I didn’t even know where half the people had ended up, who were supposed to have helped me by storming the ceremony. I had sent the other half down the mountain to follow the trail of a child who had gone missing. That left the rest of us with our new warlords, hell-bent on saving those we’d already started protecting. Had I known he’d sold them? No, because I’d been too busy trying to survive my father, not knowing that his sickness went beyond what he’d done to me.
Maybe I was guilty of not seeing beyond my pain. I’d done the best I could do, and it hadn’t been enough. I understood why the pack turned on me, and I couldn’t blame them. Our people had gone missing, and I’d believed they’d run away. I’d made excuses, sending people out to search for them. I hadn’t looked deeper because it had been women, and they often couldn’t handle living away from people. Teenagers ran away; it happened. I’d always assumed they’d just left, never dreaming they’d been sold into slavery.
“You look lost tonight, Brat,” Saint said, running the towel over his wet body.
“Just tired,” I lied, turning to escape his presence.
“Did you stop by the infirmary?” he asked, following me into the room. “Jacob said with the full moon coming, you should be fertile and in heat naturally. I’m game to let nature take its course without the drugs.”
“Okay,” I said, shuffling out of the lace robe to get into bed.
Saint paused, tilting his head to watch me sliding beneath the covers. “What’s wrong with you, Brat? Your scent is off, and you seem—beaten.”
“My scent is off because my hormones are screwing with it. The same goes for my mood. You can’t mess with a woman’s balance and then wonder why she’s moody, Saint. That’s pretty much common sense.”
“Okay.” He studied me closely as he shook his wet hair, his attention sliding over the covers and to the wall of pillows I’d placed in the center of the bed. “This shit again?”
“You dictated the rules, and I’m following them. Am I not? You get to use me, and then you can do whatever you want alone, afterward. I prefer the great wall of pillows to waking up tangled in your arms.”
Mostly, I hated waking up in his arms because for a moment before my mind had fully processed what was happening, it felt right. The entire world would settle into place, and his scent would soothe me, offering comfort. But the moment we fully woke, it all went to shit.
Saint climbed into bed, naked. He didn’t move the pillows, choosing to slide beneath the covers. Before I could guess what Saint intended, he’d yanked on the blanket, lifting it, sending all the pillows shooting into the air, raining down around the bed. He pounced, capturing my wrists above my head, smiling down at me.
“No more walls, woman. You and me, we have to figure out a balance so that we can live together. I know you’re struggling because I can feel your turmoil through the link. I can feel your need to run, to escape me, and that isn’t happening. I know you, Brae. I know you because you live within in me, inside my fucking soul.”
“If you really knew me, Saint, you’d know I would never be involved in anything that would hurt this pack,” I whispered, struggling to get out from beneath him.
He allowed me to wiggle from his grip as he settled in beside me. His attention moved over my face before he softly exhaled. “At night, when they’d put us back into our cells. I dreamed of you, about how you would feel pressed against me. I would catch your scent, and for a moment, my world wasn’t so dark.”
My heart clenched with his words, and my throat tightened with unshed tears. “I would have come for you had I known you were being hurt. I thought you were free and out there in the world, living.”
“I never made it off the mountain. Your father had people waiting for us. At first, we assumed they were there to take us away from this place. When it became apparent that something was wrong, we fought, but they were ready for it. We woke up naked, chained to a wall while a woman explained what was happening.” He paused, running his fingers over my stomach, causing slight friction as his eyes grew distant. “I promised to escape and slaughter her entire entourage of sick fucks. I killed innocent people to survive captivity. They would put women into a room, feed them drugs to numb the pain, and then force the men to rape them brutally. They murdered those who refused, using them for entertainment in varying ways at first. That’s how I met Xavier. He raided the compound and freed us. He gave us a choice: Go back to where we’d been taken, which, for me, wasn’t an option. Or, we could join them and help hunt down those who victimized others like us.”
“And you couldn’t come back here because of me,” I stated, holding his gaze. “I’d banished you from the pack which meant you couldn’t come back to me. I did that to prevent you from being hurt, and you ended up hurt, anyway. I don’t blame you for hating me, Saint.”
“I don’t hate you, Brat. I hate that even though you rejected me, you were the one thing I couldn’t hate. I wanted revenge, and I can’t trust you. That doesn’t change how much I want you and crave you. You’re still the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever known, but I can’t prove you weren’t a part of what your father was doing. I can’t trust you enough to just take your word for it. Prove it, Braelyn. Prove to me that you weren’t involved in the trafficking of your own people.”
“I can’t,” I swallowed thickly. “There lies the problem, Saint. I can’t prove it, and you can’t prove that I was. Everyone who could back me up is dead. You killed them when you got here. Those were my father’s men you fought.”
He snorted, watching me with narrowing eyes. He moved onto his side, yanking me closer. Lifting my leg, he placed a soft kiss on my forehead as his hand shifted my panties aside. His cock slid through the arousal he discovered there, but he didn’t push into my body.
“Regardless of the part you played, you will be the mother of my children, Brae. You are protected because of what you are to me. You won’t escape me, even though you need and want to run from me. There’s nowhere that you can go, that I won’t find you. I craved this with you. I considered what it would be like returning here, finding you with someone else. I’d planned to murder them and claim you. I am pleased that you remained untouched and that you burn hot for me.” He pushed into my core, which tightened around him as pleasure rushed through me. “We will find a way to make this work because I can’t live without you again.”
“You’ll figure it out,” I announced, placing my leg over his hip while rolling him onto his back. I didn’t undress or pretend not to enjoy what he made me feel together, like this. “I wish I could make you see I am not a monster. I don’t think that would be enough, though, not when you’re hurt because I rejected you. I didn’t do it because I wanted to hurt you. I did it because my father was a sick, twisted monster who always won. I couldn’t imagine a world without you in it and chose to protect you. It was what I had the power to control, Saint.” I leaned over, nipping at his bottom lip as he growled.
“I wish I could believe that, Brat. But I went through hell while you remained here pampered in your palace,” he flipped me onto my back, grinding against me as my stomach coiled with the pleasure he was driving deep into my body. “Now, I will spend the rest of my life reminding you of what you did to me. You won’t escape me, and we will find a way to compromise and live together.”
I exploded around him, wrapping my legs around his muscular waist as he went from gentle to hard, fucking me like a possessed man trying to fuck his demons out of his system. I didn’t believe him for one moment that he wouldn’t lock me away or murder me once I’d given him an heir to my line.
“Saint,” I moaned, gasping as he nuzzled my shoulder, reinforcing his claim as I trembled beneath him, coming undone again.
“You’re mine now, Brat. Always and forever, which is what you promised me the moment you discovered we were true soul mates.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
I’d dressed in a soft pair of jeans and flat, leather, thi
gh-high boots with multiple buckles covering the top of the leather, curving and hugging my calves. The jacket I’d chosen was army green, with soft fur lining that heated against my arms. Tugging the jacket up tighter, I zipped it while walking the perimeter of the courtyard with Phenrys, my unlucky babysitter for the day.
He was silent and vigilant as we moved through the mostly empty yard. I paused, inhaling the crisp air that threatened snow as it stung against my nose and cheeks.
“It’s cold as shit out here,” he grumbled, rubbing his hands together while studying the way I moved. “We’re going back inside momentarily because I’m over the cold.”
“I need to light the candles inside my mother’s crypt. They’ve been neglected, and I’d like to do so before we go back inside.”
Phenrys dropped his head, rolling it back to look at me before sliding his gaze to the crypt that sat a few yards away from the newly built ad-on. Nodding, he started toward it as I trailed silently behind him, my heartbeat increasing, which caused him to turn, eyeing me with a suspicious glare.
Stopping at the entrance, he peered inside before stepping back, allowing me to enter as he leaned against the rock doorway. I moved to the large candelabra with multiple candles in an ancient brass holder. Withdrawing the lighter, I lit the candles as they swayed in the wind that drifted through the tomb.
The wind outside was picking up, and I knew that was a sign that time was dwindling from us. Stepping back, I saw something silver moving through the air, and Phenrys turned, intending to shout a warning. It never came. Toralei smiled as he slumped to the floor, unconscious from the blow to his head.
“About time,” she stated, stepping to the wall where my mother’s memorial was written on the slate surface. She opened the hidden passage, and I followed her inside, grabbing a torch to light our path.
The passageway led to a small tunnel, big enough for one person to move through easily. Douglas leaned against the end of the tunnel where it split into different directions that led out of the mountain. Not wasting time, knowing Phenrys wouldn’t stay down for long, we shuffled toward where Douglas waited.
“Hey, beautiful. Finally wanting to escape this place?” Douglas smirked as his eyes slid over my body.
“Yeah, it’s time,” I answered, watching as his large form struggled to turn around to lead us out of the smaller section.
It took a while to travel through the narrow tunnel, and when he turned right toward a light source, I frowned. Ducking into the bigger, wider passageway, I sucked my lip between my teeth, peering around.
This tunnel was a lot larger, with small cages that lined the wall. Silently, I examined them, noting that they looked like holding pens. Had they’d been used to hide the people that were sold? It was plausible. The scent of mold and decaying earth smothered the space, along with a light scent of cayenne paper.
“How often have you used these tunnels, Douglas?” Suspicion was coursing through me because these tunnels looked like they had been used for trafficking.
“Not for a long while.” Looking around the chamber, Douglas shook his head. “The last time I used these tunnels, it was to smuggle goods in for your mom. After she passed, there wasn’t much use for them. Had I known they had used them to hold or harm anyone, I would have gotten word to Tora. I promise you that.”
Nodding, we walked forward in silence as I continued to take in more evidence of my father’s crimes. My father had spent so much time at my mother’s tomb, and part of me had hoped he was sorry for how he had treated her and that his guilt would somehow change him. But all this time, he was using her grave to hide his crimes and as a place of torture.
Clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable with what we’re seeing, Douglas diverted our attention and changed the subject, quickening his pace away from the chamber. “I was surprised when I got the call from Tora that you wanted to leave. You always struck me as someone who would always stay with the pack, no matter what. Glad to see I was wrong about you, Braelyn.” Douglas’s soft hazel eyes met mine briefly before he undid the straps on his back and pulled out a large container of cayenne pepper, handing one to me before removing two more from his bag. “Start scattering it so no one can track our scent. There’s a shitload of tunnels we’re about to go through. If we can buy time, it will help. My guys are at the bottom with the four-wheelers waiting for us, but it will be a few hours before reaching them. We’ll be backpacking up through the mountains once the trees get too thick to move through with the quads.”
“How many days in the woods, do you think?” Tora asked, watching me as I fought past the panic consuming me.
“Three, but I brought an extra tent for you to share. We won’t be making fires, but I grabbed extra equipment for you to use. Your bags are already hooked to the quads, and we should make it through the worst patches before the snow hits tonight. My guys are waiting over the border to take you the rest of the way north.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, fighting the panic attack at the thought of leaving the pack behind.
“Just breathe, Braelyn. You’re going to be okay,” he said comfortingly, watching the way my features pinched. “You don’t deserve what is happening to you. I know that, and you don’t have anything to worry about from my people. I’ve known you my entire life, and what they’re saying tells me they don’t know you at all. They assumed you helped your father, but those close to you know you hated him as much as the pack did.”
We walked past a fork in the tunnel, entering another large chamber of dark mouths that led to different exits. Douglas paused, sprinkling the pepper over where we’d walked. He turned once he’d finished, nodding to Tora, who dug out the nightgown I’d worn for the last several nights.
A shadow moved, and my heart sank until I realized it was one of Douglas’s men I’d met on one of his trips up the mountain to deliver Canadian whiskey. He nodded at me, his green eyes sliding to Tora with interest burning within them. Holding out his hand, Douglas placed the scented nightgown in his but didn’t let go.
“You should run until you reach the furthest exit. It should have anyone trailing Braelyn’s scent on your tail while we head in the opposite direction. They aren’t expecting her to go through the river, and the rafts will make it near impossible for Saint to catch her scent on the wind. Once you get to the end of the tunnel, Tyler, get on the bike and toss the nightgown over the cliffside. It should have them searching for her until nightfall, leaving us enough time to put some distance between them and us.” Douglas dropped the nightgown into Tyler’s hand, watching as he took one last long, heated glance at Tora, who smirked wickedly at his interest. “Go, you two can hook up much later once we’re off this cursed mountain. The snow is coming, and once it does, we’ll be easier to track.”
We watched Tyler vanish into one of the many caves. Douglas sprinkled the pepper over the entrance of others, including a light dusting at the one where Tyler had disappeared. Moving to where Tora and I stood, Douglas nodded at us.
“You’re going to need to get it into your clothes; that way, your pores suck up your scent that Saint and his people can track and hopefully will prevent more from releasing. It won’t feel great, but it’s better to play it safe. You happened to mate with one of the meanest trackers and bloodhounds in the north, Braelyn.”
“You said we’re going to the river? It’s dangerous with the rapids at this time of year,” I elaborated as he nodded.
“So is leaving your mate for the unknown. That river isn’t easy, but it is also why he’ll look elsewhere for you. He won’t think you were brave enough to chance the rapids to leave him.” Douglas watched as I pulled my shirt out, shaking the thick scent of cayenne pepper onto it. His dark brow lifted when I started to put it away, and a mischievous smile played on his full mouth. “In your pants too, sweetheart. He’ll be counting on that lady trap to lead him right to you. And, I’m guessing he was trying to plant a pup last night because I can smell him on you.�
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“Plant a pup?” Tora laughed, causing my fear to ease a little at their banter.
“Hormones too, I’m guessing? He wasn’t taking no for an answer,” he said, astonished.
“Yeah, basically he wanted to keep my child after he’d succeeded in making one.” I poured the pepper into my jeans, zipping them up and slapping my hands over my thighs, then smothered a sneeze before it ripped from me. I chuckled, standing as an angry howl echoed through the tunnels, reaching where we stood.
“That’s our cue to run, ladies,” Douglas starting down the dark tunnel, and we followed in silence.
I listened to the sounds of angry growls and voices rippling through the tunnels. The further we got away from their voices, the easier it became to breathe. Fear of being captured and dragged back up the mountain plagued my mind.
The mountain was the only home I’d ever known, and leaving it hadn’t been easy. It was the right choice, though, which I reminded myself on repeat in my head. There was nothing left for me here. Chaos belonged with his father, and while I hated leaving him behind, it was the right thing to do. My chest clenched tightly, but no emotion escaped or was visible on my pinched features. We moved quickly, even as Saint bellowed my name repeatedly, which echoed from all angles as if he was everywhere at once.
Breaking free of the tunnels, we paused to look back at the multiple exits that opened up all over the hillside. Some had nowhere to stand, leading to sheer drops. My chest tightened as I considered Saint or his people falling from the higher openings. Tora grabbed my arm, dispelling the fear as we moved toward the shore of the river.
Douglas’s men waited on the bank, handing us life jackets before shuffling us into the thick, black river rafts. Someone handed me an oar, and before I could tell the men that I did not know how to raft, we were shoved off the bank and rushed downstream by the quick-moving rapids.
Water splashed into the boat, soaking us as we continued down the river. The boat jerked, and the water tossed us around as we paddled furiously to stay away from the angrier rapids, trying to avoid any large boulders. The water was deafening, canceling out the words that anyone tried to scream. I peered back in the direction from which we’d escaped, seeing nothing but the bank as we were dragged further down the river.
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