Shelly, baby. Can you hear me?
Sweetheart, are you okay?
Their questions went unanswered. Both men could feel Shelly’s presence through their link, but there was no communication. They feared that she was injured and unconscious.
She’s not answering, Max.
Someone has hurt her, Eli. I’m going to kill whoever it was.
We have to get free first, Max.
“You’ve broken my first rule as members of my pack,” Randall said firmly. “I will not tolerate that.”
Both men remained silent. Randall had so many rules, it was hard to know what specific rule he was talking about. He was a lunatic, a bully, and a man that they had never dared to cross before meeting Shelly.
“You left pack land without my permission,” Randall continued. “Your parents left pack land without my permission. You’ve come here and searched out Beckett. Are you plotting against me?”
“No, Alpha,” Max answered at once, his gut tightening as he thought about his and Eli’s parents being dragged into this horror. He was already nearly mindless with fear that Shelly had been hurt because of their actions.
“Then why are you here?” Randall asked, stepping toward them and lifting the whip to wind it around his left fist. “Did you mate with a woman from this pack?”
“We did not, Alpha,” Eli answered for them, determined to protect Shelly at all cost.
“You don’t have any permanent connection to any female within Beckett’s pack?” Randall asked, his deep voice holding all the anger that he was directing at them.
“We do not, Alpha,” Max answered calmly. If he had to lie to be certain that Shelly remained safe, he would do so without hesitation.
“Then you’re ready to come back to pack land and return to your positions as enforcers?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Max answered for them. “There is nothing here to keep us on Beckett’s pack land.”
“And your parents?” Randall asked, uncoiling the whip and stepping behind the men, indicating to Ethan and Boyd Webber to step aside so he could have easy access to the two men who had dared to defy him.
“Our parents?” Eli asked, a sick feeling settling in his stomach at the question.
“Where are they?”
“They have decided to join this pack,” Max said. “We came here to stand by them while they made their decision to relocate. We had every intention of clearing it with you if they decided to stay and live closer to our fathers’ work. This move was not made to disrespect you. We ask that you allow them this choice.”
“And why would I grant your request, Max?” Randall growled out the question.
“We would appreciate the allowance,” Max answered. “We have nothing to offer you in exchange except our continued service.”
“You will serve me and not attempt to leave again?”
We have to accept the condition, Eli, Max whispered within his mind. Our parents’ lives, and Shelly’s life, are at stake if we don’t.
“We will,” Eli pledged firmly.
Randall nodded, satisfied with their response. He wasn’t about to let them off so easily, though. They needed to learn that they couldn’t defy him ever again. There were consequences that they had to pay for every infraction that they had committed. And he was going to ensure that they started paying right now.
Lifting his arm, he snapped the whip over and over again across both men’s backs until their black Tshirts were shredded and covered in their own blood. He took great satisfaction in their silent acceptance of their punishment. He would be certain to remind them of their pledge if they ever tried to defy him again. If they happened to die in the process, it wouldn’t bother him in the least.
Max and Eli fell to their knees by the time the lash had bitten into their backs for the fifteenth time. Only their love for their parents and the woman whose smile and kind heart had given them a brief moment of happiness helped them to take the painful punishment that Randall was so determined to give them.
Shelly struggled to surface through the muddle that was her brain. Everything felt wrong. Her brain was all swirly. She could hear voices, one belonged to a woman and one belonged to a man, but she couldn’t concentrate enough to focus on what was being said or who was speaking.
Her arms ached. She pulled on them weakly, suddenly aware that she couldn’t move them. She couldn’t understand why. Fire exploded in her back and her sides as she tried to turn to look up at her hands. Everything hurt.
She felt a cramping in her belly, a sudden, sharp pain that stole the breath from her. She couldn’t help but moan at the intensity of it.
“I want her cleaned up,” the man’s voice demanded. “I want those claiming marks burned off of her. She’ll belong only to me. She’ll be my omega.”
“I can do that with silver,” Vera said quickly.
The voice belonged to Vera. Shelly knew real fear as she recognized it. It was filled with calm and cold and made Shelly know that Vera was going to do anything and everything she had to do to please the man with her.
“And I want you to make sure that she’s not carrying any disgusting whelp.”
“I’ve already given her the herb that will take care of that,” Vera said, her voice smug.
“Good. How much time will you need to get everything accomplished?”
“Two hours.”
“I’ll be back in two hours. Don’t disappoint me, Vera. I will not take kindly to it.”
“We’ll both be ready to leave with you when you return,” Vera promised. “I won’t disappoint you, Hayward.”
“See that you don’t,” he said angrily.
He looked at Shelly one last time. She was definitely a beauty. She was also young and strong. She would give him many strong sons to continue his lineage. He wanted her beneath him as he rutted to breed her. He wanted her cowering in front of him and accepting his power over her. He thought about the way she fought to free herself from Vera and smiled. He was looking forward to her fighting him as he took what he wanted from her.
“Be sure that she’s ready for my claiming,” he told Vera. He nodded curtly, turned, and left the bedroom.
Vera watched him leave, satisfied that things were finally starting to go her way. Once she removed the proof of Shelly’s triad mating from her body and made sure that she wasn’t pregnant, Hayward would take both of them to his pack. She would actually have a chance at being happy. She would be protected and valued. She had many skills that made her valuable, including her knowledge of herbs and natural remedies. Maybe she would even find one man to mate with.
She turned to look at Shelly as she lay on her bed in her bedroom. She knew that the herbs she had given her were already starting to take effect.
Walking over to the bed, she slowly untied Shelly’s hands from the headboard. She was in no mood to have to clean up the mess that would happen when Shelly’s body reacted to the herbs.
“I’m going to go and pack, Shelly,” she said quietly. “I’ll be back in a little while. Get yourself to the bathroom so you don’t make a mess in your bed.”
She walked away from the bed, turning as she placed her hand on the doorknob of the bedroom door. She wasn’t worried about Shelly trying to leave the house. She looked like she could barely breathe, let alone run. The herbs had that side effect. It was a good side effect.
“You’ll be mated to Alpha Hayward soon enough, Shelly,” she said firmly. “You’ll learn to be quiet and obedient. You’ll finally learn that what you are is nothing. Omega. What a joke. You certainly are your fathers’ daughter. Worthless. Just like they were.”
With those final cruel words, Vera left, locking the bedroom door behind her. Shelly tried to focus. She could hear Vera walking down the hallway and down the stairs. Her brain was still fuzzy, but she fought through the pain and haze of whatever herb Vera had given her. She needed to concentrate. She needed to escape.
Did you mate with a woman from this pack?
The question burst through her mind. She knew that she was now privy to what was happening to Max and Eli. She worried for them. Were they being hurt?
We did not, Alpha, she heard Eli answer.
You don’t have any permanent connection to any female within Beckett’s pack? she heard the unknown voice ask.
We do not, Alpha, Max’s voice answered calmly.
Then you’re ready to come back to pack land and return to your positions as enforcers?
Yes, Alpha, Max answered. There is nothing here to keep us on Beckett’s pack land.
Shelly was stunned by Max’s and Eli’s words. Had she been fooled by them? Had their touches and declarations of love meant nothing to them? Obviously so.
Shelly moaned as the cramping in her stomach increased. Pushing herself up from the bed, she slowly made her way to the small bathroom that she had once shared with Synthia. She barely made it to the toilet when pain slammed through her. She could barely stand. She fell to her knees and hung onto the seat, shaking and coughing as her stomach emptied.
When she felt the sickness pass, she stood and reached for the small towel on the sink, turning on the water and wetting it until it was completely saturated. Pressing the towel to her face, she allowed the cold water to cool the heat from her cheeks, forehead, and eyes.
Standing up, she looked at the reflection of herself in the mirror, seeing the paleness of her skin and the desolation in her eyes. She couldn’t even cry, she was that destroyed.
An intense rush of pain suddenly ripped through her stomach. Bending over, she gripped her belly, unable to keep the moan of pain from escaping her as she felt the blood that gushed from her in an explosion of pain and cramping. She knew that Vera’s herbs had done their job. She was losing her baby—a baby that she hadn’t even known she was carrying. She was losing Max and Eli’s baby.
Slowly peeling off her jeans shorts, she saw the proof of her miscarriage. Her heart broke in that moment. Her mates may not love her, but she loved them deeply, and she loved and wanted the baby that she had just lost.
She removed her clothes and climbed into the shower, turning on the hot water and washing quickly. She could feel the poison of the herb escaping through her pores and wanted to rid herself of the scent, the feel, and the horror of what had just happened to her.
Stepping out of the shower, she toweled dry and stepped out of the bathroom. Going to her bureau, she opened the top drawer to pull out panties, a bra, and a pair of warm socks. She threw them onto her bed then opened the second drawer, pulling out her black sweatpants and the pink sweater that she always wore whenever she needed to feel comforted. She dressed quickly and reached for her worn pair of sneakers. Tugging them on, she tied them quickly and took a calming breath as she fought for control over her emotions.
Standing slowly, she made her way back to the bathroom. She used the toilet one more time, crying softly as she wiped away the blood that was still escaping her body. Reaching for the supply of menstrual pads, she took one and affixed it to her panties, pulling them in place and sniffing softly as she felt the continuous dripping of blood that told her that she had lost her baby.
Leaving the bathroom, she tossed the plastic container of pads onto her bed, hating that she had to use them. She turned and faced the small mirror above her bureau, looking at her pale reflection and sighing sadly. She brushed her hair quickly and pulled it up into a ponytail at the crown of her head. Grabbing for her small duffle bag, she filled it with clothes, the stack of papers and books that she kept in the locked box that she had hidden beneath a pile of shoes in her closet, and the small book of photos that was on her nightstand beside her bed. The package of pads was the last thing she stuffed into the duffle, her heart hurting as she did so.
“My sweet baby, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I love you. I wish I had been able to know you.”
Looking around the room one last time, she realized that she didn’t have anything else of value. Her omega charm had been left at the old alpha house that she had shared with Max and Eli. Her ring had been left behind, too, but it no longer held any value to her. It was a lie. It was all a lie.
Opening her bedroom window, she pushed her duffle bag out onto the rooftop and climbed out after it. She called upon her wolf to help steady her as she walked along its edge then dropped the bag and jumped down to land softly on the grass behind the house. In a matter of moments, she was running toward the new alpha home.
It was a fair distance away from the house where Vera lived, which made the escape that much safer. As she ran up the back porch steps and made her way across the large deck, Shelly knew that she had to do what she was doing. She couldn’t allow Vera to hand her over to Hayward, and she couldn’t go back to living in the old alpha home without sharing it with the men that she still loved.
Knocking on the sliding glass door, she waited anxiously until Jace slid it open and pulled her inside. She melted within his embrace immediately.
“Shelly, what’s wrong?” he asked her, his alpha ability feeling the pain in his little sister.
Her knees buckled beneath her. She would have hit the ground if not for Jace’s quick reflexes. He picked her up and carried her to the office that he and Jackson shared. He shouldered open the door and carried Shelly inside, settling her carefully on the huge, black leather couch against the far wall.
“What the hell?” Jackson asked as he stood, rushed toward the couch, and knelt beside it. He reached out and took Shelly’s hand in his. “Shelly? What’s wrong?”
“I need you to take me to Synthia,” she said softly.
“Okay. Why?” Jace asked, looking at Shelly intently and trying to ascertain what had happened to make Shelly request such a thing.
“It’s time for me to leave the pack.”
Jace held her at arm’s length to look down at her. She looked pale and shaky. She also looked anxious. He could feel her sadness and the pain that was rolling off of her in waves.
Something is very wrong, Jackson, he said through their link.
You think? Jackson’s voice was sarcastic, but the underlying concern was blatantly obvious.
“What about your mates, Shelly?” Jace asked her gently.
“I don’t have mates,” Shelly told him firmly, sadness heavy in her heart as she admitted the horrible truth.
Max and Eli ran toward the main house where they could scent their mate. They were in their wolf forms, running with determination to ensure Shelly’s safety and go to Jace for help. They knew that Jace was powerful enough to protect all of them from Randall.
They had shifted despite Randall’s orders to remain in their human forms. He had wanted them to suffer from his punishment, and they had. They were still suffering from the silver that was coursing through their system, but they needed to get to Shelly, and being in their wolf forms was the fastest way to do that.
Randall had left them both beside the lake. His cruel laughter had made them more determined than ever to get away from him. He had ordered them to return to pack land within the hour. He didn’t expect them to defy his order. He didn’t expect them to be able to move after their punishment and had taunted them with their weakness. He had assigned Ethan and Boyd Webber to watch them to ensure their return.
What Randall didn’t realize was that the brothers underestimated Max’s and Eli’s determination to get to their woman. Ethan and Boyd had left them unattended while they searched the old alpha home. Max and Eli had growled softly when they heard the laughter that came through the open porch door of the home that they had shared with Shelly as the men came upon the chocolate cake that she had made. Although it had pissed both men off that those assholes were enjoying their mate’s cooking, it had given them the opportunity to remove their clothes, tuck them safely away behind the trees that bordered the lake, shift, and search out their woman.
As they came upon the large ranch home where Jace, Jackson, and some of their enforcers lived, they spotted Shelly getting into Jace
’s black truck. They howled in protest as their mate shut the passenger door. They saw her look at them, obviously seeing them and recognizing them. When she looked at Jace and spoke, their hearts broke.
Guilt filled them that they had not been there to protect their sweet woman. She had suffered because they had not honored the vows of their triad mating. They had vowed to love and protect her forever. They had failed.
They could still hear her screams of pain echoing through their minds. They could still feel the brutal blows that had connected with her body. They could also feel the agony of the attack on their mate’s back as her skin was ripped open with each horrid injury. Their sweet, caring, and gentle omega had been made to suffer because they hadn’t been there to stop the cruelty. They were failures—as mates and as men.
Looking at the sadness and the pain in Shelly’s blue eyes, they saw her devastation. They saw her disappointment as she met their eyes. They saw the slump of her body and recognized the surrender their mate had to the understanding that her mates had not been there for her.
As they stood just to the right of Jace’s home, Max and Eli were hit by the wave of desolation and determination as their mate faced them briefly and her omega abilities surrounded them. Their wolves growled softly, the sounds slowly turning to pained whines as they understood what Shelly was telling them.
Their mate had made her choice. She had chosen to leave them.
Shelly closed the door of Jace’s truck firmly. Looking out the window of the passenger door, she saw the two wolves bounding toward them. Her wolves. Her mates. No. Not anymore. They had denied her.
Turning to face Jace, she smiled sadly and reached out to hold his hand as he looked at her with concern and caring. He was such a good man and a caring alpha.
“Take me to Synthia, Jace,” she said softly.
“I think you’re making a mistake, Shelly,” Jace told her gently. “I think you should talk to Max and Eli. I don’t know what happened, but I can’t help but feel that this is all a big misunderstanding. Your mates love you, honey. You need to talk to them.”
Shelly's Forbidden Mates [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 25