Page 19 of Claimed By the Damned

With every step she took, she could feel the guilt eating away at her more and more. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. When a wolf found their mate, they were supposed to be inseparable. They weren’t supposed to leave, and it pained her to know how much it was going to hurt both Zeke and Knox.

The night was cool and quiet, though she could still hear the sounds of people talking and laughing from inside the bar. The sky was clear, and the stars sparkled like glitter. It was beautiful and light-hearted, which was in stark contrast to how she was feeling about going back home where she wasn’t wanted or loved.

Zeke walked her across the lot to her car, and she unlocked the door before throwing her purse inside onto the passenger seat. She then turned to Zeke and gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry. I know this probably isn’t how you expected the night to end.”

“It’s not,” he agreed, gently brushing the hair off her cheek. “But I’m willing to take this at your pace.” A small smile pulled at the edges of his lips. “I can’t promise the other two will behave the same way though.”

Amara laughed softly. She knew that already, considering the bitemark she now bore. Her dress was rubbing against it every time she moved, making it a constant reminder. Instead of responding, she cupped his cheeks in her hands and pressed her lips against his, allowing herself just a moment to lose herself in him.

When she finally released him, he reached around and opened her door wider. “I’ll wait here until you’re gone,” he said sweetly.

Once she climbed into the car, he closed the door behind her. Amara watched him in her rearview mirror as she drove away, hating that she had to leave him there like that. She felt terrible and wanted to make it up to them. She just didn’t know how. She also had no clue as to what she was going to do about Drake either. She clearly had a lot to think about and not a lot of time to do so.

With a defeated sigh, she turned onto the main road and in the direction of the place she used to consider home. It was very doubtful that she was going to get any sleep tonight.

Chapter Eight

Zeke

Once Amara’s taillights faded around the corner, Zeke stuffed his hands into his pockets and made his way back inside the bar. He knew she was keeping a lot from him, from them, and he didn’t want to pressure her before she was ready to confide, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was not going to like the truth of her story when she was finally ready to tell them. He imagined all kinds of things, none of which he liked.

All sorts of scenarios of her home life came to mind, each one worse than the last. His wolf growled inside him at each one, a more temperamental beast than he was himself. Normally, for a rogue, the man loses control as well, but being with his friends had helped him remain more human. And he’d always been kind-hearted. He was glad that never changed, but that still labeled him as a rogue, not having a pack.

As he opened the bar’s door, he reminded himself that her father hated rogues. It wasn’t uncommon for pack shifters to hate them; it wasn’t completely unheard of, but she was right when she said it made things complicated. He would never accept them, and if he was truly controlling her, he might have enough sway over her to make her walk away from them. That was if she even could with Knox having already marked her.

On some level, he understood why Knox marked her. Admittedly, he wanted to mark her too. She was reluctant and unsure and flighty, and Knox felt the need to make the decision for her. He knew Knox well enough to have a glimpse into his mind about why he made that decision. But knowing what Zeke knew now, he was glad he didn’t mark her. They had to figure this out first. He had to know the full scope of things before he could help her, and completing the mating would make that ten times harder.

One thing was for sure: He needed to talk to the guys about what he knew so they could come up with a plan of action.

He headed through the bar, getting some looks because he was not wearing a shirt, but he didn’t give a shit. It was late, and the bar was almost cleared out for the night. Drew was wiping the counter as he passed, and he nodded goodnight to him. He was capable of closing up himself.

Once he was upstairs, he entered the apartment and frowned at what he found. Drake was in the kitchen with a glass of dark liquor pressed to his lips, and Knox was on the couch, using the coffee table to snort a line of speed, his choice of drug when he couldn’t cope with himself or a situation.

Zeke shut the door with a sigh. “We should talk.” It was going to be even harder now that one was working his way through getting drunk and the other was high and unhinged.

Drake looked at him from over the rim of his glass before pulling it away from his lips. “As I said before, there’s nothing to fucking talk about.”

Suppressing a snort, Zeke said, “You and I both know that’s complete bullshit. What just happened needs to be talked about. It can’t just be ignored, no matter how much you want to.”

The glass nearly shattered as Drake slammed it on the counter. “What just happened is we banged some bitch. Typical Friday night for us. No conversation necessary.”

A growl rumbled up Zeke’s chest, fueled by the rage of his wolf. Amara being dismissed so easily as some random chick pissed him off. “She’s our mate, whether you like it or not. And one of us marked her.” He looked pointedly at Knox who now had his arms sprawled across the back of the couch.

“I did what was necessary,” Knox claimed.

“No,” Drake began angrily. “What you did was create a fucking shitstorm. You were being selfish and didn’t even think about how it would affect the rest of us.”

Knox leaned forward with a sharp, threatening expression and placed his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. She’s mine. I wanted her, so I took her. You can fuck right off with your selfish bullshit.”

“Enough!” Zeke shouted, irritation thick with his accent. “The ‘why’ doesn’t fucking matter anymore. We need to figure out what happens now. We don’t know what happens if only one of us marks her.”

It wasn’t common for more than one shifter to see a girl as their fated mate. The mating process was usually completed when the pair marked each other, but the fact that there were more of them was uncharted territory. He didn’t know what would happen if he and Drake didn’t mark her too.

Drake tore his narrowed eyes away from Knox. “I’ll tell you what happens. Knox can go live with her and the pack because she’s not moving here.”

Knox flipped him off.

“I don’t think we can leave her there,” Zeke interjected before Drake could fly over the counter and strangle him. He rubbed a hand down his face. What he was about to say next could be a game-changer for both of them. Knox would likely fly off the handle and Drake would likely deny it until his last breath. Either way, Zeke was in for a fight.

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