AllFreeNovel
Share Us
4
Becca
Days. Weeks. A month? I was unsure how long I remained in that metal cage and was forced to endure the cruel experiments and endless torture at the hands of Hall and his associates. The Society was more than anti-shifter. Fully intending to eradicate any shifter species, this organization was only interested in genocide. They were monsters in their own right.
Delirious from the constant flow of drugs through my system, my mind drifted to memories of the past and previous mistakes that cost the happiness of my own heart. Theo Bardolf was my intended mate. Five years ago, I broke off our engagement to please my father, but that choice had left my wolf and I desperately unhappy ever since. My father didn’t understand that I didn’t want the same things he did. I didn’t care about mating an alpha or being the mate of the strongest wolf in the pack. My feelings were irrelevant. Jedd Harlow dictated his desires and his children all obediently followed his orders. He was an alpha and expected his daughter to unite with one.
There was no room for argument.
My first mistake was falling in love with a handsome young wolf with a constant smile, towering height, deep blue eyes, and a fantastic sense of humor. Theo made me laugh. For a girl without her mother, I was surrounded by men and rules. I wanted to live, to be free, to choose from my heart for my mate and not the directive from my overprotective father.
Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t cruel. The man lost his wife when his children were young, and he was forced to be strong and raise them on his own. The other pack members including my brothers didn’t have a problem with how my father conducted pack business, but they weren’t his daughter. The other females had freedom to do as they wished but I was stifled. My father made it clear that I was expected to choose my mate from one of the clan alphas and I rebelled. The night of the full moon when shifters ran free into the forest and explored possible mates, I was held back and unable to join the festivities.
Theo came to my rescue. Tossing small rocks at my bedroom window he signaled his arrival. I climbed out and joined him, racing through the forest as we shifted into our wolves and ran for hours until exhaustion forced us to return home. He placed a chaste kiss on my cheek that night, but it was the way his gaze softened as his eyes roamed every inch of my face that confirmed my suspicions. He was attracted to me and my wolf.
I didn’t know how I felt about him at the time. We were young, my wolf and I inexperienced. At only fifteen, I was unaccustomed to the attention of males who weren’t my father and brothers. Lor and Elias were nearly as bad as my father. They kept a tight watch on my every activity. Maybe that was why I ran off so often with Theo in the middle of the night. He was everything my heart longed for and needed. He was a symbol of the freedom I desperately craved.
Three years later I still hadn’t decided on a mate and neither had Theo. At eighteen, we were each old enough to declare our intentions to the pack. Nearly every day I awaited his choice of mate, but Theo never said a word. Many of my friends thought he was handsome and charming. His cousin Elena used to tease me often until she fell for Joe Harley.
Thinking back to those days I wished I would have been strong enough to ask Theo what he wanted. I was too shy and uncertain to pursue such a sensitive subject. As a result, Theo and I drifted in limbo for another year, neither of us confessing our feelings but clearly attracted to one another. The innocent romps through the forest at night had changed into more intimate encounters where stolen kisses, hands clasped in more than friendship, and light touches became the focus until one night everything changed . . .
“Run away with me, Becca,” Theo whispered, his lips brushing along the length of my jaw.
My heart rate accelerated with his words. “Run away? Leave the pack and our families?”
“Your father will never allow me to mate you. He’s already denied my request twice.”
His confession shocked me. Theo never said he wanted to be my mate. “You’ve never told me anything like that, Theo. I don’t –”
My words were cut off as his lips met mine. The kiss was our first and sent shockwaves of unexpected desire pulsing throughout my body. Confused by the rush of eagerness and lust in my body, I wasn’t sure what was happening. The heat of his mouth scorched mine as he gingerly pressed his tongue against the seam of my lips. Gaining entrance, he deepened the kiss and twirled his tongue with my own, a deep groan of desire rising up and out of his chest.
“I love you,” he whispered when we parted, his fingers lightly stroking my cheek with tenderness. “I’d do anything for you. As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted you, Bec. If you ask me to, I’ll wait as long as you want but I’m not going anywhere.”
“Theo,” I whispered, as he covered my body with his own and lowered his head to pepper kisses along my throat and slowly down to my shoulder. The edge of the material fell to the side as his lips met my fevered skin. “Why am I so hot?”
“It’s the mating response,” he answered with a groan, “I feel it as strongly as you do. We’re meant to be together.”
The memory faded as hot tears dripped down my face. I loved and I lost Theo. My own choices were partially to blame but I couldn’t expect him to keep waiting forever. We had barely spoken in over a year. At every pack function we avoided one another until the ache hurt too much to remain outdoors for long. Even in our pack hunts during the full moon I noticed that Theo hardly participated anymore. His large gray wolf was always absent now as if it was too great a burden to answer the call of his wolf.
I knew that first night we were together was the cause of his withdrawal. Theo and I had made love for the first time. Two young people who explored one another and gave into their attraction and desire. Under the moonlight and deep in the forest, Theo claimed my virginity and my heart. He was all I wanted, all I needed.
Until my father caught me sneaking out and I had to cut off all connection to the young man who wanted to be my mate. His eyes held a level of pain and accusation that I avoided as much as possible. We grew apart but oddly enough that didn’t sever the strong bond we shared. I could still look up at the moon and feel his beating heart. My wolf sensed his presence whenever he was near. My heart hammered in my chest the moment our eyes met, brief as those encounters had become.
I knew what love was supposed to feel like and when I lost the one person who made me feel complete, a little part of my soul died and withered away. Theo also felt this loss. Many times, he tried to visit, and my father turned him away. Jedd wasn’t going to give in and accept Theo’s lesser position or birth among the clans, not for his only daughter.
Time hadn’t changed his opinion. Five years only confirmed his resolve.
Sighing, I curled into a ball and shivered as the cold metal of the cage bit into my flesh and seeped into the far corners of my mind. My sanity felt like it was slipping. Every hour that I remained locked up like a beast only further punctuated my lack of hope.
Food and water became so scarce that I was dehydrated and unable to lift my head. Soon I would pass out from the absence of nutrients. My condition was dire.
“Help me, Theo,” I whispered in the dark and hoped he was close.
