Page 13 of Sasha's Wounded Wolf

“Patrick and Josh died with my brother. Easton and Lincoln left after he died. Left before I could get here. Which one of them thought you weren’t good enough?” Raina asked.

“None of them. They were brothers to Rowan. They accepted me immediately.”

I hurried on when I saw the question in Raina’s eyes. I had no love for Richard Byrd, but I didn’t want to discuss her father and the way he’d hurt me. I was too raw. There’d be no way to temper the hatred I felt for him. Not to accuse him of arranging the murder of his son.

“Nico and I spent a lot of time at Lincoln’s house with them.”

Bastion and Raina shared a look.

“That explains why Lincoln called to ask questions about Nico and if he was here alone,” Anthony said from where he sat in one of the room’s recliners. “He was fishing to see if you were here.”

“He was fishing to see if she’s alive,” Nico countered.

“Why’s that?” Bastion asked.

“She was attacked shortly after Rowan was killed.”

My brother’s words had every wolf in the room leaning forward.

“Someone attacked you?” Raina asked.

“She was confronted by a group of wolves. They caught her alone,” Nico told them. “Six men against one woman.”

I touched his arm, trying to calm the wolf that threatened to shed skin and prowl the room to protect me. My brother had always been protective, but the attack had taken it to a new level.

“I’m here, Nic.”

My brother’s jaw flexed, and I knew his teeth clenched tight as he fought for control.

“I managed to fight them off,” I offered. “I went over the falls in the process. Nico fished me out of the water somewhere downstream.”

“She was barely breathing,” he growled, his voice more animal than man at the moment. “I almost lost her several times. When she was finally able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time, her wolf had healed most of her wounds. She’d taken a pretty severe beating from her attackers, then another from the rapids bashing her against the rocks. It was pure luck she didn’t lose Raine.”

“Why didn’t you go to the Rigton pack?” Bastion asked. “They would have taken you in.”

I snorted at that.

“It was weeks before I was well enough to get out of bed. I woke up wondering where my mate was. Only to find out he’d been involved in an accident and killed the same day I was attacked.”

I turned away, pacing to a window and found myself wishing I could shift and disappear into the shadows the night cast. Lose myself for just a moment. Run and run and run until my wolf couldn’t go any longer. I felt her pressing at my skin, letting me know she’d welcome that as much as I would.

“By the time she was healed enough to be up and around without needing to rest, we were both hellbent on revenge,” Nico told them. “We hunted down the bastards who’d attacked her and killed them.”

“You took a pregnant woman with you on a hunt?” one of the men with Bastion asked. There was no censure. Only curiosity.

“We didn’t know I was pregnant then, and I wanted blood. I deserved blood. Nico tried to temper my bloodlust, but there was nothing that would do that. I tortured them, and when they couldn’t give me the answers I wanted, I gutted them and watched them bleed out.”

“Fuck,” someone muttered, but I didn’t care who.

“I wanted to hurt them as they’d done to me. I wanted to show them what fear is, to let them taste death on their tongues before it actually came for them. I screamed until my throat was raw when they attacked. They deserved no less than what they gave me.”

I saw the understanding on the faces around me. Each of them would have done the same.

“Why didn’t you come to us then?” Raina asked.

“Because when the anger was gone…” I paused, wrapping my arms around myself, much as I had ever since I no longer had my mate’s arms to surround me. “I was empty. I didn’t care.”

“I took her somewhere safe while I tried to get some answers. And your pack wasn’t a place I considered safe,” Nico admitted with no remorse.

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