“So I sold you,” he whispered, his alcohol breath drenching her face. She gagged on that too. “$250,000, can you believe it? Quarter-mil! For a scrawny little bitch like you – can you imagine? I can get out of debt, pay off these damned bills you keep wracking up, and then move on with my life. And you'll have a nice little career set up for you.” One of the hands that had been choking her suddenly dropped to her breast and squeezed it firmly. “You'll make one hell of a little whore....”
She wanted to throw up and hit him at the same time, she was so pissed. But she was slowly losing consciousness from lack of air, and the idea of that terrified her. If she passed out, he would do whatever he wanted with her, and then throw her to the dogs when he was done. Her hands reached to her sides, searching for anything to help her, anything to use as a weapon... but all the vases and lamps were too far away. She was helpless.
“Too bad I sold you as a virgin,” his hot, drunken breath hit the side of her neck. “Maybe I should check that, eh? Don't know what a little slut like you has been doing around school....” His clumsy, thick fingers went to her pants. Maddy struggled harder and kicked him in the shin, and his cussed, his hand squeezing on her throat as the other slammed against her face. Her head spun. She could taste blood in her mouth, and she couldn't see out of one eye. She couldn't breathe....
The sound of splintering wood dimly met her ears, but she was on the edge of passing out and couldn't get her senses in order.
“What the fuck?” Her stepfather released her throat and her head slumped forward. Then there was a shout — and then a scream — and more crashing furniture. A thud against the wall as a body hit it, and a wet, nasty ripping sound. Maddy closed her eyes, swooning in and out of consciousness, until she was finally able to think straight again. When she raised her head, she could see the figure of Gareth standing across from her, his back to her, holding her stepfather up by his neck.
“Don't kill him,” she gasped, before she could hesitate. The words hurt her throat; her chest ached. “He deserves worse than that.”
Gareth didn't twitch. “He doesn't deserve to live,” he growled.
“No.” Maddy pulled herself to her feet, wobbly yet determined. She started toward the back door. She may be stunned and in pain, but she wasn't stupid – Gareth had come here for her, and once he was done dealing with her father, he would turn to her again. She knew she wouldn't be able to refuse him; she had to get away while he was preoccupied. “He deserves to suffer,” she whispered, her hand going to the doorknob. “I want that man to be in pain for the rest of his life.”
“That can be arranged.” Gareth hefted her stepfather higher, and Maddy saw his hands go between his legs.
“No, no!” Her stepfather pleaded, tears leaking from his eyes. It made her sick to watch a grown man act so pathetic “Please, I've got money, I'll give you a hundred-grand — no, more! More!” Gareth's hand hovered there, ready to mutilate the man permanently. He leaned his face in close.
“Take back every scar you ever gave that girl, you pathetic, disgusting piece of shit,” he growled.
Her stepfather went slack, face pale, then she saw Gareth's arm flex. He reached forward swiftly.
Maddy took that moment to step outside the door, shutting it hard behind her, though the sound was drowned out by her stepfather's screams. She had never heard a man scream so loudly and she didn't try to picture what was happening inside. Instead she turned, slipped on her sandals that always rested next to the door, and dashed into the woods. She was not ready to talk to Gareth or even see him, especially in the state she was in now. When they had their confrontation, she wanted to be perfectly healthy, not beaten and damaged or bruised. It was humiliating.
She entered the trees almost immediately and started uphill, heading toward the mountain top. Her senses were still heightened, and it was far easier now to navigate the underbrush, especially in broad daylight. She took a new route this time, one that was more tangled and overgrown, yet she felt like she was moving faster than ever. She leapt over logs, dodged under branches and around thickets. She passed a badger den and a deer trail, and knew every creature that shared the woods with her for several yards in either direction.
Time passed until she was sweaty and tired, her face hot and bruised, her throat sore. It still hurt to breathe – even the slightest brush of wind against her abused throat was agony, making it harder to run. She reached a stream and traveled down it for a while before crossing, trying to hide her tracks in the water. Then she continued.
She wasn't sure when she knew that he followed. The feeling grew in her steadily until she could imagine his breath against her neck. His smell drifted to her once or twice on the breeze, sending a tendril of dread through her, but he was mostly downwind and therefore invisible.
Finally she burst from the trees and came sliding to a halt. Her path was blocked by a massive stone face, a cliff that arched up into the sky, a building block of the mountain. She gazed at the dead end, defeated; she would have had to stop running sooner or later. Her eyes lingered on the rock wall until she shook her head. It was impossible to climb without equipment.
She heard a rustle in the underbrush behind her, and she turned around slowly, knowing he was there. His presence filled the small clearing.
He came to a stop a few yards away, not winded at all. His shirt was the same that he had worn the day before, and she could see a few rips in it, though she couldn't remember where they had come from. His hair was wild, his eyes brilliantly green, his face drawn into a strict line. If there was blood on his hands, she didn't see any.
“Did you kill him?” she asked, panting to catch her breath. She felt numb.
“I told him never to come back,” he murmured.
“What did you do?”
“The worse thing that can happen to a man.”
“Ah.” She didn't need to ask further; she remembered Gareth's final position and could guess the rest. She doubted her stepfather would ever have another child – which was a blessing.
They stood in silence for a long moment until Maddy felt exhaustion hit her, then she slowly sank to her knees, holding up her hand when he took a step forward. “Stop,” she said, “Don't touch me.”
“Maddy...” his voice carried a tone of warning to it.
“Don't growl at me!” she snapped, glaring up at him. He paused at that. “You think you have the right to touch me after using me in front of your entire pack? Forget it!”
He actually took a step back at her fierce tone. When she met his gaze again, she saw sadness there, uncertainty. He seemed oddly vulnerable. “Maddy, I'm sorry... but it was necessary.”
“Necessary?” she almost shrieked. She was happy there was no one in listening distance. “It was necessary for my first time to be on the cold cement floor in some warehouse? Fuck that!” She spit at him, resisting the urge to jump up and claw his eyes out.
His face darkened but he didn't respond.
“I hate you,” she seethed, looking down at the ground, trying to hide the angry tears in her eyes. “I hate you! You help me, give me something to hope for, and then take it away! How could you? How could you be so cruel?” She flung her arm back towards the way they had come. “You're worse than him! At least the bruises fade after a while – I'm never going to recover from what you did! That was my first time. I'll never be able to relive it, never be able to cherish it with someone who matters – does that mean anything to you? Anything at all?”
“Yes,” he murmured.
“No, it doesn't!” she screamed, climbing back to her feet. She wobbled for a moment in place and he reached out to steady her, but she smacked his hands. “Don't fucking touch me!” she yelled. “Just get away from me! All this lifemate crap is just that – bullshit! It's all bullshit and you're just some freak leading on an ignorant girl who doesn't know shit... Hah, I bet that was real great huh? Telling me all this crap and having me believe you....” She couldn't keep the bitterness from he
r voice. She glanced down at the ground, glaring at her dirty, cut feet. “I guess you got Yvonne now, huh? How did that go, by the way? Did she take you back?”
There was a long pause. “She's out of the pack,” he said carefully.
Her eyes darted to his face and then she looked down again, not daring to hope. Her anger still seethed inside of her, but at least she had let out some of it. And at least this time he was listening, not trying to seduce her. “Out of the... as in, she took a vacation or something?”
“As in she's gone,” he replied softly. “I kicked her out myself. She's a lone wolf now, Maddy... what she did before you left was unforgivable. I think she was the one that arranged your abduction, too.”
Maddy looked up now, staring at him, her eyes wide. She hated his words, even as she loved them, because it caused some of her pain to fade and her anger with it. She felt herself breathing easier past the lump in her chest.
“That doesn't mean I forgive you,” she said steadily. “That doesn't make up for what you did. What about that stunt you pulled after the fight? You didn't tell me anything about that.”
He didn't try to reach for her, though she could tell he wanted to. “You're in the pack now, Maddy. It's an age-old ritual, binding you to us. If I had told you, you never would have agreed to it, and it really was necessary.... Don't you understand? You're the Alpha female now. They will obey you as they obey me, and you don't even have to be a werewolf... because of what we did.”
Maddy was surprised. She blinked, unsure that she unstood. “Alpha... female? Of a werewolf pack?”
“Well of course. You're my lifemate. What do you think would happen if I became Alpha?”
Honestly, she hadn't thought of that. She was momentarily speechless, then recovered. “You didn't have to hide it from me!” she insisted. “You could have told me, you could have trusted me!”
He sighed, suddenly looking tired. “Would you gone along with me peacefully? Or would I have had to chase you down and drag you there?” His lips quirked. “I figured you'd turn tail and run... because it seems you like it when I chase you. Not that I'm complaining.”
Maddy raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. He had a point... but she didn't let it change her mind. She glared even harder. “Nothing is going to make up for that,” she said quietly. “Nothing.”
“I'm sorry.”
“You think sorry means anything now?”
“No... but I'll do anything for you.”
She crossed her arms, bitter and skeptical. “Ha! Like what?”
“I'll buy you a house.”
She blinked, not expecting that response. “What?”
“How about a car? College? A puppy?”
She was having difficulty believing her ears. What was he saying? “I don't think I understand....”
“How about a family, Maddy?” he said softly. She felt her breath catch, her throat closing in pain. He continued, “I can give you a family. I can give you mine. I'm sorry for what I did, but now I can give you my whole pack.”
She stood still, speechless. She was still mad, but damn, that was a lot... and his words were starting to penetrate through her fog of outrage. A family, a life... she hadn't considered that before. He had misled her, yes, but she had to be honest with herself. If he had told her about the mating, she really would have ran back to Black River faster than he could blink, and then he would have had to drag her back to Davenport, and things would probably play out in exactly the same way....
And... hadn't she enjoyed it?
And in exchange, she was getting everything she had always wanted. Not just a man who loved her, who would do anything for her, but a whole wolf pack. A house. A home. A life.
“No more lies,” she said quietly. “No more secrets.”
“I promise,” he murmured.
She thought for a moment. “Why is it that I can see and hear better?”
He seemed surprised. “It must have happened during the claiming.”
“Then I'm not a werewolf or anything?”
“If you were, then you would know it by now.”
“Ah.” That made sense, at least as much as everything else made sense. Everything returned to an awkward silence, and she stood there in the middle of the forest, shuffling her sandals, letting her anger slowly drain out of her. She was so tired of running, and he had just saved her life again. She couldn't believe what her father had done this time. Sold her? Really? “Sick bastard,” she muttered. She tried to make herself tough, tell herself that she didn't care, but her father's words returned to her and she felt tears building. Her mother might have committed suicide, but it was because she had been unstable, Maddy knew that much from the doctors. Bipolar. Her mother had been on antidepressants for years; her depression had finally caught up with her, that was all. Only after the death had her stepfather started with the beatings.
Still, his words....
The tears were leaking silently down her face, and Maddy collapsed forward; she didn't want to be strong anymore. Gareth's arms went around her, and he gripped her tight, slowly allowing them to sink to the ground, kissing her gently on the forehead where her bruises were spreading.
“That bastard,” she whispered. “I hate him.”
“Shh, it's your right,” Gareth murmured against her, cradling her head and rocking her ever so slightly. She clung to him, to his warmth and his scent, the powerful muscles in his arms and chest. His heartbeat was comforting and she could sense it stronger now than ever before.
She couldn't stay mad at him. He was the only person in her entire life who had ever been there for her, her rock to hold onto, her solid wall of protection. There had been misunderstandings, but that was over now, and she couldn't hold a grudge. Not after everything he had done for her. Not after everything they had been through together.
“Gareth,” she whispered against his neck, feeling his grip tighten on her small body. She wanted to forget everything. She wanted to start anew. “Please, Gareth... I want to forget everything. Could you... make love to me?”
He tensed immediately, then pulled back to look at her. “You're not feeling well, love....”
“Please Gareth, now,” she whispered, needing to feel him inside of her, needing to feel possessed and in love and so full of pleasure that she could explode. She wanted to forget about the past few hours and only think about his arms. “But be gentle,” she added as an afterthought.
His grin was slow, sexy, and with a tint of wickedness. “You can have me any way, any time, love,” he murmured. Then his lips traveled to her throat and he kissed her, gently drawing on her skin, so tender that she almost cried. How such a large man could be so soft, she would never know.
She pulled back just as his hands started removing her shirt, and held up a finger to his lips. “Can you make this my first time?” she whispered. “Whatever that was last night... I want to erase it.”
His only answer was to kiss her, taking her mouth so completely that she thought she would melt. Then his hands were undressing her, and he helped her to undress himself, pulling off his shirt and kicking free from his pants. They found a soft, mossy patch of ground, and he touched her everywhere, licking her body to life, stroking all the sensitive spots that turned her on. His kiss was deep, long, possessive – everything that she needed it to be.
And then he entered her, slowly and gently, making sure she was good and wet before parting her folds and sinking into her heat. She gasped, holding him tightly as he moved, stroking her from the inside. He reached down between them and played with her clit, his mouth on her breast, and then he sat up, taking her with him. He sat with her in his lap, still impaled on his cock, gently moving her up and down until she learned to move herself. She liked this position – he was able to reach parts of her that hadn't been touched before, and she gasped in pleasure, moaning and crying out. Then she moved faster, rubbing her clit against him, feeling his erection inside of her... his hands on
her nipples... his slow, alluring kiss....
She orgasmed in a sweet, shuddering way, crying out softly into his mouth as the waves of pleasure broke over her, causing her to clench around him. He tried to keep her moving, to keep pushing into her at a mind-bending pace, but she shook her head.
“Please, I want you to come,” she whispered against his shoulder.
“As you wish, love,” he murmured back, playfully biting at her chin. Then he was stroking her again, his hands replacing hers, pushing her back to orgasm so fast that she barely had time to breathe. Her body was enveloped by pleasure again, and this time he came too, pumping inside of her, grunting and groaning into her hair. His body tensed and she felt his seed, wet and hot, against her womb. It spurred her orgasm higher, and she let out a cry of surprise, rubbing against him wildly, no longer caring about noise or privacy or the chance of nearby hikers.
When she finally collapsed against his chest, wet and sweaty, she could hear him laughing. It was low and breathy, deep in his throat. “I told you, you can't run away from me,” he murmured to her hair, kissing along the side of her ear.
She jerked in surprise, then let out an exhausted giggle. “Oh I can run away,” she said, smiling. “You just have to come after me – every time, promise?”
“I've been promising a lot lately.”
“Oh really?”