Page 117 of A Wolf's Heart

Before Kage, Weylin, and Rainor, Max had been alive. Before them, I’d been an accomplished detective. Before them, I’d livedcomfortably in my childhood home, knowing nothing of the suffering that my biological family had endured.

Because of them, I had been stripped and lost every part of the person I thought I was. I used to be strong, and resilient, but they stole so much of what I loved from me, that I could no longer feel any love for them.

The beating ended, the men around me out of breath, and then the sound of a belt buckle being undone echoed in what I now learned would be my tomb. The place I became completely broken, not only physically, but as those fists and electric shocks lay into me, I was broken mentally. Reminded of the realities and dangers of being with them, living as a shifter, would cause.

I squeezed my eyelids impossibly tighter as a zipper was pulled down. Markus stepped up behind me, his hand gripping the back of my neck and pressing my face against the concrete.

That hatred, despair, and complete loss of self twisted something dark inside of me, and I wanted him to know. I wanted Markus to see it.

Why should I be the only one who was haunted?

I opened my eyes, and from the corner met his heavy gaze, snarling at him. A promise to haunt him for the rest of his life.

“Alpha!” someone yelled from the far side of the chambers. “We’re under attack!”

“Hold them off!” he growled back, his eyes not leaving me, his dick grazing the skin of my ass. Bile rose in my throat, but I held strong, letting my anger flow through my stare. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of me cowering. I wasn’t going to let him take that power.

“Sir, there are too many. It’s Cridhe, they’ve flooded the land.”

Markus seemed angry by this. His teeth came out, viciously biting me in the back of my shoulder before pulling himself away. “Leave her!” he ordered.

I tried to struggle against the chains, but it was useless. I stayed there until my hands and feet became numb. Just as I began to drift off, completely exhausted and spent, shouts and the sounds of a fight broke out behind me.

Someone grabbed the shackles holding me up and undid the clamps, freeing my ankles and then my wrists. Without feeling in my feet, I fell to the ground, but Malcolm caught me. “He should’ve known it would come to this. Now Kage will kill the innocent to get you back.”

I stared up at him, unable to respond to what he’d just said. It was wrong. In my mind, I knew it was wrong that more bystanders would be killed all because of Cridhe. But I couldn’t muster up any emotion for it anymore. I truly was broken. I no longer cared.

Malcolm glanced into my eyes, and somehow, I think he saw it too.

“Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

I sat on the concrete floor as he pulled a shirt off a dead shifter and slipped it over my head. I did my best to get my arms into the sleeves, struggling with any movement.

The muscles along my back were so tight, it was hard to breathe. My ribs were cracked, I was sure of it. When Malcom scooped me into his arms, I couldn’t stop myself from crying out at the sharp pain. He ignored me and began running.

Every time we came to a doorway, he made sure to stop and dip his head out into the next room or corridor, checking out his surroundings before proceeding. I did my best to bite my lip and hold in my whimpers in case we ran into anyone, but the place was empty, deserted.

When we got to a set of stone stairs, Malcolm ran up them. The weight of my body seemed to be nothing to him. I was surprised by his burst in energy.

At the top of the stairwell, though, he set me down, opening the door and glancing out. The bright light from the day caused us both to wince and look away. Malcolm closed the door. “There's about twenty of them. I don’t know if their loyalty will fall with me or Markus.”

“Seems like you have a problem,” I said, wincing as my back fell against the wall.

Markus stared at me. “Over thirty years ago, Byron Cridhe and I were alerted to the order to destroy Scarab Pack.”

I closed my mouth, cutting out the sound of my breathing so I could hear him.

“Scarab were gentle shifters. They were strong with their wolf and very peaceful. We talked to their alpha, warning them to run and hide. The council had nearly every pack in the area on their side. But he was stubborn and refused. It was you the council was after. It was you that Scarab refused to give up.

“We came to their territory under the pretense of carrying out the council's orders. There were some we killed to keep the cover, until we were able to find you. We hid you between our territories, Cridhe and Ophidian, hoping you would be protected until the time came that you were ready to restore balance back to our world.”

“This makes no sense.” Tears fell freely from my eyes.

“You have to live, kiddo. You have to make it back to Kage. It’s their time to protect you now.” Malcolm reached up and, in one swift movement, ripped off his collar as quickly as he could.

It still wasn’t quick enough.

The sound of compressed air filled the space between us. Blood and silver liquid began leaking from his neck. “I will give you as much time as I can.” I could see he was struggling with the pain. “You are the fate of shifter kind.”

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