Page 45 of Wild Fated

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run, to get the hell out of there, but my legs were like lead. Memories slammed into me, one after the other, of the nights I'd spent under his control. The humiliation, the pain, the fear. His alpha energy rolled over me in waves, pushing me back into the meek boy I’d been then.

"Destin." His voice was a low growl, and I flinched.

I forced myself to meet his gaze, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. "What are you doing here?"

James' lips curled into a cruel smile. "I could ask you the same thing, but I already know. I see you’ve found yourself a nice little plaything."

Rage bubbled up inside me, but I swallowed it down. I couldn't let him see how much his words affected me. I couldn’t show him anything. If there was one thing I’d learned under James’ thumb, it was how to be a blank slate. How to be numb.

"I visit this site for fun.” I spit the last word, hoping he’d read between the lines.

James chuckled, and the sound grated against my nerves. "Oh, that doesn’t surprise me.” He strode to a boulder at the edge of the small clearing between the rock faces and sat.

I stood there, naked, my mind spinning in a thousand directions. Why had I been pulled out of the realm? Why then?And what was happening to Lana?

I called for her again, hoping that even if I couldn’t see or hear her, she could hear me. I waited for a ripple from her dagger. For a scent that I could discern like her friend had earlier. But there was nothing.

“I’m so glad you remembered this place. I hoped it had made an impression.” James smiled up at me, and the sight of him dropped me back into my life in his pack. I could still feel the sting of Marcus's hand against my cheek, the taste of blood in my mouth as he punished me for disobedience. His voice, dripping with disdain as he gave me orders I couldn’t disobey.

I remembered the shame that washed over me as I watched him impose his will, making me follow orders like a trained dog. He'd forced me to submit, to bow to his authority, and I hated myself for it.

My stomach twisted. He’d forced me to attack my own pack mates. To sink my teeth into their flesh, to draw blood, to assert dominance that wasn't mine to claim. He’d reveled in watching me suffer. A sadistic pleasure, a hunger for control. He enjoyed breaking me, enjoyed watching me writhe under his thumb.

The night I left my pack had been just like this one. Cool. Autumn. My breath fogged in the cool night air, and the crunch of leaves under my paws felt like a drumbeat. I had to be silent. I had to be quick.

Every step I took away from them my family felt like a betrayal. I'd promised to protect them, to be there for them, but I couldn't do it under James. So I ran. I didn't stop until I was miles away, until the scent of my pack was a distant memory.

The forest became my home. I learned to track, to hunt, to survive on my own. I found solace in the isolation, in the silenceof the trees. But I never forgot my family. I never forgot the faces of the wolves I'd left behind.

By the time I felt strong enough to go back, they’d forgotten me. Now, standing in that clearing, I felt that same sense of guilt. Of abandonment. I'd brought Lana here, and now I was powerless to protect her. To protect any of them.

And then, in an instant, those memories shattered as two figures emerged from the slot in the stone walls. The second Alpha was lean, wiry, with calculating eyes. The third was massive, towering over the others with a perpetual scowl etched into his features. But it wasn't their presence that made my blood run cold. It was who they dragged with them.

Kael. Callista. Rowan. Evelyn. The four of them were bound, their faces contorted in pain. My wolf growled low in his throat, his hackles raised as emotions washed over me. Their fear, their confusion, and most of all, their pain.

They couldn't shift. I could see it in their eyes, the desperation as they tried to call their wolves and found nothing. It was then that I noticed the threads around their wrists. Thin. Strong. I had no doubt it was laced with the same compound I used in my traps in the forest.

Since I’d learned about it from him in the first place.

"You sick son of a bitch," I growled, the words barely a whisper.

I wanted to tear all three of them apart. To rip their throats out and watch the life drain from their eyes. Just as I was about to lunge for the wiry alpha closest to me, when two more figures emerged from the woods, their eyes glowing red.

The bone stalkers stopped on either side of Kael, and James stepped forward, his lips curling into a cruel smile. "This will all be very simple. You don’t have to do a thing."

Tree branches rustled above me, and I looked up. Dark wings. Shrikes.

James leaned forward, his piercing eyes locked onto mine. "Well, I have to admit, it was almost too easy." His voice was smooth and cold.

I searched for my pack. I was starting to shiver, but I wasn’t going to admit it.

James pushed up to stand, his eyes never leaving mine. "We knew Kael would come for you. It was only a matter of time." He paused, letting his words sink in. "So, we left out a few clues. We figured if he hadn’t come back for the dagger, he knew what it was and probably had ideas about what else we were after."

"We weren’t sure who would come here once they found the information on that slip of paper, but Kael knows your history. And you, being the dutiful protector that you are, would most likely lead whoever it was right in." He spread his arms wide, as if presenting the scene before us. "And here we are."

He sighed with satisfaction. “I am jealous, though. You succeeded where I could not.” His eyes dropped to the stone. To the smooth, clean surface that didn’t show any evidence of Lana’s blood.

My wolf pushed forward, urging me to shift. To attack. But if I did, those bone stalkers would tear Kael apart before I could get to him. He had no defense.

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