Page 15 of Brutal Mate

“And maybe it'd be a good idea to try and prevent any more teenagers wandering into the woods late at night.”

Jack cocked his head. “You and I both know that's easier said than done.”

Kane averted his gaze and played with a loose thread on a rip in his jeans. “The Peters girl was there.”

Jack’s interest was clearly piqued. Kane felt it even before he looked up again. And when he did, Jack was staring at him, interest evident in his gaze. “And? Did something happen?”

Kane gulped and shook his head. Nothing did happen, so to speak. And yet, just talking of her now made Kane’s insides twist into knots.

“Kane?” Jack said, the alpha-like tone of his voice making Kane cringe. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Kane insisted, meeting Jack’s gaze. “It’s just, well, have you given her parents’ proposal any more thought?”

“You mean, have I reconsidered marrying her off to one of the pack?” Jack said, his tone deep and dark. Kane already knew what was coming. “Do I really need to answer that?”

Kane shook his head and averted his gaze once more. He felt stupid for even suggesting such a thing. “I know it's not something our pack even considers, not like many other packs, and especially not with humans,” Kane said, stammering over his words with the fluttering in his chest. “It’s just that perhaps, well, in this case it might actually be to the benefit of the woman.”

Kane felt Jack watching him closely again. It made his skin tingle and his insides cringe again, but he forced himself to meet his alpha’s gaze.

“Are you really suggesting that it might be good for a woman to be forced into an arranged marriage?” Jack growled, his teeth were clearly gritted.

“She might not like the idea, but yes,” Kane said, holding Jack’s gaze even though he could feel the weight of his alpha’s disgust. “I know it's not something any sane person would suggest under ordinary circumstances, but these aren’t ordinary circumstances.”

“How so?” Jack asked, his head tilting with interest. He leaned forward in his seat, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair. “What ought I to know?”

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the Peters couple are pieces of shit,” Kane growled, unable to hide his temper at the reminder of what the two of them had been like in Jack’s office alone, even without thinking of what he had witnessed in the hardware store or the bruises he had noticed on Miley. It didn’t take much to know where they had come from, especially not when he had seen similar ones on the mother. “You met them. You spoke to them. I mean, what kind of people actually want to sell their daughter in the first place?”

Jack huffed in agreement at that but said nothing.

“It’s clear the woman is being mistreated,” Kane added, and his gut twisted as he remembered once again the bruises and the familiar look in her eye, the sympathy he had felt when he looked at her as he remembered all the times he, too, had been beaten as a child.

“As you just said yourself, she’s a grown woman. She can do as she wishes,” Jack pointed out. “If she is so badly treated, she can leave.”

Kane growled at that. It was a challenging thing to do in the face of the alpha, and yet he couldn’t stop himself. He glowered at Jack and hissed, “You and I both know it's not always that simple. Besides, nineteen is no age to be out in the world on your own. You took an oath as pack alpha and as mayor of this town to serve and protect all within its borders—”

Jack cut him off with a raised hand. He sighed deeply and dropped his gaze. A thoughtful look crossed his face, and Kane was almost certain he had gotten through to him. “I can’t condone an arranged marriage,” Jack said, shaking his head again, and Kane’s hopes plummeted. “I could never ask one of my men to make such a sacrifice like that. Do you honestly believe that Will or Eddie or even Hanson would be willing to take a nineteen-year-old bride for the sake of the town or even the pack?”

Kane hadn’t really thought that far ahead, and just the idea of any one of his packmates married to Miley, able to put their hands on her and have her to mate with, made him feel sick to his stomach. He bit back the urge to say a word, worried what he might say if he opened his mouth.

Jack looked him deep in the eye and said, “If you want me to arrange a marriage to protect her, then I may be willing, but as you are the one who brought this to me, you should be the one to make the sacrifice. I couldn’t ask it of any of the other men.”

Kane dipped his head in acknowledgment of the words, too scared to speak in case he inadvertently accepted responsibility for something he hadn’t yet had a chance to think about properly.

“Kane, you and I have been packmates for a long time,” Jack said, perching right on the edge of his seat. He leaned over and laid a hand on Kane’s shoulder. “If you really think this is for the benefit of the girl, then I shall give it some serious consideration, but arranged marriages were one of the very reasons I left my old pack in Blackwell Falls.”

Again, Kane nodded.

“It isn’t something I wish to implement here in Nightstar,” Jack continued.

Finally unable to stop himself from speaking, Kane lifted his head and said, “Perhaps, just this once, we ought to.”

“You really feel strongly about this, don’t you?” Jack sighed, leaning back in his chair.

A hard lump formed in Kane’s throat. “I’ve never told anyone this before, but as a kid, I was abused. I was beaten black and blue near on every day of my life, and I have no idea how I lived to see ten, let alone thirty-six,” he explained, every word a pang in his chest. “I’ve seen that kind of abuse more times than I care to count, and I can see it right now in the Peters household. I can’t help but feel that if you don’t take this deal, something far worse will happen to the girl before she manages to find the courage to escape those horrid people.”

Jack met his gaze unwaveringly as he said, “I know the feeling all too well. I will consider all you’ve said.”

Kane gulped, barely able to breathe past the lump in his throat. Had this been what he wanted when he raised the subject? He wasn’t sure, but either way, if Jack decided it was the right thing to do, then who was he to question the alpha?

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