Page 99 of Resisted

And my mate? Fuck, but she was beautiful. I knew she would be. Only a magnificent queen would have a wolf like that, a large, snowy white creature that would have any shifter sniffing after her if she weren’t attached. But she was, and I was so fucking thankful for that.

Her growl echoed off the cement walls, and I couldn’t fight my smirk. Roth was right, as always. He’d thought she would fucking shift for us, and she had. She did it so fucking gloriously that I couldn’t be prouder. No, she didn’t just shift for us. She shifted for me, and when her giant form loomed over the human that was carving into my skin, for a moment, I forgot the pain of it. Then, when her teeth clamped down on the back of his neck without a single moment’s hesitation, I thought for a second that surely I’d died and gone to heaven because there was absolutely no way this could be true. No way that my mate would come to my rescue. No way my mate would jump in with a vicious glee that only a predator would have. Not my sweet, gentle girl. And yet she had. She’d jumped in to save us without a moment’s hesitation, shifting quicker than even a seasoned pro like Rig managed. Judging by the gleam of approval in Roth’s eyes, I knew he was impressed.

Even knowing that I had complete control of that fucker, could kill him with a press of a button, I still felt nearly nauseous when I turned my back on him. Maybe it was because turning away from him brought into view the monstrous acts he’d done to my family. It was unforgiveable. This moment, right here, would haunt me.

“Think she can shift back?” Vince asked, his heart still beating rapidly as his body fought to heal. He’d recover just fine, of that, I was sure. Nothing that a day or two of sleep wouldn’t fix.

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“You’ll have to talk her through it,” Roth instructed as he came up next to us. “Want to light it?”

More than fucking anything. I took a few steps to the pile of hearts nearby, ignoring the screams of pain as my mate fucked with the human, her animal enjoying the game more than it should. It was concerning really how well she took to shifting and attacking, as if she’d been doing it all along. Maybe she could’ve but she didn’t know how, or at least she’d never had a reason to prompt her.

Staring down at the pile of human hearts, blood pooling around them, I took satisfaction in grabbing a piece of shirt off a body before striking a match and igniting the material. I stared at the material, waiting for the flames to catch before tossing it onto the pile of hearts. When I first joined Silas and Vince, it took me weeks to work up the courage to ask how a heart burns when it’s obviously filled with moisture. Silas had answered, “Magic,” before sitting me down and explaining that the heart burning was the fate’s gift to us to release the energy and ill will that plagued us back into the universe.

It didn’t quite make sense at the time, but now that I was the one igniting the pile of hearts, watching them blacken and turn to ash, I finally understood. I finally grasped the relief when one less person who wished you harm was off this earth. I felt the turmoil and energy dissipate from within me, as if my anger and fear that had accumulated from these people now no longer had the power to cause me or the ones I loved harm.

“I’ve talked to the contacts and promised them the island is secure,” Roth said from behind. “They’re coming back for us, meeting at the dock in five.”

Five? That was barely enough time to get us out of here, but Roth and his crew were already on the move, only leaving Gage behind. I watched the pile burn a few more moments before I turned, seeking the great white wolf that had stolen my heart. She was at the foot of the human, batting at his foot teasingly. She’d done well not to kill him, just liked I’d ordered, and I made a mental note to reward her for that later. I walked closer, eying the oozing wounds her claws had carved into his thighs and stomach. So fucking proud of her.

Letting my fingers drag through her fur, I knelt down to look into her eyes, still the vibrant violet that I loved so much. “You can shift back.” Her wolf laid its head on her paws defiantly. “Silas can force you, but I don’t think you want that.”

“I don’t think I want that either,” Silas wheezed. I knew he didn’t. The one time he’d done it when she was a pup nearly broke his heart, even if he’d never admitted it. I knew, Vince and I both did, but we were selfish enough to just be thankful that it hadn’t been us causing the pup pain. “We can’t fit a wolf on the boat, Belladonna,” he added with a swallow, an action I knew was painful. “You need to shift.”

Just like the woman, the wolf ignored Silas’ demand and instead reached a paw out, swiping again at the man’s boot. He howled in pain, and it took me a moment to realize she’d stuck her claw in the sole, piercing the bottom of his foot with the razor-sharp edge. The way he cried out, nearly scaling the wall at his back to stand and get away from the pain, let me know that I for sure would be trying that spot on future prey.

“Take control. You need to push your will on your wolf, Bella. Don’t ask, take.”

There was a few moments delay, and I feared that she would have to be forced to shift again, an action that could hinder her shifting in the future if she lost confidence. But then, under my fingers, bone morphed and her fur pulled back before her body changed fully. She was panting on her hands and knees, gasping for breath, and I’d forgotten how straining the first few shifts could be. I pulled off my shirt before bending down and handing it to her. It reeked of sweat, was covered in blood, and had tears from the knife that cut through my body, slicing vertically through the material, but it was better than walking naked in a group of men. Better for all of us that she was covered.

She reached for the shirt with shaky hands, taking it from my grasp and throwing it over her head before the bastard of a human had time to see anything that belonged to us. Behind me, Silas and Vince echoed my thoughts with a growl, warning the human to look away. He did, and I couldn’t decide if it was out of fear for the men behind us or terror of the little lady inches away from his feet.

“I…” She licked her lips, searching for what to say.

She didn’t have to speak. I knew what she as feeling. Shifting for the first time was indescribable. Being completely present in the moment but having your thoughts be secondary to something else’s actions was complicated and confusing. Growing up in a shifter community, we were taught young to shift, but as an adult, the experience had to be overwhelming. I threaded my fingers in her hair, forcing her eyes to me. “You did amazing. But we need to go now.”

I pulled her up with me as I stood, looking toward Gage and Vince. Before I could even issue a command, Gage spoke. “I’ll help Vince out to the boat. You get that lazy sack of shit over there.”

I saw Silas smirk at Gage’s remark as Vince cut in. “I can walk fine without help.”

“I know, buddy,” Gage cooed before mouthing, ‘I’ve got the baby.’

I had to trust that Bella was capable of following my lead, even if she was slightly disorientated and confused about the whole situation. I understood completely. There were always moments of discombobulation, but we couldn’t afford to work through them with her now. Not when the clock was ticking and we were already two minutes down.

I bent at my knees and grabbed onto Silas’ arm before slinging his whole body over my shoulder, ignoring his sounds of discomfort as I jolted him about. I felt like shit causing him more pain, especially since I could feel how deep his injuries were, but I had no choice in the matter and he knew that.

“You can’t leave me!” the human moaned as he began to crawl toward us, but leaving him was exactly what I planned to do. We had no use for him. He didn’t deserve our help after all he’d done, so when I walked past him, the weight of my alpha heavy on my shoulders, I shook off the fingers that tried to grasp my pant legs as I moved.

I exited the dining hall through a door this time, no longer climbing through bars from an area long since closed off, and blindly found my way through the maze of the abandoned prison. The place was eerier this time around, the shadows thicker, the sounds more menacing, and I had no doubt that a place like this, a place rich with negative history, was shrouded in all the ghosts of its past.

“You should have fucking told us you were coming alone,” I grumbled as we turned a corner into a hallway that was so dark, I had to blink to adjust my eyes. I should have had a flashlight ready, but I didn’t have the extra time to fuck around and fumble for one, so my night vision would have to be good enough. “We would’ve never let you meet up on a fucking dock alone.”

I glanced back to see Bella directly behind me, Vince and Gage at the rear, before picking up the pace. “Yeah, well…I underestimated the threat.”

Behind me, I heard Gage bark out a laugh before responded with, “You don’t say?”

“I had to know.” His voice was weakening, and I knew the pain from being moved around, combined with how weak he felt, was dragging him under. “I had to know for Bella.”

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