Page 24 of Dane's War

Damnit.

Of course, he could read between the lines.

Thankfully, neither my parents nor brother questioned me about my ending things with Brady when I moved back home. They left it alone.

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Gonna have to know what you went through.”

“Why?”

“So, I know whether or not I kill him slowly or quickly,” he states.

I thought for a split second he was joking, but a part of me knows he’s not, which freaks me out in a whole lot of ways.

“You can’t just kill my ex because you want to, Dane.” I shift up onto an elbow, then into a sitting position, ready to argue my point if I have to. He could get in trouble if . . .

“Baby, one of the reasons it took me so long to come find you is my brothers and me were going over information we’ve got on Contreras. He’s not a good dude. Not in any way. So, let me rephrase my statement. I need to know whether or not I’m killing him slow and painful or painfully slow.”

“There’s a difference?” I blurt as Dane shifts up, twists, and turns on a light.

“Yeah, there’s a difference,” he grunts. A grintugging at his lips as I blink my eyes, adjusting to the brightness, even if it was a dim light. I’d been lying in the dark room for a while, so it took me a moment.

“And that would be?” There shouldn’t be a difference, but then again, what do I know? It seems there’s not much of this world I really know anything about.

“That’s something you don’t need to worry about knowing, Raine. Just know that Contreras won’t be getting away with what he did. Just depends on the extent of what you tell me. And you might as well tell me the truth and not hide anything. I’ll know if you do.”

“What if I don’t want to share with you?” It’s not like what happened with Brady was any of his business.

Dane’s eyes flash, and his arm shoots out, hand curling around my neck. Not in a harmful way, but still, it gets my attention. “Raine, you don’t tell me, then when I get my hands on Contreras, I’ll still find out, and when I do, I can’t be responsible for what I do because I might just end up losing my goddamn mind on him.”

My lips part, and Dane’s eyes watch as they do so. I could see in his eyes his wolf was close to the surface. I realize it’s best if I give him the answers he wants me to give him.

“In the beginning, it had been great. He was sweet,charming. He worked at getting me to go on a date with him. After a while, he started changing things up. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. He would make snide comments about my friends. He preferred me to stay away from them, spend more time with him. In the end, I didn’t have any friends, and I was with him anytime I wasn’t working. He knew my whereabouts and who all I talked to. The only times he would speak sweetly was whenever my parents or Bandit were around.”

“Did he know they were shifters?”

“No. I never told him. I figured he’d think I was crazy. Maybe I should have so he’d end things with me, but I didn’t.”

“Right,” Dane grunts, letting my neck go.

I take a breath and finish giving him what he wants to know, but I do this without looking at him. “It got to the point he’d start hurting me. He’d slap me and ridicule my every move. I couldn’t wear something without him putting his opinion in on it. Or him telling me to go change. It was to the point I was scared to wear whatever I picked out because I knew he’d hit me.” It was all I could do to ignore Dane’s growling at my admission to being hit. “A couple months ago, it got worse, though.” My voice trails off slightly as an animalistic snarl fills the air. “He decided onenight that I was to have sex with him while his friends watched. I refused, and he forced me to do this. After that, I knew I had to get out of there. So, one morning after he left to see to business, I packed all of my things and got out of there.”

“He forced you to have sex with him while his friends watched?”

I nod my answer because there was no way I was verbally doing so. I’d already said enough, as it were. I didn’t think I needed to say more.

Dane curves a hand back around my neck and gently pulls me to him without saying a word. He wraps his arms firmly around me and holds me close. After a while, silent tears start swelling in my eyes and down my cheeks. Still, he doesn’t say anything or react to this. He simply lets me do so while holding me in his warm arms. Only when I drift to sleep, do the tears stop, but still, the warmth of Dane never leaves me.

Chapter Fifteen

Dane

I didn’t want to leave the bed. Leaving it meant leaving Raine. She fell asleep in my arms, and those silent tears were killer on my sanity. It’d been a struggle to hold it together for her. To not go out and hunt the son of a bitch down and kill him tonight. But I needed to take care of her first.

Before anything could be done about him, I knew I needed to take care of her. My wolf and I felt the pain together, and it shredded us as one. The shredding of my sanity depends on Raine. I came to terms with this while I’d been out. She’d been through hell and didn’t tell anyone about it. Not her parents. Not her brother. But because I’m her mate, it’s my responsibility to notonly protect her and keep her safe, but it’s also my job to do whatever it takes to make those who cause her any pain suffer.

To be able to accomplish anything that needs to be done, I’m gonna have to get Raine to agree to the mating. Not that she hasn’t already. I can sense it in her, but I’ve got to take her, feel her body accept me for who I am, know that she’s taking me as not just the man but also the wolf that lives inside me, that’s finally becoming one with the rest of who I am.

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