Shifters of Shadow Falls Collection (Books 1-3) (5 page)

Chapter 10: Lizie

I’m scared shitless, huddled in the corner of the shower with the curtain closed as though they don’t know I’m in here.  I wonder if they know I’m not human.  I pray they don’t.  I can’t go back.  I can’t be what I once was. 

I’m not even completely sure what I am other than latent.  They said I was useless and a waste.  They sold me and those assholes beat the shit out of me, trying to coax my wolf out.  Tears stream down my face and my body shakes without permission.  They’re going to hurt me again.  Dom looks just like
him
.  Like the shifter who brutalized my body over and over again.  I shudder and squeeze my eyes shut, willing the memories to go away.  I thought I’d escaped all this.  I thought I was finally free. 
How could this happen?
  My shoulders shake uncontrollably as sobs rock through my body.  I gasp for breath, but it’s too difficult as my throat dries and closes, suffocating me.

I remember the pain shooting through my back while they whipped me.  Taking turns and making bets on whether I would break or if the wolf would show.  The spikes piercing into my skin and gripping on before being ripped away taking bits of bloodied flesh with it, leaving nothing but raw, broken skin and blood.  Although my vision was blurred, I can still see the splatters of my blood as they hit the wall.  So much blood.  I can still hear them laugh as my wounds closed before their eyes, although the brutal pain remained.  That’s all the proof they needed.  They kept at it, saying they would beat the latent out of me.

I prayed every night for the healing to stop.  I begged the Gods, any and every God to have mercy on me.  To let them kill me.  And one night my prayers must’ve been heard.  I stopped being able to heal.  Their confusion gave me relief.  But it was short lived.  They continued to torture me.  They brought me to death’s door over and over again.  Each day they invented new ways to damage me.  To bring back my wolf.  But she left me.  Left me or died, I’m not sure which.  I’m not sure if she ever even existed.

It took years before they gave up and tried to get their money back.  They wanted to return me because I was broken.  But my “pack” didn’t recognize my scent.  They denied me.  I was thrown away and left in human territory for them to claim me.  But no one did.  It took nearly two years of living at the shelter for the Hender’s to take me.  They got a check for keeping me.  It wasn’t enough to stop them from beating me though.  I was worthless to them to, just like everyone else.  At that point I was so numb to the abuse I just accepted it as a way of life.  At least they only struck me with their human fists or light objects, like the plate I didn’t clean properly.  They never tried to get “creative” like the shifters did.

I only started to heal when Ari took me in

“Ari.”  I sob her name into the cold tile wall.  Please come help me.  I can’t even speak the words my throat hurts too much.  Come hold me.  I wrap my arms around my shoulders and rock.  She’s the only one who’s ever cared.  I squeeze tighter as my head falls limp on my knees.  The only one who’s ever touched me in a kind way.  I can’t survive here.  I know it.  This time it will kill me.  With my last bit of energy, I whisper, “please save me.” 

Part III

The Betas

Chapter 11: Dom

The sound of my mate crying is killing me.  My heart feels dead in my hollow chest as I lean my forehead against the door to her temporary room.  She won’t stop sobbing and my touch is useless to quiet her.  I don’t understand; it’s not supposed to be like this.  The sound of her cries echoes in my head and my wolf whines in absolute torment.  I’m angry at my wolf, at myself.  I should be able to soothe my mate, to be a balm to her broken soul.  Instead, I’m the one causing her pain.  The way she looks at me with sheer terror in her eyes, shatters any hope I have at claiming my mate.

I need to do something, but how can I help her when she won’t confide in me?  I don’t know what the hell to do.  I pound my fist against the wall in fury.  My only consolation is that our alpha mate can calm her.  I’ll do anything to heal Lizie, to have her whole and happy.  I need to find out what happened and I need to make it right; the sooner, the fucking better.

I scowl as Caleb approaches the door.  I don’t want to share her.  Fate’s a real bitch. 

“She’s not letting you in?”  His voice is low and full of worry.

“No shit.”  I practically spit the words out.  He doesn’t flinch at my tone.  He’s used to my bitter bullshit.  He runs his hands through his hair in exasperation.

“We should tell her we’re her mates.”  I just barely resist the urge to knock him the fuck out.  I’m worried about healing our mate and he’s worried about fucking her.  I grit my teeth, but manage a response.

“Do you see the way she looks at me?”  He ignores my words like the stubborn asshole he is.

“Let’s just do it.”  I shake my head.  “It’ll be like ripping off a Band-Aid.” 

I narrow my eyes and practically sneer at him.  “I can feel her hate and fear radiating off of her and you expect me to tell her she’s my mate.”

“
Our
mate!”  He’s out of his fucking mind.  “If we don’t then what’s going to happen when her heat hits?  Huh?”  I can’t look at him so I just stare at the wall.  “What about three days from now, when the full moon comes and we have to claim her?” 

“
Have
to claim her?  We don’t
have
to claim her.”

He looks at me like I kicked his puppy, “You don’t want her?”  There’s shock and disbelief in his voice, but also overwhelming sadness.  I just stare at him.  What the fuck gave him that idea?  “How can you not want our mate?” 

“Of course I want our mate!”  He nods his head and breathes deep with relief even though my words came out as a hateful growl.  He really is out of his fucking mind if he thinks she’s going to let us claim her.  My hard words come out easy.  “We can wait till the next moon.  Or however fucking long it takes.”

“I’m not fucking waiting.  And I’m not risking her heat coming on and it fucking us over like it fucked over Alpha.” 

I finally meet his eyes.  “How is he?”  I heard him and Lev earlier, but tuned them out to give my mate all my attention.  I thought I heard Lizie saying something in between sobs, but all I could understand was “Ari.”  She loves her alpha and it breaks my heart that she has so much love for her, but only hate and fear for me.

“Not looking too good.  She ran from him.”

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, I know right?  When he caught up to her, she knocked him in the jaw trying to get away.”

My eyes widen in shock.  The admiration in Caleb’s voice is comical.  No one’s gotten a hit on the alpha in years.  Of course his own mate, a
human
mate, would get the best of him.  It almost makes me smile. 
Almost.
  But I don’t fucking smile.  So both of our mates have a bit of a violent streak?  I can’t help the fact that the alpha’s mate hitting him makes me feel a little better about my own mate beating the shit out of me. 

“But she reacts to him.”  I saw her melt into him at the offering.  She was petrified for Lizie, but perfectly fine in his embrace. 

“Yeah and then her heat hit and it freaked her the fuck out.”

“Why?”  I don’t understand how wanting her mate’s touch could possibly
hurt
their relationship.

“According to Lev, abducting them, not telling them why and then fucking them is not a good idea.  And judging by how pissed off Devin is, I’m going to have to agree.”

A grimace spreads across my face, “you make it sound way worse than it is.”

He raises his brows in question, “not really.  Anyway, she rejected him
after
they bonded.”

Oh shit.  I’m sure Devin’s hurting after that.  “But she’s his mate.”

“He hasn’t told her yet and that’s why I wanna tell Liz.”

“It’s Lizie.”  I narrow my eyes as jealousy creeps up on me.  Shit, I don’t even like him saying her name.  How the hell am I going to be able to share her as a mate?

“First of all, we need to tell her so he can tell Ariana.  He’s waiting to tell her cause he wants to make sure Liz’ll be alright first.  He’s waiting for us to be ready.  I know he’s sacrificed for the pack before, but we’re also hurting his mate.  She’s our new alpha.”  He stresses the last bit and I feel my resolve crumble. 

I sure as shit don’t have any other ideas on how to get through to Lizie.  Maybe telling her will help; she can’t get any worse, right?

“And secondly,” Caleb’s voice brings my concentration back to him.  I raise my eyebrows and wait for him to continue.  “Stop thinking like that.  I hate that you’re all butt hurt that we’re sharing our mate.”  My brows knit together in anger.

“Get out of my head Caleb.”

“You know I can’t.”  At least he has the decency to sound remorseful.  “We’ll make it work.  Fate fucked us over for a reason right?”  His arm swings around me and he pats me on the back.  “Maybe we’re both too fucked up for her on our own,” he grins wickedly, “but together we’ll be whole for her.”  I snort.  Fucking romantic
.

“The only problem with that is that we’re the same kind of fucked up.”

He laughs in my face.  “No way, you’re way more fucked up than I am.”  He smiles broadly at me and for the first time since I realized that we were going to share Lizie, I don’t resent him; I don’t want to punch his pretty-boy face in.  “It wouldn’t kill you to smile, you know?”  And just like that, the urge to knock him the fuck out comes back.  I shove him into the wall.

“I’m just fuckin’ with ya.”  I know he’s just bullshitting, but it really might make a difference for Lizie if I could lighten the fuck up.  Scary-as-hell seems to be the most common description of me from the humans.  I decide to change the subject. 

“Vince back yet?” 

“Not that I’ve heard.”  I watch Caleb’s fists clench.  He usually doesn’t get his feathers all ruffled.  He’s the light-hearted, smooth-talker of the bunch.  Always on about some bright and cheery bullshit.  Just slightly more tolerable than Lev’s jokes.  Vince is gonna be fucked when he gets back.  Nearly everyone in the pack is pissed.  He’s supposed to have the girl’s background info ready for us.  We already had Ari’s since Devin practically stalked her this past year, but we need Lizie’s background as soon as possible.  We didn’t know she was ours until yesterday.  Instead he high-tailed it out of the offering and hasn’t been back since.  He felt his mate in the audience, we all felt it, but he’s going to have to wait until she’s offered just like Devin had to.  He can’t just take her.  He sure as shit isn’t that stupid.  It’s been nearly twelve hours since we last touched base with him.  That’s too fucking long for him to not be up to something that’s going to fuck us over with the authority.  He can’t be pissing around in human territory; he knows better than that.  I shake off my thoughts before I get too pissed off.

“So you got all of their shit in there?” 

“Yeah, it’s time to move them into their
new
home.” 

“It’s fucking weird.” 

He shrugs at my comment.  “It’s what Alpha wanted.”

Devin wanted the rooms set up exactly like their apartment.  They have the east wing entirely to themselves.  Everything but a kitchen.  And now they have an extra bedroom and bathroom since they were sharing one before. 

“Honestly, it’s not a bad idea.  It’ll give them a sense of home and safety.”  His words hit me hard and I scowl.  “I know man.”  He pats my back again and I let him.  It doesn’t do much to console me, but at least I know he’s feeling the same.  “One day we’ll be her home and safety.”  He nods his head as if he’s reassuring himself.  I fucking hope he’s right. 

Chapter 12: Ari

I wake up in Devin’s arms.  The alpha. 
My
alpha.  I breathe out deeply and snuggle into his warm hold, nuzzling into his hard chest.  I sigh and feel my cheeks heat as I remember him taking me, shattering me.  And then my eyes widen.  I sit straight up.  Something’s fucking wrong with me.  My heart beats wildly and adrenaline shoots through me.  I shouldn’t be cuddled up to him as if he’s the oxygen I breathe.

My
heat
. 

That’s what’s fucking wrong with me.  I begged him, literally begged him to fuck me.  The shame and guilt wash over me making my heart sink and I have to close my eyes.

“Calm down sweetheart.”  He runs his fingers through my hair and pulls me back into his chest.  I resist slightly, but truthfully I want to lay against him.  My body’s pulled to him and I can’t help it.  I don’t fucking like the loss of control.  It’s as though my body and my mind are two separate entities.  He starts stroking my back and I feel myself relax into him.  I know I should leave it be and give in.  I don’t have a choice anyway.  But that’s just not how I was made.  He commanded me, fucked me, and now he’s petting me like a prized poodle.  I’m not going to sit back and be a good, little pack-bitch. 

“Why did you take us?”  The words come out dead on my tongue.  I already know, but I need to hear him say it.  Maybe then I can hate him.  I can stop feeling this emotional and physical pull to him.  His hand pauses along my back and he goes rigid for a split second. 

“I wish you would just trust your instincts.”  He sighs heavily.  I shift in his lap so I’m facing him and stare up at his gorgeous face.  His silver eyes look dimmed, almost sad.  They soften my resolve to be bitter.  He rests his hands on my hips “I wish you would just trust me Ariana.  I know you want to.” 

I have to look away from his eyes.  He’s right.  I do have the desire to trust him, to let him hold me, to give myself to him.  But it’s not really me.  “Because of my heat.”  I frown and offer the words as a simple explanation.  Once the heat is gone, I’m sure I won’t feel this way about him anymore.  It’s only temporary. 

Devin’s jaw clenches and his fingertips dig into the soft flesh of my hips.  The possessive hold makes my body jerk and still.  My heart races in fear, my instincts kicking in.  Once he registers my reaction he loosens his grip and starts caressing my hips, but I remain rigid as my heart beats rapidly in my chest, trying to climb up my throat.  I want to trust him, but I sure as fuck don’t. 

A moment of awkward silence passes and I fight the need to lay against him. 

“How long did I sleep?”  I peek up at him through my lashes and find him staring hard at me.  As though he’s studying me.

“A few hours.”  Shock widens my eyes and jump back a bit, as far as I can with his hands still gripping my hips, keeping me seated in his lap.

“Lizie!”  Fuck!  I can’t believe I left her for that long.  My eyes must display my desperation.

“She’s alright.”  I shift uncomfortably in my capture’s grasp.  Would he tell me if she wasn’t? 

“I’d let you know if she wasn’t well.  She seems to like her space and we’re giving it to her.” 

I nod my head, but eye him questioningly.  Jude said they can hear each other’s thoughts and now I’m wondering if he can hear mine.  I purse my lips and narrow my eyes.  What should I think about?  Internally I start a dialogue, “Did you like my pussy as much as I enjoyed your dick?”  He scrunches his brows and looks back at me, but doesn’t answer.  I cock my brow and think, “I want you to bend me over that desk and pound into me until my body is limp and my pussy is so sore it’ll hurt for days.”  Surely that should get something out of him.

“What’s wrong?  What did I do?”  He seems a bit worried so I school my expression back to neutral, but I can’t help but to ask.

“Can you read my mind?”  He grins, revealing his perfect, yet deadly, white teeth while he chuckles.  I find myself staring at his sharp fangs.

“No, I can’t read your mind.  The wolves can communicate if we concentrate.”  He runs his fingers through my hair and his silver eyes sparkle almost as brilliantly as his smile.  “So unfortunately I’ll never be able to read your mind Ariana.”

His fingertips glide gently up and down my back, pulling at my cream camisole.  It’s then that I realize I’m only wearing my shirt.  He’s covered my lower half with a cashmere throw.  I snuggle into it and shift on his lap, feeling self conscious.  My eyes search the room and land on my ripped jeans and lace thong.  Motherfucker!  I can’t help but to frown at the sight.

“Those were my favorite jeans.  I just got them.’’  I don’t try to conceal the disappointment in my voice.  What the hell am I going to wear now?  His eyes follow my gaze and he runs a hand through his gorgeous hair looking guilty.

“We’ll get you more.  The clothes from your apartment are here.  The Betas are setting up your room.”  I perk up immediately. 

“Our things are here?”  I blink rapidly at him as my mind wakes up. 

He smiles at my excitement and nods.  I instantly glare at him.  Mother fucker better speak when I ask him a question.  This shit’s going to work both ways. 

He grins at my narrowed eyes.  “Yes.”  He says it teasingly.

“I swear to God, if you can read my mind I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”  An asymmetrical grin pulls at his lips. 

“I told you I can’t.  I won’t ever lie to you Ariana.”  I settle into his embrace feeling relaxed by our banter.  This feels so good.  But that means it must be bad, right?