by Clare Atling
‘Please, Brandon, that’s not what happened,’ she cried. ‘I don’t know what else to do. Please…’ She got up and began to approach him, but his face turned to rage.
‘I said get out. Fucking leave. I want you off this island and gone before I get back here. I don’t ever want to see you again. My family means more to me than anyone and you knew that. Get the fuck out. NOW!’ He grabbed her arm and dragged her to the front door. All her crying had made her weak, and she was certainly no match for a pissed-off wolf. He opened the door and pushed her through it, slamming the door in her face.
‘I love you and I’m so sorry, Brandon...’ Maggie crumpled to the floor and let the tears take her. She knew what she had to do. She’d risked everything telling him and she had lost. Maybe if she ran they wouldn’t find her, but she knew her punishment would be worse if they did. She couldn’t risk being sent back to Marcus, not now, not after seeing how her life could have been. She would rather live her life in hiding again than be used by the pack.
She got up on her unsteady legs and made her way back to Hope’s. Brandon was right - she had to leave and do it quickly before his brothers found out.
Maggie walked as quickly as she could, wearing only the T-shirt Brandon had loaned her that morning. Fresh tears blinded her vision and caused her to stop. She couldn’t breathe - it felt like her lungs were being crushed.
‘Well, well. Seems like Brandon didn’t like being used by a whore like you.’ Greg was standing before her, smiling smugly. His face made her stomach lurch and she felt a fresh wave of nausea wash over her.
‘What do you want, Greg? I’m done here. Brandon knows and has asked me to leave. Marcus has enough information to let me go now.’ She hoped her voice sounded stronger than she felt.
‘You silly girl. You really think Marcus is going to let you go? You really think I’m going to let you go? My place is beside Marcus and your place will be under me, whilst I fuck you like the whore you are.’
‘Fuck you, Greg. I didn’t tell Brandon about your involvement, so you can carry on here like nothing happened. Please, just let me go. Marcus doesn’t have to know until I’m gone. Please…’ Again, she was begging.
‘Oh, you will fuck me, again and again,’ replied Greg. ‘Marcus already knows and he’s requested that I bring you back. Don’t fight me because you won’t like it when my claws come out.’ He grabbed her arm and pulled her along to Hope’s house.
‘Why aren’t we just leaving? Please, I don’t want Hope to get hurt.’
‘That stupid bitch is at work in the shop you should have been at hours ago. We need to get your phone and a few bits of clothes so we don’t raise suspicion when we reach the mainland. I don’t want your filthy humans thinking I’ve attacked you... yet!’ His eyes were freely roaming her body, making her feel sick.
Once they reached Hope’s house, he pushed her inside. ‘You have five minutes to grab your phone and get dressed. And don’t even think about running as I’m faster and strong than you, and I will catch you.’ With that, he walked through to the lounge, pulling his mobile free to dial.
Chapter Seven
Brandon sat down heavily on the floor, putting his head between his knees. His Maggie had lied to him about everything. She’d made love to him, knowing she was working with Marcus all this time. He felt as though his heart had been ripped from him as he stroked his hand across his chest, to check it hadn’t been. Maggie, his mate, was supposed to be the one person he could trust. But, when she started telling him her story, even before she’d mentioned him, he knew the neighbouring pack alpha was Marcus. It wasn’t until she confessed she had been sent here to infiltrate his family that he saw red. The time and effort he had spent trying to keep them safe when, all along, it was his mate that was conspiring against him! He needed to get out of here. Needed to find Seth or Logan.
He ran from the house, making his way across the town to Seth’s house. Once he was outside, he didn’t know what to do. Shit. He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. He turned around, thinking he should leave his brother to his new bride and go find Logan to seek his opinion on how to progress. Logan was the beta and second in command, so he would know where to go with this information. Just as he turned, he heard Callie calling his name.
‘Hey, Brandon,’ she called. ‘You okay? What happened?’ Just as she reached him, he turned to her and the tears finally came. ‘Brandon, you’re scaring me.’ Callie embraced him tightly as he fell to his knees. He couldn’t stop the tears now they had started. The pain in his chest was constricting his breathing, as if he was going to die from a broken heart. He vaguely heard Callie call for Seth when his vision and world swam before him. Callie’s warm arms and familiar scent enveloped him into darkness.
Seth ran from the house, followed closely by Sarah. It was obvious they were still in the middle of their honeymoon judging by their state of undress, but pack business came first. Seth had never seen Brandon like this before.
‘Callie, what the fuck happened’ Seth reached for Brandon and pulled him into a fireman’s lift and carried him into the house.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘I was coming over to Hope’s to see Maggie, when I saw him standing outside your house. He just fell apart, then passed out.’ Callie was crying now. She loved Brandon like her own brother and couldn’t bear to see him in this condition. ‘Is he okay?’
‘I think so,’ replied Seth. ‘Something’s wrong, though. We need to speak to Maggie and find out what’s happened. But let’s check Brandon first, as he looks like he’s just run straight from home. He’s not even dressed yet.’ Callie had thought it strange to see him standing there in just his shorts, but sometimes things on this island were best left unsaid. ‘Call Logan,’ continued Seth. ‘I want him here as soon as possible.’
‘I’m on it.’ Sarah jumped up and grabbed the phone.
‘Put some more clothes on first,’ said Seth. ‘I don’t want my brother seeing you like that.’ He snarled out his order, but both women just looked at him and rolled their eyes, knowing the men could have a jealous streak a mile wide.
‘Okay, mighty Alpha,’ said Sarah. With that, she dialled Logan's number and run upstairs to their bedroom to change.
‘Seth, I’ve never seen him like this before,’ said Callie. ‘Something bad has happened.’
‘I think you’re right,’ replied Seth. ‘Shit, Brandon, wake up, buddy.’ He tapped Brandon’s cheek lightly to rouse him.
Brandon could feel himself coming to and felt his alpha’s presence all around him. He opened his eyes and found he was in Seth’s house, with Callie hovering over him.
‘Brandon, you okay?’ she said. ‘You scared us. What happened?’ He could see Callie had been crying as Seth helped him to sit up. His head felt like he had been hit with a truck as all the emotions swirled around him. Maggie, his sweet angel, had lied to him. The memories came back to him so suddenly he felt his world tilt again.
‘Calm down, Brandon,’ said Seth. ‘You’re scaring us. What the fuck happened? Is Maggie okay?’ Seth’s look of concern made him feel ashamed at having fallen apart; but, before he could get up, the front door slammed open and his brother Logan stormed into the room.
‘What the fuck’s going on?’ he shouted. ‘Sarah called and said we had a crisis.’ He rushed to Callie’s side and pulled her into his arms. ‘You okay, baby? Are you hurt?’
‘No, not me, Logan,’ she said. ‘Brandon just passed out, but we’re not sure what’s going on. Brandon, what happened?’ Brandon watched Callie resting in Logan's arms and he suddenly missed the feel of Maggie against him. No, he couldn’t think of that now. She had come here to threaten his family. She needed to be gone. His face hardened.
‘Maggie was working for Marcus,’ he said. ‘We spent the night together last night and she confessed everything this morning.’ He relayed all he remembered to his brothers and Callie. Sarah had come down moments earlier and was listening as well. ‘She fucking l
ied to me. To us. I told her to leave and get off the island. Shit, I threw her out the house before she could explain more. She said Marcus had promised her freedom for one of us.’ Everyone stood and looked at him in silence.
‘You fucking sent her off, back to that bastard?’ It was Callie's harsh words that shocked him the most.
‘Didn’t you hear me?’ he said. ‘She was working with Marcus!’
‘For her own freedom. You said she had been a prisoner her whole life and is now running scared. She trusted you to help her, begged you to help her, and you just handed her back to the one person she was trying to get away from.’ Callie pulled herself from Logan's arms and surged toward Brandon. He certainly wasn’t expecting the slap across his check she delivered.
‘Fucking hell, Callie!’ Logan was pulling her back from Brandon, who simply looked at her, dumbfounded. ‘Didn’t you hear what he said? She was going to betray us.’ Logan spun her around so she was looking at him.
‘For her own life, Logan. You seem to forget you weren’t so quick to protect me when Colt took me. You just stood by and let me be taken, like it was easier for me to be gone than to deal with your feelings for the fat girl!’ Callie sobbed in his arms now, but Logan’s expression showed pain.
‘Callie, baby, you know that’s not what happened. I regret every nasty word I ever said to you and will always be making it up to you. I know I hurt you, but family is family and she betrayed all our trusts.’ Logan loved Callie so much and Brandon could feel that love coming off him, but he guessed he still had a long way to go before Callie believed he truly loved her. They hadn’t started well, but he’d assumed everything was fine between them now.
‘You’re right,’ replied Callie. ‘Family is family, and she needs our help. Marcus won’t be able to get to her if we protect her.’ She turned to talk to Brandon again, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear. ‘She’s lived with him her whole life, never knowing when her time was coming to an end, to suffer the same fate as her mother. She has been here for weeks and there’s been no sign of Marcus. If she wanted to be free so badly, she would have just turned you over sooner. Your family has accepted me, even though I’m of the same blood as that prick, yet still you can’t find it in yourself to forgive her for wanting to be free. I thought you were a better man than that, Brandon.’
‘Callie’s right,’ said Seth. ‘We need to find her and see what she wants to do. Trust is a high priority now and I hope she is telling the truth about all this, but we won’t know until we hear her side. How long ago did you ask her to leave, Brandon? Hopefully, Alex hasn’t run the ferry yet. I’ll text him.’ Grabbing his phone off the side, he ran his fingers quickly over the keys and hit send.
‘I came here right away after I told her to leave,’ said Brandon sadly. ‘Fuck, I told her to go. At the time I didn’t care if she ended up with him or not. I just wanted her away from my family. I’ve fucked up, haven’t I?’ He turned back to Callie, who nodded her head.
‘You brothers all seem to fuck things up with us women. Why can’t you just trust us when we say we love you? Accept us, warts an’ all?’ Logan's arms wrapped around Callie as he heard her words. He bent down to kiss her head.
‘I love you, Callie,’ he said softly. Callie closed her eyes and sunk back into him.
‘I know you do, baby, and I love you. Please, we have to help Maggie. You guys came for me when Logan fucked up. We have to help her now. Please, baby?’ She turned and kissed Logan.
‘As if I can say no to you…’ He kissed her until Seth cleared his throat.
‘It’s supposed to be my honeymoon, you know.’
‘Stop pouting, Seth,’ said Sarah. ‘Maggie needs our help. Callie's right, you guys can’t seem to get it right with your mates. We’re not perfect and we never will be, but if you love us enough then fight to keep us.’ Sarah had tears rolling down her cheek as Seth walked to her and swept her in a hug.
‘Fucking great,’ said Brandon. ‘Now I’ve made all the women cry. Just Mamma and Hope to go, then I’ll feel like a real prick.’ He had never felt so low. ‘Please tell me I haven’t just sent my mate off to Marcus’s pack. Oh god, I think I’m going to be sick.’ Brandon lowered his head between his knees, feeling his stomach contents about to come up.
‘Sorry, bro, I but I think you’ve done just that,’ replied Seth, reading a message on his mobile. ‘We need to go tell Dad what’s happening so he can stay on the alert and watch the women. We will get her back. I’ve just got a reply back from Alex. He said Greg was escorting her off the island onto the mainland earlier. He said Greg had already spoken to you and it was a security measure to get her off the island as quick as possible. I’ll call Greg on the way over to Dad’s to see where he dropped her off.’ Seth was typing into his phone again.
‘Wait Seth, I haven’t spoken to Greg at all,’ said Brandon. ‘I just came straight here and, until Callie, I didn’t see or speak to anyone. How did he know to get her off the island?’ Something was wrong. He could no longer feel Greg through his omega pack line. Was Maggie working with Greg against him? No, he’d known Greg his entire life. He would have known if Greg was working with Marcus.
‘Maybe he saw Maggie whilst she was leaving and thought it best to make sure she got over safely,’ said Seth. ‘Greg wouldn’t lie to Alex, they’re like brothers.’ Brandon could see Seth was running thoughts through his head, trying to tie together the pieces that just weren’t adding up.
‘Maybe, but something’s off,’ replied Brandon. ‘Is Greg answering his phone?’ Seth shook his head, but continued to dial.
‘Maybe it’s just bad reception on the mainland,’ replied Seth, ‘but maybe not. Come on, we have to get going. They already have a head start. We need Alex to run another boat across. Now!’
All of a sudden, things were happening and the Penn Lake pack was, once again, heading into danger to save one of their own.
Chapter Eight
Maggie woke up to find she was being held in some sort of cell. Stone walls surrounded her with no means of escape except a rusty door. She tried to listen for any sound but she couldn’t hear anything. She didn’t care what happened to her; she just hoped she had pissed Marcus off enough that he would kill her outright rather than give her to the pack as he had promised. Maggie gave the room a quick scan and discovered that she wasn’t alone. Lying on a dirty blanket was a man who looked like he had been badly beaten, almost dead. She ran over to the scrunched-up figure, only to discover it was Colt.
‘Oh god, Colt, what have they done to you?’ She wiped away his hair from his forehead and looked around for something to clean the blood off his face.
Her face hurt when she moved, and she lifted her hand to feel the swelling there. Greg had punched her so hard she’d passed out. She guessed it was because it would make her more transportable if she was out cold, the wimp. Looking down at the man before her, she guessed they had done the same to him to keep him from fighting back. None of this made sense; he was Marcus’s son, so why would he be down here with her, beaten almost beyond recognition? If only Brandon was here to give her the strength to know what to do. He had given her more hope in the few weeks she had been with him that anyone else in her life, but now she had lost him. Grabbing the bottom of her T-shirt, she ripped a strip off and began wiping Colt’s bloody face.
She’d kept Brandon’s T-shirt on, but had changed into jeans whilst Greg called Marcus from Hope’s living room to let him know he was bringing her home. Somehow, the T-shirt gave her hope that, one day, he might come for her; that dream would see her through anything that Marcus would throw at her. Now, however, it would serve a more useful function.
Suddenly, a loud, crashing noise bounced off the wall as the door swung open. Marcus was standing there in all his alpha glory, waves of displeasure coming off him that even she could feel. His new minion, Greg, was standing behind him.
‘Glad you’re awake,’ sneered Marcus. ‘I was afraid Greg had hit you so hard tha
t he may have done some damage. Nevertheless, he still would have enjoyed your body, all the same.’ He stormed over to her and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back. The pain made her eyes water, but she wouldn’t let him see her cry. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. ‘I told you what would happen if you failed me, you bitch. I told you I would let the pack use you as I saw fit. Greg here thinks you’re his, but I think I might chuck you in
the den and see which one can get to you first.’ Greg stuttered behind him.
‘You said I could have her. She was mine. That was the deal.’ Greg sounded almost put out. Marcus let go of Maggie’s hair and back-handed him violently across the room.
‘I fucking say who fucks her, not you. This is my pack. You forget that your time spent on the island hasn‘t been as productive of late. I might even decide to keep her for myself.’ He walked back to her and ran his tongue down the side of her face. His rancid breath made her stomach heave. ‘Your pretty boy princes won’t come for you, as Greg assured me that you broke their trust. So now I have no other use for you. However, I don’t like to fuck what’s been touched by their tainted dicks, so I think I’ll let the pack have you.’
Maggie felt repulsed at her fate. ‘I fucking hate you,’ she screamed. ‘You were never going to let me go, were you?’ She ran and smashed her fists against his chest, but her human strength was no match for his. He grabbed her throat and pulled her up in the air so her feet were dangling off the ground. Her hand instinctively fought against his, but she hoped he would end her life there and then rather than have to face what was to come.
‘How dare you think you can touch me?’ he snarled. ‘I ought to fucking snap your neck like I did your mother’s, but that would be too easy for you. I kept you alive all these years, now you will pay me the price.’ He let her drop to the floor, gasping for breath.
‘What have you done to Colt? He is your own son.’ Maggie was rubbing her throat.