Page 20 of Claimed By the Damned

The bickering stopped, and Drake looked over at him.

Zeke had Knox’s full attention now. “What the fuck does that mean?”

”She told me a little about what’s going on in the pack. Her father hates rogues, and now she’s marked by one. That secret won’t be kept for long.”

Knox scoffed and settled back onto the couch. “So what? Everyone knows fated mates trump everything else. He’ll just have to deal with it.”

Zeke stepped farther inside and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’m gathering that he’s abusive in some sort of way. She’s scared of him. Fear goes a long way, and that’s why she’s fighting this so hard.”

”Did she actually say that he was abusive?” Drake inquired. He probably didn’t notice, but there was a hint of concern in his voice. He really did care about her, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not.

”Not in so many words,” Zeke answered. “But she was too scared to even talk much about him. She said he was controlling, and that’s all she would tell me.”

“So, then we kill the fucker,” Knox said with a shrug. “Problem solved.”

That was Knox’s go-to for everything. To him, everything could be solved with violence. But Zeke didn’t know if that would help their situation or make it worse.

”We can’t just be going around and killing alphas,” Zeke went on. “Rogues already have a bad rep. You could start something bigger, especially since we don’t have the full picture yet. We have to play by the rules here.”

”I don’t play by anyone’s rules.” Knox’s smile was vicious.

“That’s obvious,” Drake mumbled. “But this is yet another reason why we shouldn’t be getting involved with her. She’s nothing but trouble, and we’ve worked too hard to get to where we are now.”

”So, what, you are just going to sit there and let her father continue to abuse her?” Zeke couldn’t stand the thought, even if Drake was completely dismissing her.

”If he’s even abusing her!” Drake shouted. Zeke flexed his jaw at his abrupt volume. “We don’t know that for sure. All we have are your fucking assumptions.”

”You didn’t see her, Drake,” Zeke said. He wasn’t above pleading. “You weren’t there for that conversation. Her fear of him is very real, and there’s more that she’s not telling me. He’s the reason she was so freaked out about Knox marking her.”

Knox grunted. “I still say we kill the bastard and be done with it. We should have never let her leave in the first place.”

“You’re not killing anyone!” Drake yelled with a slam of his fist next to his glass. “And she is not coming back here.”

”If he’s hurting her, I’m with Knox on this. We can’t leave her there, and I know a part of you knows that.”

Drake seethed with his nostrils flared. Knox stood up and said, “Fuck this shit,” and strode across the room to the door.

”Where are you going?” Zeke asked. His leaving wasn’t the best idea. Not with him high, and not with him on a warpath to see his mate back with him. But it was not like Zeke could stop him. When Knox had his mind on something, he saw it through to the bloody end.

”Out,” Knox answered in a growl that was half human, half wolf. He left, slamming the door behind him.

Zeke turned to Drake and sighed. He would deal with him later. Hopefully, Knox would do the right thing and wouldn’t kill her father yet. Not until they figured out the extent of what was going on.

”Why did you fuck her if you don’t want her?” Zeke asked curiously. It was a change in topic, but it was a conversation that needed to be had. And he knew why, but he wanted Drake to admit it. Admitting it was the first step to getting Drake to accept all this.

”Clearly, she’s easy pussy,” Drake answered simply.

”Stop talking about her like she doesn’t affect you in some way. Your wolf has to be full of rage inside you right now. Mine is, and I didn’t fuck her like you did and storm away.”

Drake laughed humorlessly, which worked to amp up Zeke’s anger. “Oh, she affects me alright. The very idea of her pisses me off.”

”And we both know why that is, don’t we, Drake?”

Drake growled low. “That’s got nothing to do with this. Our lives were just fine before she showed up. All she’s going to do is ruin everything, and I won’t allow that.”

”Mates don’t ruin things. They make things better.”

”My experience says otherwise,” Drake mumbled, downing the rest of the alcohol.

---