“It broke her,” Jasmin said. “Constant criticism, constant begging, and she believed it when he said it was her fault. She loved him. Even after all that, she loved him! She lived for the times he was nice to her, the times when he would pull her into the bedroom and make love to her, and I’d hear them laughing.
“And she’d be happy for like a day, and then he’d find something else she did wrong, and cut the legs out from under her again.”
She bit her lip against the pain of remembering. “And then he drank more and more, and there were more bad days and fewer good days, until there were no good days at all. I’d catch my mom with bruises, before she could heal. He was hurting her.”
“It’s not supposed to be like that,” Brody said. “Just because your dad was a monster doesn’t mean all matings are like that.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t just him. It was all of them. I left the second I turned eighteen. I wanted my mom to come, but she wouldn’t leave him. She said she didn’t know what he’d do without her.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “He killed her three years later. The official story was an accident, but he got drunk and he killed her.”
Brody sank down next to her, put his arms around her and held her.
“I swore I would never let a man make me weak,” she said. “That I would never let anyone make me weak. And I never did. Not even when Alexander Grant’s shifter hunters found me. They locked me up in that hellhole and they tried to break me. They tried with cattle prods and fire hoses. They stripped me naked and they ran their hands over me like I was a prize piece of livestock, and I stood there and I took it and I bided my time until we broke out and I killed every fucking one I could get my claws on because they put me through hell. They broke all the Bad Bloods, and they broke some of the others so bad they had to be put down, but they did not ever break me, do you hear?”
Brody put his hands on his shoulders. “You listen to me, Jasmin Wildacre,” he said, looking in her eyes. “I see you. You are beautiful, and you are whole, and perfect, and unbroken. When I was fighting in that cage, beaten and bloody and just wanting to fucking give up, I used to think of you. Did you know that? How crazy brave you were, because you would just walk in there, a cat in a pack of wolves, and strip naked and go at anyone who would take you on like you just fucking didn’t care.
“There was no defeat in you. No going for the knockout. You made them all fucking submit, because you were the strongest and you were never going to give in. Do you know how many fights I won just because I wanted you to look at me like I was an equal? Even though I knew you were so out of my league, even though I knew you didn’t care about me, I wanted you to be proud of me.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “I would never take your strength, love. You submitting to me, in that cage, was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. Because I know what it cost you. I know what a sacrifice it was. I know what you were offering me. This.”
He touched her heart with his fingertips. “I will treasure that moment until the day I die. Just like I’ll treasure this one.”
He got off the futon and went to his knees. “Jasmin Wildacre, I want you to be my mate, my partner, and my forever love.” He bent his head, exposing his neck to her. “I submit to you. Will you claim me as your mate?”
He heard the intake of breath as she stared down at him, but he kept his head bowed. After a few eternal seconds, she sank to her knees beside him. He felt her breath on his skin, and then she kissed the muscle where his neck met his shoulder. A moment later, her teeth sank into the flesh.
It was painful and thrilling, a wound that went deep into his soul, breaking it open. He felt the magic of the bond, transferring from him to her, and then reverberating back and forth between them in a scintillating pattern of light and love.
And then their clothes were flying, and there were lips and fingers and kisses and naked skin, giving and receiving equally, with no barriers, no holding back.
Jasmin welcomed Brody into her body and they leaped off the cliff together, knowing that they would always be there to catch each other, holding each other tight until they were safely home.
Watch for the next book in the Bad Blood Shifter Series, coming in July!
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Want more of these characters?
Silverlake Shifters:
Fugitive Mate
White Wolf Mate
Tiger Mate
Silverlake Enforcers:
The Enforcers: KANE
The Enforcers: ISRAEL
The Enforcers: NOAH
Bad Blood Shifters:
Bad Blood Bear
Bad Blood Wolf
Bad Blood Leopard (Coming soon!)
About the Author
Anastasia Wilde lives in the deep forests of the Pacific Northwest, where sexy shifters may or may not be found hiding among the tall, ancient trees. She writes hot paranormal romances about wild, passionate shifter men and the strong women who are destined to win their hearts. Broken, complicated, devoted, protective—love heals their wounds and smooths their rough edges (but not too much!). When not writing, Anastasia is traveling, nomming on any food involving bacon or melty cheese (ideally both), adding to her magical crystal collection, or relaxing with a glass of wine, watching the sun set behind the mountains.
Bad Blood Wolf (Bad Blood Shifters Book 2) Page 18