“Then please, get everyone ready,” Liam said. “If I make it home and bring my mate, I know it’s going to be a difficult time for her. This is all going to be new.” He looked at the women. “Would you go to Rebecca’s home? She’s human, and she’ll be scared and worried, and I know this is all going to come as a shock to her.”
“She doesn’t know about mates?” Emily asked, Jake’s mate.
“No. She doesn’t know about any of this.” He’d wanted to tell her, but Rebecca wasn’t part of a pack. She loved wolves, but that didn’t for a single second mean she would ever understand. This was his fault. His mistake. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her because of him. “I’m not going to be able to let her go back. She’ll have to stay here. Please, when you know all is well, could you go to her home? Get her things. Everything that you think will make her comfortable.”
Emily nodded. “We’ll do all of that. We’re stronger than you think.”
He nodded and stepped away, allowing his friends to say their goodbyes.
This was dangerous.
He wanted to send them home, to make them wait.
But that would put them at risk.
Staring into the forest, he thought about Payne. They’d had a couple of run-ins before. He’d always been the stronger and faster one out of the two of them. Now Payne thought he could take Liam’s mate and that would be the end of it.
A rage built inside him thinking about what Payne had done. Not only had he taken his mate from him, he’d let her know exactly what he was, and not given him the chance to do it himself. For that, he would make sure Payne suffered horribly. That he’d want to die long before he granted it.
Liam was one to show mercy, to give people a second chance. Payne had crossed a line, and now he’d get to see just who he was dealing with. Liam had a reputation for getting the job done.
Payne would finally get what was coming to him.
****
Chained up.
Broken.
Alone.
Rebecca stared across the floor seeing a spider scurry away.
Even spiders didn’t want to be near her.
She felt so empty.
So scared.
The fear gripped her, making it impossible for her to focus on anything else.
Wolves.
Real live wolves.
Not the kind that were in fairy tales and movies. They were real, and she’d seen it all with her own eyes. They’d had fun mocking her. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she sniffled. The man, Payne, had kicked her in the ribs with so much force, she’d slammed against the far wall.
She hurt everywhere, and her body shook from the cold.
Rebecca didn’t even know how long she’d been taken.
Payne had been surprised, she knew that. He’d been expecting Liam to charge down and try to take her.
He’d not arrived.
They waited for hours, sitting around a dinner table.
Payne had mocked, laughed, and hurt her. Pinching her flesh, pulling her hair. Showing everyone that would listen just how weak she was. How useless. He’d even clawed at her neck where Liam was supposed to have marked her.
She placed a hand to the skin. It burned to the touch, and she wondered if wolves had infections. She was human, and if it was dirty, she’d be sure to die.
Death sounded all right now.
She’d rather be dead than have to deal with the truth that Liam had lied to her. He wasn’t human, not completely. Half man, half wolf, and he’d lied to her. The mark on her neck, his need to take her. It hadn’t been because of her. Well, it had and hadn’t. He’d done so because his stupid wolf had told him to.
She wasn’t attractive.
Or worthy of such a mate.
Payne had told her that.
Liam as an alpha needed someone strong.
Someone who could be worthy of his affections.
She was nothing.
In that moment, she missed her small apartment, her laptop, her authors, her work. She wanted to go back home. To forget about Liam, and the way he smiled or looked at her. It was all a lie, right? He didn’t really have any feelings for her.
No one did.
“Aw, are we still alive?” Payne asked, giving her leg a nudge.
She flinched and tried to curl her body into herself, to make herself as small as possible.
It didn’t work. She cried out as he grabbed her hair and pulled her up so that his cheek was against her own.
He’d stripped her of her clothing, and he’d made a point of sneering at her full body. Poking and prodding at her cellulite legs. Laughing at Liam’s choice.
She couldn’t handle much more pain or humiliation.
“Leave me alone. Please. I have nothing to do with this,” she said.
“You have everything to do with this. You’re the very reason we’re here now, dealing with it. You’re all the reason I need. Liam will come for you.”