Page 77 of The Weakest Wolf

I close my eyes because I can’t block him out any other way. I see his face and I think of Mom, and I just want to die.

In the silence, I feel Bowen’s eyes moving over my face. “Aren’t you going to ask what happened to beautiful Lira Bree?”

There’s a note in his voice that makes me still.

When I open my eyes and stare into his, I don’t need to ask what happened to Mom. “She wasn’t killed by hunters.” My voice is flat. Lifeless.

“She begged for us to let you go. Begged. You know what we think when someone begs.”

Another tear slides down the side of my face. “It’s a weakness,” I whisper, as more tears fill my eyes. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to stop them.

I think I’m made of tears and pain.

“We’re the Stones. Even our name is strong.”

She came back for me, and they killed her for it.

Even if hunters killed us, or another pack chased us away from their territory, or even forced us to join them, that life would have been a hundred times better than staying here.

Anything would have been better.

Mom knew that, and she came back for me.

“Now,” Bowen says, as he leans over and picks up the chain he used to break my ribs from the floor. “I think the time for talking is over, don’t you?”

I blink back tears. “Her body. What did you do with it?”

Bowen shrugs. “Tossed it in the bushes. Doubt she lasted the night before an animal made a meal of her.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I fight back my sob. I don’t manage it.

He sighs in disappointment. “Now, Sierra. What were we just saying about weakness?”

Although I turn my face aside and try not to think about Mom, it’s impossible.

My body shakes as more sobs escape.

It’s not safe to show weakness anywhere but my shower, and sometimes not even then.

My wolf’s presence slips into my mind. Usually, she buries herself so deep inside me that I don’t even feel her when Bowen’s around. That’s how afraid of him she is.

This time, I’m not the one offering comfort.

Her sorrow and her love surround me, because Mom wasn’t just my mom—she was hers, too. Instead of urging her to be strong, to fight, I burrow down deep with her, and I look for the place inside me where this pain won’t touch me.

All I do now is hope Bowen will put me out of my misery soon.

My arm snaps and I scream. I’m still screaming when Bowen drives his fist into my jaw, breaking that too. Not hard enough to knock me out, but hard enough to silence me.

Although I burrow deeper into myself, the pain follows.

Bowen may have silenced my screams out loud, but in my head, they continue.

18

GALEN

My eyes snap open. “She was the only one who remembered Melody’s name.”

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