“You’ll have to excuse Sharron. They were pretty rough with her. She was the first of us to go into heat,” Piper whispered.
Jasmine swallowed hard as sorrow clogged her throat. These women had been through hell, and apparently some more than others. “Are you saying that all of you have been…?”
Heads nodded in agreement, except one. Jasmine noticed that Chandra hesitated. “Were you raped, Chandra?”
“Of course she was,” Cindy answered. “They only put us in here if we are too young to breed like Selena or have already been raped.”
Chandra’s mouth opened and closed.
Jasmine strode over to her and took in her scent. She smelled like honeysuckle and the man who had escorted Jasmine to the room. Something was amiss. This was also the same woman who had looked at Jasmine’s escort with hope-filled eyes as he’d shoved Jasmine into the room. It might not have been the time to ask why then, but it sure seemed like a good idea now.
“Did you willingly breed with him?”
“No,” Chandra replied, her face showing her alarm. “It wasn’t like that.”
Everyone was now staring at her.
“He spared me,” she whispered as she looked down at the cement floor.
Confused looks were exchanged by the group.
Chandra sighed. “He told me he wouldn’t hurt me. He said we had to put on a show for them though. I tried to explain how they would know by my scent that he was lying. He was horrified.”
“So you slept with him willingly?” Piper asked.
“No,” Chandra replied. “He didn’t…that is…we didn’t have sex.”
“So what did you do then?” Jasmine asked, hopeful that there was a possibility they may be able to get some assistance from this Misha guy.
“I used my hand and then rubbed it into my skin,” Chandra whispered, mortification lacing her words.
A collective, “Oh,” filled the silence.
Sharron broke into tears.
“I’m so sorry,” Chandra spoke quickly. “I don’t know why I was so lucky and you ladies weren’t.”
“No, Chandra,” Jasmine cut off her rambling. “You don’t have to be sorry for being spared.”
“I feel awful that I was lucky.”
“Jasmine’s right,” Cindy said. “You were lucky. At least one of us was.”
Piper crossed the room and put her arms around Sharron.
“It’s the first time she’s cried,” Cindy said.
“It probably won’t be the last,” Piper whispered.
Shadeau released Jasmine, biting the inside of his cheek as Misha took her away from him. Damn it. He should have stood firm and left her at the barn. But he knew she would have followed regardless. When they returned home, they were going to have a long talk about her stubborn streak.
“So where did you hide while you were gone?” Arik asked.
“In a barn for a few days. Then we had to move around. Your plans to incite the humans worked rather well, so I was having to avoid hunting parties of both varieties.”
Arik clapped Shadeau on the shoulder and steered him away from the bunker they’d taken Jasmine to and guided him toward a mobile home that served as an office of sorts. It took an enormous amount of restraint not to shake that offending hand off as Shadeau walked beside him.
His instincts screamed to run and get his mate. Misha better not hurt one hair on her damn thick head. Shadeau had to give himself a mental shake. Arik was talking to him and he wasn’t listening to a damn word.
“For a few days.”
What? What was for a few days? Shadeau glanced at him. Arik looked as if he wanted some response. Shit. Shadeau nodded his head in agreement, hoping that would be a correct move. He wanted to sigh in relief when Arik continued to talk. Slips like that couldn’t happen again. He needed to be focused.
“I’m leaving Misha in charge. Those bastards in the Ozarks managed to kill Ivan.” Arik stopped to open the door of the office.
Shadeau bowed his head and spoke. “I’m sorry for the loss.” He wasn’t one damn bit sorry. He hated that prick Ivan before the raids, now he couldn’t help the feeling of elation knowing the motherfucker had died.
Arik turned and addressed Shadeau from inside the threshold. “They’ll pay for what they did. Can I count on you to support Misha while I’m gone?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Don’t disappoint me, Shadeau. You have a great opportunity to become higher up in the food chain with me.” Arik closed the door.
Shadeau curbed his urge to run to Jasmine and headed off toward the bunkhouse where he’d spent his nights before meeting Jasmine. Things had started to go south when Misha was asked to escort her, but they were looking up now. With Arik gone, it would be easier to get release the hostages. Shadeau had to figure out how he was going to deal with Misha. He didn’t know anything about the blond-headed man. Only that he was with Arik before their change. Another lap dog of sorts.
He climbed the few wooden steps that led to building where his room was located. It was funny to think of it as his room. When they’d first come here after Arik slaughtered his old alpha, Shadeau had been so excited about this room and all the things inside it. His stomach knotted with nausea as he opened the door and entered the hall.
How in the hell had he ever thought this place would bring him happiness? Had he become numb in his feelings after all these years? He knew what Arik was from the moment he laid eyes on him. A sick, twisted, power-hungry man. Could he have really pretended to stay blind to the butchering of morals?
His heart clenched. The inner questions scared him, because if Jasmine hadn’t come along he was unsure how he’d have answered them.
The door to his room was unlocked. Shadeau had seen no point in locking it before he left. Wolves respected each other’s space. And even though there were a lot of newbies running around, there were still enough of the old guys around to make sure nothing happened. The personal shit he carried with him to this place could fit in a grocery sack. It consisted mostly of clothes and wasn’t worth much anyway.
He closed the door behind him and surveyed the area. Light-blue textured walls surrounded him. His bed was a mess, jumbled with covers that he’d tossed back the morning he left. A few dirty clothes littered the floor. His stare went to the wall with the entertainment center and he wanted to roar with fury. Material things like this had been the payment he’d received to hurt the people Jasmine loved. He clenched his hands at his sides, resisting the urge to grab the piece of furniture and dump it over. The action would only draw attention he didn’t need. His gaze panned the room again. There was no longer anything for him here.
A knock sounded at the door and he jerked around, muscles tense—ready for battle. “Come in.”
The door opened slowly and Shadeau relaxed his guard slightly as he recognized his friend Jason.
“Hey. I heard you were back. I was starting to think we lost you in the attack.”
Shadeau accepted Jason’s offered hand and gave it a quick pump in greeting. “It would take a lot bigger army than that to take me down.”
Jason ran a hand through his thick brown hair as he stuffed the other into his jeans pocket. “I’m glad you’re still around. I actually want to show you something if you’re up to it?”
Going with Jason would definitely beat sitting here alone. Besides, he needed to make sure nothing around the camp had changed. “Yeah.”
Shadeau followed Jason outside. The earlier sunshine was now filtered by gray clouds.
Jason pitched his head back and looked up. “Looks like we’ll be getting some snow.”
Shadeau nodded. He hoped the weather would hold off for a bit. It would be a lot easier to escape and avoid being tracked. They walked in silence. A few people they passed waved and they returned the gesture. But the differences in the pack here and in the Ozarks were notable. Here they worked as a unit, but they lacked the true affection that shined through in all the packs gathered together in the Ozarks. Was the lacking affection what made the difference? Without that sense of belonging, did it make it easier for them to attack and destroy other families? As if they had no clue what they were destroying?
It was sickening to think about. He pushed the thoughts from his head. His past no longer mattered, only his future. And his future was sitting in a cell right now waiting for him.
Shadeau concentrated on his and Jason’s destination. They walked to the far side of the camp, past construction crews, noticing a lot of progress had been made since the last time he’d been here. When Jason continued on beyond the camp perimeter, it intrigued Shadeau. What had his friend found?
The farther they walked the denser the foliage became. The trees were tucked so close together that snow still sat on the ground in places from the last storm. Between the canopy of limbs and the clouds, light became scarce. They continued on for what seemed about a mile before Jason turned and faced him again.
Shadeau didn’t see anything around them that would be considered an amusing find, so Jason must have wanted to talk to him away from all the sensitive ears of the pack.
“What really happened while you were gone?”
Shadeau raised his eyebrow in question. “What do you mean what happened?”
“I could hear you talking to Arik about the female. Something in your voice didn’t sound right. You were on edge.”
The situation had become more serious. Shadeau wasn’t sure how to answer, but he knew he had to tread carefully. The thought of having to take Jason’s life in order to protect Jasmine made his heart constrict, but he would do it. “I think you’ve had too much caffeine and read something into it that wasn’t there.”
“We’ve known each other for a long time, Shadeau. I didn’t read shit into anything. And I sure as hell didn’t miss the way your pulse jumped when Misha was ordered to take the female away.”
Fuck!
Shadeau strived to keep a calm exterior. Where in the hell had Jason been when all this happened? He didn’t remember seeing him, but there were a lot of structures around them he could have been hiding behind. He laughed off Jason’s words. “What is with you, man? All these females we’re bringing in are nothing but a piece of ass. A means to create Arik’s army.”
Jason charged at Shadeau and they both went to the ground.
What the hell
? He had no idea what had set his friend off. As they rolled, Shadeau’s back collided with a tree trunk, knocking the breath out of him. But Jason wasn’t after his throat. As Jason grabbed handfuls of the front of Shadeau’s shirt, he could now see the panic written all over his friend’s face.
“Damn it, Shadeau! Just answer me!”
What in the hell was going on? Jason’s face showed all the hysteria Shadeau felt on the inside. Realization dawned on him. “They have your mate.”
Jason roared as he pulled on Shadeau’s shirt and slammed him back into the tree trunk. “Don’t you fucking tell a soul,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “If you were ever my true friend at all, you won’t tell anyone.”
The fight started to leave Jason’s arms and Shadeau sat up slowly as the other man released his hold on his shirt. He knew he could kick Jason’s ass without trying, so he hadn’t been worried for his own life. But the pain his friend was going through matched his own. He’d found an ally with a common goal. A goal that wouldn’t be shaken.
“We’re in this together.”
Jason’s gaze met Shadeau’s. “Then I didn’t misread you. She’s your mate. How in the hell could you bring her back here and let them take her?”
“It’s complicated. We came on a rescue mission.”
Jason sat up straighter. “Thank God. What they are doing to these women isn’t right. This isn’t our way. There are others who feel this way too—wolves who hate being under a new changeling’s rule. We could recruit them. They’d follow you, Shadeau.”
His pulse leapt. He didn’t want to lead. Never had, that’s why he always deferred. He knew he could. He knew his dominance was great—knew he was a flip. But the numbers would be better for them. And if these other wolves wanted out of here, then he could possibly talk Tyson into taking them on. And if not? Well, he might have to step up to the plate and become the alpha he didn’t want to be. Otherwise these guys would become lone wolves.
Hell. This had started out as a way to prove he could contribute and that his heart really had changed. It was to gain him acceptance and it was a long shot to do that. Could he really convince them to accept others who were in the same boat?
“Come on, Shadeau, you know the more we have with us the better our chances. I’m not going to sit back and let them violate her!”
“Damn it.” Shadeau ran a hand over his skull trim and rose to his feet. “It’s more complicated than you think. Her pack hates me. Well, her new pack hates me. Her former pack wants my head.” He began to pace. Shit, this whole situation sucked. He’d give anything to hit rewind right about now and just kill Arik’s sorry ass instead of accepting all the cool toys he presented. But he knew what he had to do. Jasmine might not want to leave her family, but she had insisted on coming here with him. So if what he had to do to get them out of it meant he had to become an alpha, then she would damn sure go with him, even if he had to drag her caveman style to his den.
Fuck! He didn’t even have a den. He groaned, closing his eyes and tilting his head heavenward. “All right.”
“Thank you.”
Shadeau snapped his head back down and pinned Jason with his glare. “Only those you trust with your mate’s life.”
Jason stood and gave a crisp nod. “I understand.”
* * * * *
Jasmine sank to the ground and leaned against the wall. Her shoulders were sore from being bound. And she couldn’t shift to get out because it would dislocate them. It was the sole reason they bound wolf captives this way. The pain would prevent them from being able to shift fully and would leave them more hurt than they were to begin with. Why the hell hadn’t she thought to stick a key in her bra?
“We usually sleep in shifts. Since they’re through with us for the time being, they won’t return unless it is to deposit another prisoner. Except for the one time they did come in here after Selena, so we like to be vigilant,” Piper said.
Jasmine nodded. It made sense. “I’ll take this first shift.”
Chandra sat down next to Jasmine. “Me too.”
The rest moved to the far side of the cell and lay down to rest. Jasmine really hoped Shadeau was having more luck than she was. Damn, she missed him. They hadn’t known each other long, yet she wished she could snuggle into the warmth of his body. The mate bond was a strange thing indeed.
But it was starting to feel like more than just the mate bond. She didn’t want to only be near him, she wanted to consume him as well. Their personalities matched. They were both fluent in sarcasm. Even fighting with him was pleasurable, especially when she riled him enough to get all dominant. It had been hard to fight her instinct to mark him the last time they were together. Her jaws ached even now to claim him as her own. Lust started to rise in her.
She shifted her position as she pushed away thoughts of Shadeau. Thinking about him right now probably wasn’t the best idea.
“I bet those chains aren’t very comfortable.”
Jasmine turned to look at Chandra. “Nope.”
“I guess they didn’t take them off because you’re stronger than the rest of us. Piper isn’t a beta, but she wasn’t a soldier either. We all had more nurturing jobs in our packs.”
“Whose pack are you from?”
“My alpha’s name was Henric. We were in southern Indiana. Arik raided our small pack about three weeks ago. He killed most all of the men and some women. The rest of us were taken. But I haven’t seen any of my friends since I came here. I’m not sure if they are even here.”