a question in the least. I can see it in her eyes. “You still want her dead, hope she died in the attack today.”
