Page 53 of Mates: Posy

"Shh. You're okay now. It was just a dream. Just your mind reliving it. It will never happen again. He'll never touch you again."

"I'm sorry," I gasped. "I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"You have nothing to apologize for." He kissed my forehead. "Everything is going to get better now, I promise."

My lungs and heart slowly calmed down. At last, I put my hand on his chest, a signal for him to stop rocking me like a baby.

"You know what? Rain has a good feeling about this place," he told me. "He says wonderful things are going to happen to us here."

Rain is just a wolf, I wanted to say, but couldn't bring myself to crush his optimism.

"I'd like something wonderful to happen," I said instead.

"And it will, ladybug. I'll make sure of it."

I reached up and scratched the scruff he called a beard.

"What would I do without you?"

"Good thing you'll never have to find out," he laughed.

"Oh, someday you'll find your mate."

Then I'll be all alone.

"You'll find your mate too, ladybug. Any wolf would be proud to have you for his own."

Ha! I pity the wolf who gets stuck with me.

I didn't think he existed, but if he did, he was going to be very disappointed when he discovered I was his mate. Not only was I physically unattractive, but all the grit had been beaten out of me. I was a shadow of the girl I used to be, a shell of a person that only knew how to keep her head down and survive.

I didn't say any of that to Luke, though. I didn't want to bring him down with my negative thoughts.

He read my mind, though.

"I'm serious, Lilah. You are a beautiful, amazing girl. Someday, the right man will come along and help you see that. He'll treasure you, too, because, if he doesn't, I'll take care of him."

Luke held up one massive fist, and I smiled, knowing that's what he wanted.

"Now, come on. We need to get freshened up before dinner."

"What do you think his luna will be like?" I fidgeted with my fingers.

"Theirluna, you mean. There are five alphas of the Five Fangs pack, and they share one mate, who they met only a few days ago."

Five mates!

"I was talking to Crew, Alpha Jayden's beta, when he dropped off the supplies earlier," Luke told me. "Her father abused her terribly. Crew said she's so traumatized that the alphas haven't allowed anyone to meet her yet."

"What— What did he do to her?" I whispered.

"Crew said the alphas are pretty hush-hush about her, but they informed all the betas and gammas that she was beaten regularly and locked in her house for nearly six years. The alphas only told them this so that, in Alpha Cole's words, when they do meet her, no one does anything dumb to upset her, which would get them killed."

Her experience sounded so similar to my own that it made me shudder. I only had to endure Alpha Halder's harassment since last spring; the poor luna had endured it for years.

"How strong she must be," I murmured.

"Just like you, ladybug."

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