Page 107 of Wulf's Pack
“I was beaten and tortured daily and forced to use my gifts to manipulate and control shifters so that my master could gain wealth and power. And because I’m a shifter, I heal quickly, so my punishments were brutal. It takes a lot to kill a shifter, and I was often brought to the brink of death for no other reason than the pack’s amusement. I lived that nightmare for eight years.”
You could hear a pin drop. I’ve never seen a group of people this large so completely silent. Their stunned and horrified faces are riveted on my mate.
“Just over a month ago, on the full moon, it was one of those nights where they nearly killed me. They poisoned me, cut me up, and beat me so severely that if they chained me up in silver like they usually did when they left me, I would have died.”
Skylar closes her eyes, and a single tear escapes down her cheek. I feel sick to my stomach and so full of rage that I wish Icould bring Victor back to life and torture him for a decade. His death was too quick.
I squeeze Skylar’s hand, and she crushes mine in return. Her voice shakes with the pain that still haunts her. “For the first time in eight years, I was left alone without being chained or locked up. My body was broken, and I was unable to shift and heal, but I knew it was my only chance. I still don’t know how I found the strength, but I escaped and found my way to Detroit, where I stumbled into a bar and met the other half of my soul.”
Skylar gives me a watery smile, and I don’t care about the cameras. I claim her lips in a tender kiss, as if it might take her pain and replace it with love. I wipe away the moisture on her cheeks and whisper, “I love you.”
Skylar’s tension slips away. She murmurs the words back to me before addressing the reporters once again. “Wulf and I are true mates. Two spirits destined by the moon goddess to become one soul. We complete each other. Humans call it soul mates. Wulf and I knew what we were to each other the moment we met. Our lives changed in an instant. He was mine, and I was his, and we would never be able to live without one another again.
“It’s a very rare, very special blessing to find your true mate. Sacred, even. And it’s so much more than an emotional connection. It’s a literal linking of two souls. We feel each other’s feelings; our hearts beat as one. If one of us dies, the other most likely won’t survive. The connection is physical, binding, and unbreakable.
“When my old alpha found me and took me again, Wulf had no choice but to follow. Our bond wouldn’t allow anything else. He acted on instinct, as wolves are meant to do, and he saved my life because of it.”
In a blink, Skylar’s entire being fills with flinty resolve, and her voice comes out stronger and more determined than I’ve ever heard it. “Victor Santos was an evil man who didunspeakable things and hurt countless people, both human and underworlder alike. And if he let me live, he would have used me to hurt even more. He was a true monster, and his pack was no better. They were a scourge on this Earth. There was not one innocent among them.
“Wulf, along with our entire pack, acted with strength and courage most people are not capable of. They are heroes. Every single one of them.” Her voice softens, and her eyes drift to the back of the room. To our pack. “I am humbled and honored to stand with my mate at the head of them as their luna.”
Many of our pack members wipe at their eyes, and a dozen sniffles from the sea of reporters fills the silence.
Now would be a good time to move the conversation along, but I can’t resist adding a few words of my own. A warning, if you will.
“While we’re on the topic, I want to be very clear on something. Skylar ismine. Our pack is her family, and we will not tolerate anyone trying to harm her or take her from us. Ever. We may be few in numbers, but we are far from weak, and we will destroy anyone who challenges us just as we did the Vail pack.”
Okay, fine, I can call a spade a spade. That isn’t a warning; it’s a threat. And you damn well know I growl every word of it with my wolf shining through my eyes. I throw enough alpha energy out into the room that every single person present squirms uneasily.
I just dare another alpha to threaten my omega. I don’t care who they are, or how strong, I will tear them apart. And now, the whole world knows it.
Beside me, Nora clears her throat, warning me to dial it back, but when I look at her, she’s fighting a smile. I pull back my wolf and give the audience an innocent smile. “Any other questions?”
Someone snorts. I think it’s Shayne. Probably Bree too. It does sort of sound like it’s in stereo.
A reporter near the front raises his hand, and Nora gives him the go-ahead. “Is it true that you have other shifters in your pack besides wolves?”
I puff my chest with pride. “That’s correct. We have everything from wolves, to hawks, to coyotes. Even a family of deer shifters, a bear, and one very badass cougar.”
Bree snorts again, and I grin at her.
“All we need now is a partridge in a pear tree,” Skylar jokes, and when the crowd laughs, my pride for my mate grows so strong, I nearly choke on it.
“Is that normal?” someone else asks. “To have mixed species in one pack?”
I shrug. “It’s happened before, once or twice, but it’s definitely not the norm. But then, I come from a clan that has several fae, a vampire, a shifter, a sorcerer, an honorary dragon, and one very lovable demon.”
I wink at Ren in the back of the room, and he blows me a kiss, before calling out, “I happen to be sexy and single too! And unlike Gorgeous up there, I’m gay as the day is long, so if the dragon doesn’t crack, fellas, feel free to hit me up.”
“This isn’t a Grindr convention, Ren,” Nick taunts back. “Flirt on your own time.”
Ren’s wicked grin is so wide I can see it from here. And I know exactly what’s coming next. “With you, handsome?”
Nick rolls his eyes and huffs. “You are so annoying.”
“You love me.”
“I really don’t.”
