Page 53 of Grim

“I was a mistake. I wasn’t supposed to be here.” Journey broke into a sob, and I held her until the sunset crested over the forest and the mountains. The golden light filtered through the trees. Sparkles of light reflecting on the dust made the area look like it was meant for the supernatural world and not of Earth.

I kissed her forehead until her sobs lightened. Her fingers played with my beard until she continued again.

“The pastor told my parents he could help them. Take care of the entire problem with me. Just give him a few days to get the paperwork in order.” She clenched her hair with her fingers, pulling at the scalp. “I thought I was getting help for my ADHD.” Journey shook her head.

“The next night, it was dark. There was no moon. I remember because I would watch it rise every night when my parents locked me in my room. I would watch it light up the sky, bringing light to the dark fields. The moon beams looked like they were playing with the deer that ran across those fields. They were so free, so alive. I wanted to feel that way, too.”

I didn’t think I could pull her any closer to my body, but I did. Her nose went into my neck, breathing in my scent. My wolf continued to let out low growls and purrs to comfort her.

“But that night instead of seeing the wildlife, there were only the small streetlamps and the artificial light coming from the houses. I was lying in bed, drifting to sleep when a man crawled in the window and covered my mouth with a cloth. I tried to get away.” Journey’s hand gripped tighter on my shirt. “I tried to get away, but the next thing I remembered was waking up in a clean bedroom. It had actual sheets, a bed, and a chair. I just had a mattress at my parents’ house.”

My parents fucking loved me. They fucking provided me with everything. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had their love and affection. I would have grown up damned lonely, but my mate had to suffer from the very beginning. All because she had a disorder that could be treated, and her parents did nothing to help her.

They fucking punished her. They should have loved her. Just like my parents loved me.

“Time passed; an old man came into my room. He said my parents paid someone to take me, to make it look like a kidnapping, and there was no hope for me to escape. He said my parents were putting on some fake tears right now and looking like the poor couple that lost their cursed child. I was to stay at this man’s house until a van would come by and pick me up and take me to my next destination, but I think he felt sorry for me when I told him I just wanted someone to love me.”

The wind blew harshly. It came out of the blackness of the forest. Clouds rolled into the valley below us. The mist blocked the last of the light, and I clutched my mate to keep warm as the temperature dipped.

“The van never came,” Journey added. “The man, he kept me, Jimmy kept me. He had me work manual labor. It was a farm, and he had tons of animals. Jimmy needed the extra help, and I was good at what I did. It kept me moving, kept me using my hands. My mind could stay on task.” Journey lifted her hand to the sky, feeling the soft fog settling around us.

“I heard screams when I was locked in my room one night. Girls just like me screamed into the night to be let free and unmarked vans would pick them up the next morning. I met none of the girls and didn’t know who they were. I was just glad it wasn’t me. That’s terrible to think, huh?”

“No, it isn’t terrible.” I petted her hair with my callused fingers. “It isn’t terrible in the slightest, you were surviving. You did what you could to stay there, to be safe. He never touched you, did he?” I lifted my lip, ready to snarl, but I faked a cough instead.

“No, he didn’t.” She shook her head. “He treated me great—warm food, a nice bed, and clothes. But I must have messed up somewhere because one night my food must have been drugged. I remained in a drug-like state for who knows how long.”

Journey’s eyes drooped, keeping the side of her head to my chest. Her eyes blinked, heavy in thought.

“It was like dreams faded in and out.” Her voice sounded hollow. “One moment a man would be on top of me, then in another, someone was feeding me food or drink. Then in another moment, I would lie in bed, unable to move. Until one day, the fog lifted, and I realized I had been drugged for a long while. My body was thin, bruises marred my skin. It hurt between my legs.” She sobbed.

I picked up Journey and strode over to the cliff, clutching her to my chest and roared into the valley below. My wolf speeding far too quickly to the surface for me to refuse entry. Veins bulged out of my neck, my claws lengthening by the second.

Trying to shake the darkness and keep the beast inside me from surfacing, I shook my head. Journey gripped her fingers around the scruff of my collar, her body wincing at the noises I created.

I set her back down on the worn bench and stepped away, running both my hands through my hair. I wanted to hold her, comfort her, but I could not. I would not harm her or make her afraid of me.

My wolf howled inside me with a sad cry. He had not howled like that since our first mate broke our heart, our bond. His cry echoed through the depths of my soul.

My knees weakened, dropping into the dirt just five feet away from her. She held her tiny fists to her chest to hide herself.

“Keep going,” I growled. “Tell me all of it.”

“The place where I stayed had been infiltrated by a rival trafficking ring. This gang had many men, but they were slender in appearance but unbelievably strong,” she continued.

I backed away, afraid I would shift.

“The drugs had barely worn off, so they kind of looked like elves, maybe a fairy with no wings and one had fangs like a vampire.” She chuckled nervously.

“I thought they were saving us, but once the drugs had worn off, I realized they were just ordinary men looking for fresh meat for their own services. They only took me, saying I looked the least damaged.” She chuckled darkly.

“For the longest time, I thought some higher power was out to get me because there was nothing I wanted more than to die right there and not go with them.”

Hot breath seeped from my nose and into the air. The back of my neck was covered in fur. My fingers threaded through the braided mohawk Journey made earlier and I pulled at the strands.

“What else?” I growled at her. “What else happened? Names, I want names!”

She shook her head.

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