TWISTED FATES BOOK 2: EVEN MORE TWISTED

by Jacklyn Scott Rogers

  Perhaps Justin was right all along. Maybe she deserved what happened to her.

  She was a cheater. She was a whore.

  Sammie had hoped that she had tried with every fiber of her being when she had fought her attacker. But did she really fight hard enough? The implementation of her former mate into this difficult equation only made her question herself even more.

  She felt dirty.

  She needed a shower.

  Sammie was well aware that no matter how much she would attempt to cleanse her outer shell, the fact still remains that she would never be able to rid herself of the filth that made its way inside her. She could never be truly clean.

  She lightly traced her finger along Devon’s soft lips. She pitied him for being mated to such a catastrophe magnet such as herself. She had arrogantly believed that things were getting better. Yet again, destiny tossed the proverbial wrench in the fabrication of her life mocking her happiness.

  She was fate’s bitch apparently.

  She felt dirty.

  She needed a shower.

  She didn’t want her mate’s body to be soiled with her sickening filth.

  She carefully escaped the confines of Devon’s arms and lifted herself off her bed. He stirred for a second but then fell back into his deep slumber.

  Sammie crept into the en-suite bathroom attached to her bedroom and quietly shut and locked the door.

  Turning the shower onto the hottest possible temperature, Sammie allowed her skin to be immersed in its blistering spray.

  This was her sanctuary now. Here is where she could actually acknowledge the pain she was enduring internally.

  From now on she would have to pretend to be well. To be happy. To act as if the perfidy and abuse she received never ensued.

  She understood this was the only way to protect her loved ones and herself. Should they an inkling of what she really was thinking or planning, not only would it hurt them, but she knew they would try and stop her from what she had planned in the days to come.

  No.

  This was one thing she was certain.

  There was no going back now.

  Not after Justin had spoken his malicious words, revealing to her that her former mate that she had loved, lost, and grieved for, had betrayed her.

  She wasn’t sure how, but Sammie knew, one day soon, she would hurt Jareth just as profoundly as he had done to her.

  *******************************************************

  Two weeks later

  To say things have been going well would be a lie. Well at least the reality of things for me. In front of my friends and Dev, everything is peachy.

  Same old Sammie.

  When I returned to my bedroom the first night, I woke up, Devon was awake leaning against the headboard in wait.

  I made sure my walls were up the moment I saw him and flashed my trademark smile.

  I could tell at first, he was unsure. His eyes carefully studied my movements and expressions. Luckily, being a vampire allows you to have one hell of a poker face when needed.

  I quickly sauntered over to Dev, still in my towel, and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek as I headed towards the direction of my closet. He immediately grabbed my wrist. Had I not built my safeguards up, surely, I would have recoiled in fear. But as it was, I was able to maintain my cheerful demeanor.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Where are you going, baby?”

  “Closet, to grab something to wear.”

  “OK.”

  “Everything alright Dev?”

  ‘Huh…what? Oh yeah, sorry baby everything’s fine. Was just surprised you decided to grab something from your closet. Normally you just slip on one of my shirts. That’s all. Slade and I love it when you wear my shirts.” He winked at me.

  Shit, I totally forgot.

  Damn me for being a creature of habit.

  I tossed a fake giggle towards Devon and grabbed his black cotton tee, pulling it over my head before dropping the towel I was wrapped in onto the floor at my feet.

  I grabbed the wet towel and tossed it into the laundry basket in the bathroom.

  I somehow managed to convince Devon to go back to sleep since he looked so tired. I had promised him a hearty breakfast made by yours truly when he awoke.

  I silently made my way all the way down to the lowest level of my home and headed towards the gym. If I wanted to beat this, I needed to build up my strength, stamina, and abilities. Training in the gym was the perfect outlet for me to let loose of my angst and aggression, at least until I needed to practice on harder targets. But I would cross that bridge when the time comes. Until then, this was my safe place. I stepped into my home gym and flipped up the three switches located inside the entryway of the massive room. My eyes scanned around trying to determine which form of machinery I would decide to use first. Taking a mental inventory of the wide array of workout equipment at my disposal. Four treadmills, three ellipticals, four NordicTracs, five PrecorFTS Glides, four ProForm Exercisers, four ProForm Carbon HIITs, as well as several medicine balls, yoga mats, balls, bands, Heavy bags, and finally gymnastic horizontal and parallel bars a boxing ring, and an indoor pool. Goddess, talk about overindulgence. Once Jareth had discovered my proclivity to physical training and exercise, he immediately had anything and everything imaginable brought in when this room was designed for me. The gym takes up the entirety of the lowest level of my home and despite its origins, it has now become my refuge.

  I made my way through the gym into the small locker room where I changed into my workout gear, black lycra shorts, and matching bralette with some cross-trainers. I quickly pulled my hair up into a tight pony. I slipped on my AirPods and grabbed a clean towel off the towel rack then headed back into the gym for my workout.

  Deciding to take out some needed aggression, I opted to spend some time on the Heavy bags for a while. I didn’t even bother to bandage my hands, as I began pummeling the massive hanging sawdust filled bag. My mind began dispersing every deep-rooted painful emotion that I had been holding back into each and every punch and kick. I could feel the skin on my knuckles break causing blood splatters to begin decorating the heavy bag in dark crimson flecks from every raging jab I provided it. I didn’t care. I’d heal in a matter of minutes, so it made no difference to me. The small stinging sensations of pain only reminded me that I was still weak but soon enough, I would be strong. This too would be nothing. I continued pummeling the sawdust filled heavy bag for an hour. Each blow to the bludgeoned inanimate object was another attack at my own inner demons that plagued the inner sanctum of my sanity. The bone-crunching reverberations of my hands were the only sounds that penetrated the otherwise unsettling silence of the dimly lit gym. I thrust one final blow onto the heavy bag causing it to split in two. The sheer magnitude of force and fury encompassed with my final strike shattered the remaining bones of my right hand as well as the connecting wrist. Bones protruded through my soft tissue in a bloody rhapsody of pain, producing a shrill guttural scream to emerge from my mouth. The pain was excruciating but this was what I had wanted. It gave me a reason to cry. To feel. This was part of my new daily ritual.

  My alarm went off at 4 am, it was time for me to clean myself up and go make Dev’s breakfast.

  I picked up after myself, took a quick shower in the locker room, and changed back into Dev’s shirt before making my way back through the gym to leave. For a brief moment, chills ran up my neck. I felt as if someone was watching me. My eyes scrutinized their surroundings finding nothing before I shut off the lights and made my way back upstairs. Time to play happy Sammie once again.

  Chapter 21

  3rd Person POV

  “Is everything in place?”

  “Yes, my queen.”

  “Good. Now run along and make sure he gets my message. I don’t want any mistakes. Understood?”

  “Yes, my Queen.”

  Dasha’s ruby stained lips formed a menacing smile as she envisioned h
er scheme finally beginning to come into fruition.

  “If I had known at the time I had you in my bed that you were the puri nocte wolf I needed Devon my sweet, then I definitely wouldn’t have let you slip out of my clutches so easily.” She spoke aloud. “But soon I’ll have you back, and that’s when the real fun will begin.”

  A dark sinister laugh erupted from her as she clenched her fists tightly. “Oh, little Sammie. I am so going to enjoy this. You have no clue what delightful things I have in store for you.”

  Dasha’s maniacal laughter echoed all over her room, beyond her closed door, spreading throughout the dark gray corridors of her compound entrancing all her minions who followed suit.

  All but one that is.

  *******************************************************

  Sammie’s POV

  I fed on a couple of blood pouches to help speed up the healing process of my hands and made breakfast for Dev. Upon my arrival to my bedroom, I found him exiting the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist; his muscular body glistening from having just taken a shower. Despite not feeling comfortable with intimacy yet, my attraction towards him was still there. We are mates. So of course the temptation was inescapable; not to mention the man is built like a Greek God. My eyes roamed over his taut muscles, his tattoos, his abs, everything, and I licked my lips hungrily.

  Damn my vampire libido and this mate pull.

  Ish.

  It’s not that I didn’t want to be with him, I just didn’t know if I was ready. I mean let’s not kid ourselves, it’s only been a couple of weeks. I don’t know about you but, a supernatural creature or not, being violated doesn’t make the pain any easier to overcome. Not that he knew anything about my hesitations, obviously. He, like everyone around me, believed that they had helped me by erasing the horrid memories of my pain. Too bad that was not really the case. I remembered everything.

  I felt so dirty.

  I think I need a shower.

  I bit my lower lip to the point that a small trickle of blood trailed down my chin.

  “See something you like baby?” He teased as he walked into the room smiling at me seductively.

  I quickly wiped the blood off my chin and chuckled nonchalantly, trying to hide any hint of nervousness. “Always, my sexy Alpha,” I responded. I wasn’t lying.

  He swiftly walked over to me, his eyes flickering between their ice blue and dark violet-black hues. His lust was clear as day.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Think Sammie. Think.

  Dev’s strong arms wrapped around my waist as he leaned down and began tracing small kisses along my neckline and collarbone. “This is where we are going to mark you.” He whispered seductively.

  Mayday… Mayday …. Someone’s pitching a tent down there … I repeat someone is pitching a very large tent! Time to avert his attention.

  I squirmed in his tight grip and cleared my throat. “Hey, Dev. Don’t you want the breakfast I worked really hard to make for you before it gets all cold and icky babe?” I jutted my lower lip out and pretended to pout.

  That sexy little devilish smirk of his graced his lips. He gave a little chuckle then released me after he gave me a quick peck on my nose.

  “I would love nothing more than to eat the lovely meal you made for me my love.”

  I smiled and directed Devon outside on the veranda where I set his food down on the small café style table in front of him.

  Devon’s eyes purveyed over all the food I had placed in front of him, three eggs over easy, four strips of crispy bacon, four sausage patties, two biscuits with country gravy, country fried potatoes, lemon ricotta pancakes, OJ, and black coffee. He leaned over the dishes sniffing the aromas emanating from each of the plates and smiled from ear to ear like a kid in a candy store. I returned his smile with one of my own. Little things such as these made me happy. Little things like these signified the sandbags that I had used, to barricade myself against all the torment that was lurking inside me. Little things like these made me feel like I wasn’t so dirty.

  As if some part of him unconsciously sensed my anguish, like a beacon of light piercing through the darkness, Devon reached his hand across the table and carefully clasped onto my own, holding on to it snugly.

  “Eat.” I teasingly chided him.

  “Yes, boss.” He gave me a wink and mock salute, as he set about eating every single morsel of food I had prepared for him.

  Chapter 22

  Aiden’s POV

  I’ve noticed every day that Sam is going down to the gym at the ass crack of dawn. It’s weird because I don’t think that anyone else realizes what she’s doing. The only reason I know is because a certain douche put me on late-night border patrols this month.

  *cough*_ Dev _ *cough*

  Needless to say, I haven’t been returning to my little babycakes till almost three in the morning because of it. I don’t even think Sam knows that I’ve seen her. She just goes down to the gym like she’s in ninja mode or something, which is totally weird because it’s her house.

  Why would she have to be all sneaky about getting a workout anyway?

  Who knows maybe that’s just a vamp thing.

  Hah, I answered my own question.

  At first, I was curious about her behavior, not gonna lie, my mate lives with her. So yeah. I’m gonna be cautious about Sam after seeing her go all Freddy Kreuger on some asshole and his junk. But she seems to be acting normal, well at least normal for her I guess, so it’s all good in the wolf hood.

  The funny thing is, I actually feel bad about what we did. I mean I get it, everyone said that they took away her memories because she was like all dark Willow and shit. But still. I don’t know how I’d feel if I knew that happened to me. But then how would I even know if that did happen to me? I mean I wouldn’t right? Because my memories would be gone … so I wouldn’t really know, would I?

  I mean like that time I could have sworn I decided to take my babycakes and the girls to Benihana. I told Mikey. But then it turned out that he “supposedly” came up with the idea first and even had reservations. What if I really did come up with it first and they erased my memory?

  Oh, my Goddess! Would my babycakes really do that?

  No…but Shay and Mikey would I bet.

  Mental note; confront Mikey about my suspicions later. Maybe Benihana was my idea first after all.

  Oh, the deception Mikey. Someone thinks he’s a Lannister I see.

  Mental note: Game of Thrones marathon night. Also, write this down just in case “someone” tries to make me forget this was my idea first.

  Damn, now Benihana sounds good.

  But … I digress.

  Maybe, if someone, *cough*_Mikey-*cough* doesn’t erase my memory, I’ll see if we can have that for dinner.

  I was about to head into the main kitchen to grab a bottle of water when I caught Sam’s scent as she quickly passed through the main level of the house. What can I say vamps have a pretty distinct scent.

  I looked up at the clock. It was 3:15 am.

  Hmm… she was later than usual today. Maybe she and Dev had a little workout session of their own before she came down.

  Heh heh. I kill me.

  Not gonna lie. I really do hope everything’s ok with Sam. I actually like her a lot. She’s really a cool person despite being a bloodsucker. But I don’t hold it against her.

  To be honest, when I first met her, I was totally gobsmacked by how hot she was. Maybe it’s like a prerequisite when you’re a vampire or something; you only get the sexy genes. I don’t know but yeah, I admit, I actually used to have a crush on my best friend’s mate. Whether he admits it or not, Mikey did too. Hell, I’m pretty sure Mikey spanked it a time or two after he first met her. That’s how much of a draw to her she caused. Dev always seems to land that hottest chicks. Don’t get me wrong, Mikey and I also tapped quite a lot of ass in our heyday, but Dev he was the hot chick magnet. Sam just happened to be the best out of the bunch. Most
definitely after the last two fiasco’s of his, that Dasha skank and the blond bimbo he told me and Mikey to check out. I think her name was Farrah, Fiona … Felicia?

  Eh … whatever. Either way, they all sucked ass.

  But Sam, she was totally different. She was super cool and not all stuck on herself; even though she’s pretty and she and Dev totally belonged together. Thank Goddess Dev never knew about my past little crush on her he’d totally kick my ass. I also think he’d kick Mikey’s ass too, but he’d probably erase Dev’s memories before he would be able to catch onto the big revealio of his former crush. So no point in bringing that up. Besides, I’m super happy I have my own precious little babycakes who turned out to be sheer perfection. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

  Now all I see Sam as, is a really good friend. Well, more like a sister if I were to be completely honest. For some odd reason, lately, my wolf has been very protective of her. Not in a mate kind of way, but in a sibling kind of way, which is really throwing me off because I’ve never had any siblings of my own before, well except for one but since I never met them they don’t really count in my book. Dev and Mikey are as close as I ever got to a family after both of my parents died.

  So yeah. I guess I’m worried about Sam. I was tempted to go check on her. I really was curious about why she was spending so much time in the gym while everyone was sleeping, so I decided to quietly peek in on her. When I got to the landing of the lower level, I heard a scream and caught the faint scent of blood. Sam’s blood to be more precise.

  Shit!

  Without thinking I quickly ran into the gym bursting the doors open in my wake. I scanned the room and didn’t see anything at first, but the smell of Sam’s blood was definitely stronger in here. Then I saw her. At the furthest end of the room near where all the boxing gear was. She was sitting huddled in the corner, with her head down on her bent knees and her hair draped over her face.