Page 60 of Healing Her Lions

“When we met you, I realized that I had to tell them.” I look into her wet eyes. “I was rescued from a cage, but I wasn’t free. I still lived in a cage—the one I built around myself. Instead of it keeping me in, it kept all the people that love me out.

“Can you be proud of such a mate?” I hold my breath.

Chapter Seventeen

Breeane

Iam utterly gutted.

I wanted to stop him.

I have never told anyone what happened to Stephanie after I insisted she tell me every detail of her captivity. She trusted me with the worst time of her life. When her story unfolded, I shed more tears than I ever have before. We held each other and promised to move on together and never speak of it again. She didn’t want me to cry anymore.

I have done everything I can to put a smile on her face every day since. I tried to love her even more. She is the strongest woman I have ever met.

I cried for a month straight, in my room by myself.

Logan was there.

Logan went through all the things she did.

My eyes won’t stop leaking. I stare into his tormented eyes, and I know that I was supposed to meet this man. I was supposed to come to this place with these people and be the woman to meet these brothers that need me.

I suck back my tears as much as possible and know I’m going to have to break my pact with my best friend. She will understand. I will have a long talk with her as soon as I can.

“Logan,” I choke and stop. I wet my lips and try again. “Handsome, I will never judge you by the things you have been through.” His eyes brighten. This is so fucking hard. How do I tell him? What will be his reaction? “I wanted to stop you.” He jerks, and I grab his folded arm. “Not for the reasons you think. You know my friend, Steph?”

“Yes,” he nods slowly.

“Her name is Stephanie. She is the one who picked this place to move to. I thought she was crazy for wanting to come here. This was the area that she was taken to. She was in the games, too.” He falls back, his claws digging into the counter.

“What?” he rasps.

“She was there,” I whimper. “She was in a cage, too.”

“No,” he whispers. “How? I don’t know—”

“I spent weeks and weeks trying to find her. I lived with her family, helping them search. She came back a different person. We’ve worked hard to help her find her way back to herself.” Logan turns, bending over the island, his claws still showing. He pounds his fist on the surface, and I almost lose it.

“Fuck, no,” he denies.

“She has black hair; it was really short then. She was incredibly skinny when she came home,” I informed him.

“I remember her,” he says quietly.

I put my palm on his back. “She is doing well. Her family has healed her as much as they can.”

“I’m sure you have, too. You must have been so worried.”

“We all were,” I confirm. “But all we cared about was that she was back with us. We loved her and would never turn away from her. She had no control over the circumstances. All we wanted was her.”

He turns his head. “She alright?”

“Yes,” I say firmly. “She will be here in a month. She’s very excited to start the business with me.”

“Good, that’s good.” His hands return to normal, and he brushes them over his head. “I saw her in the games sometimes. They didn’t always let us out at the same time. She was tough. I heard her name. She tried to get to know the ones that were new. To give them the rundown of how everything worked. Over time, she would greet them, tell them what to expect, and then she would shut them out.”

“I know. She gave up.” I press my front to his side. “She is better.”

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