Page 82 of Unforgivable

"Lyri," he calls my name, tries to step around Rhet.

"Back the fuck up, runt," Rhet growls out his warning. The fine, dark hairs at the base of his head are rising in agitation, claws beginning to poke out of his fists. Rhet's wolf sees Liam as a threat, a male who has touched his female.

I bite back the whimper. Goddess, it sucks to know that your former friend betrayed you so profoundly. Why did he do it?

Before I can stop it, I whisper the question out loud.

Mari catches her breath in surprise.

"You remember that, sweetheart?" Ezra asks me in a low murmur.

I remember them all. Maybe not their names. I didn't know all of the males personally. I remember them, though. I know how many males were there. I know who was particularly cruel and sadistic. I know who enjoyed choking me or forcing me to touch them.

I know that Rhet was the first. I won't tell him this, but the memories just tumbled in when he confirmed it to me. I don't remember when Ezra came there, but I remember that he was the only one who kissed me on the mouth, before it was made filthy, of course. I know that a few males came and left in a hurry because they have mates in the pack that they hadn't fully Claimed yet.

I know how each and every one of them smell. That's how I can tell; even if I don't remember faces, my wolf knows their scents.

Their words are the worst memories. Their sick fantasies, the degradation of being nothing more than a thing. No longer female, no longer deserving of any respect or even the slightest bit of consideration that I was a real she-wolf and not a toy.

I bury my face in Thjis' back instead of answering. My fingers twist in his shirt as I cling to him.

"I need to talk to you, Lyri. Can we talk?" Liam sounds desperate, but Ezra and Rhet are moving, keeping themselves between my former friend and me.

"Lyri?" Liam sounds closer, but Rhet's snarl and shifting body keep him at enough of a distance.

"Back the fuck up, mutt," Ezra growls deeply, his body tensing under me.

"I just want to talk to her. You're not her mate, fuck!" Liam snaps out at Ezra.

I whimper as Thjis surges forward towards Liam, leaving me a step behind him. As soon as my body loses contact with him, my wolf howls madly. We're exposed here, with two wolves we can't trust. I snap my canines towards Liam, crouching into a defensive position with my hands ready to pounce.

Thjis doesn't even look at me, just moves back into my little bubble of protection. He's so much bigger than I am that my she-wolf immediately feels safer.

"You're not her mate, either, are you?" Ezra snaps out. I hear the question in his voice.

I whine. "My sister," I rasp out. Only I know the truth that Liam is my sister's mate. He's been waiting for her to shift in a couple of years to Claim her. He was so excited about her first shift. She doesn't know. He told me, her older sister, his puphood friend. It was our secret.

He spat on their bond when he decided to rape me with the others. My poor sister. My little Penny. How will I tell her?

Liam stumbles back, his already-pale face whitening even more. Shaking his head, he mumbles a soft curse. This must be why he wants to talk. Liam wants to make sure that Penny doesn't find out about what he did to me. No smart female will mate herself to a male like Liam. Maybe it's hypocritical of me, considering my relationship with my three males, but if I were truemates to any of those others, then I would seriously consider never accepting them.

"What about Penny, love?" Ezra walks to me and crooks one arm around my back to wrap me up.

"He's her mate," I tell my males dully. "Maybe," I amend, "I'm not sure... Maybe it was a lie."

Liam goes still at my words. For the first time since he approached me, it seems like he really looks at me.

"Lyri," he looks stunned, as though someone hit him in the gut with a two-by-four. I wish someone would.

"Get the fuck out of here, or I will take care of your guilt and her fear by ripping out your jugular," Rhet promises in a menacingly soft tone.

When Liam's eyes meet mine, I flinch away and bury my face back in Thjis' back. "Make him leave?" I plead with my males brokenly, "please, make them leave? I don't- I don't want them to be here, anymore."

"Yeah, love, they're going, OK?"

"You heard our female. You're about a second away from death, mutt," Rhet says.

"You can't-" Mina starts to protest.

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