I can't breathe. My heart beats fast and all I want to do is curl up on myself and wait for someone to save me.
The wolf approaches. I back away. I could swear she’s smiling a moment before making a jump and closing her jaws around my ankle.
A strangled cry escapes my throat.
I can't believe my eyes. I don’t want to believe them. And yet, I’m still pretty sure there’s a wolf chewing my flesh right now.
Adrenaline flows in my veins. I can't move a single muscle, not even to scream. Fear completely paralyzes me and the more I try to think about how to escape, the more terror grows.
I'm sure this is the end. Eaten by the big bad wolf. A hysterical laugh escapes my lips at the memory of what Ryan had told me one of the first days I had gone to live at the Stevenson home. He was right after all. I can't win.
The wolf, Mya, lets go of my ankle and sinks her claws into my chest. Her eyes light up with amusement as she opens her jaws and shows the two rows of sharp teeth. I close my eyes and wait.
And wait... Yet nothing happens.
The weight of the wolf is suddenly removed from my chest and I hear a slight moan in the distance.
I open my eyes and can no longer see Mya. Putting my hands on my chest, I can feel something warm on my fingers. I try to sit up, but the energy seems to have abandoned me. I sigh hopelessly.
A cold and wet snout rubs against my cheek. Another wolf. Great. This one has big green eyes. And behind him, there are two more wolves. One with brown eyes and one with eyes of both colors.
I smile. "I knew it," I whisper, "I knew there was something weird about you."
The wolf's snout becomes a beautiful face. Ryan puts his forehead against mine and brushes my lips with his.
"Oh, Haylee, I'm so sorry."
I know he doesn't deserve it; I know that neither he nor Jacob nor Noah behaved well with me. They have been cruel and ruthless. But I’m dying, so...
"I forgive you ... for everything." And then I close my eyes, knowing that I’ll probably never open them again.
Chapter Eleven
HAYLEE
I don't know why my heart beats so hard or why my limbs are so sore. It’s as if every single bone of my body broke and reassembled again and again. I want to open my eyes, but I can't. I try to sit up. Where am I? My legs are weak and trembling. I feel sick. A warm hand rests on my forehead.
"Hush, little wolf, everything will be fine." The voice is kind.
My mind is blurred. I cannot think, I can’t figure this out. And then the nausea hits me hard. I roll on my side and throw up. I feel the tears falling from my closed eyes.
What's happening to me?
I don't know how long I'm sick. I only know that at some point the darkness knocks and I let it enter.
I wake up with soft sheets and a ray of sunshine on my face.
I open my eyes and everything is blurred. My muscles felt weak, just like my energy. I blink my eyes to focus on my surroundings. I can feel the beat of more than one heart. The irregular breathing of someone close to me right now. I hear the noises coming from outside the room. The car horn in the distance. The cry of a child. The chirping of birds. It's all too much. I feel overwhelmed by feelings. My skin is more sensitive. My sense of smell is more developed. My hearing is finer. And my sight ...
I can finally focus on the room around me. I'm in my bedroom at the Stevenson's house and three pairs of eyes are on me.
"Everything will be fine, little wolf." Noah extends his hand, but I back away.
"What happened?" My voice is hoarse. My throat burns and the words barely come out.
"Here." Jacob grabs a glass full of water from the nightstand and hands it to me. I take a sip and clear my throat.
"What happened?" I repeat. I remember hearing them discussing something. They were engaged, in the sense that they should have been married and, even if I don't know how they would have done it legally. They had said what had happened with me was wrong. They talked shit about me. They treated me really badly. I burst into tears and ran away until a wolf attacked me.
A fucking wolf. No, not a wolf. "Mya," I whisper, "she was a wolf and then ..." Words die in my throat. I can't believe what I'm about to say. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I hit my head.
"Haylee" Ryan interrupts the flow of my thoughts, "I can feel the beating of your heart speed up. Please, calm down.”
“How?”
He sighs and lays his hand on my cheek, forcing me to look him in the eye. "You know how, Haylee. You saw it. Now you just have to say it.”
I shake my head. No, I can't go there. It's all so messed up. And yet, I know there’s something else I remember. I remember the teeth of the wolf, of Mya, tightening around my ankle. I felt pain. A lot of it. I thought I was going to die there. I waited for the beast to decide to end its game and kill me, but nothing happened. Three other wolves ran to me, pushing my attacker away. Then they approached me and slowly their bones started to creak and their limbs stretched. Their thick fur has withdrawn and pink skin has appeared in its place. The only thing that had not changed was their eyes. A green pair, a brown pair and one that had the colors of both.
"It's impossible," I whispered. “It wasn’t real. It wasn’t...”
"Haylee," Jacob interrupts me, "you know it's the truth. Just say it, Haylee. Say what we are."
"Wolves," I reply in a whisper, "you are wolves."
Jacob gives me a sweet smile. "You don’t have to be afraid of us, Haylee. We will never hurt you."
“But you have already done it. You broke my heart. You treated me badly. You have been my bullies for weeks and now you ask me to trust you. To believe in you. You’ve hated me until a few hours ago, for fuck’s sake!”
Jacob shakes his head. "We never hated you, Haylee."
"Your presence was ... overwhelming " Noah interrupts him with a half-smile.
"We were assholes with you, Haylee. I know. We know it," Ryan, adds. "We blamed you for things you didn't do. But the truth is that we were confused. We've been since the first day we met you. We didn't know how to deal with you, to prevent us from being so attracted to you."
"Why try to fight it? Why would it have been so wrong?"
"Because you weren't one of us, Haylee."
I notice the way he speaks to the past. “Why do you say weren’t, Ryan? I’m not one of you, whatever strange thing you are anyway.”
They exchange a fleeting glance between them before turning their eyes to me again. "Yes," Ryan clears his throat, "You see, when Mya bit you, she, well, she turned you, Haylee. You're one of us now."
I don't know what the normal reaction is when someone tells you that your life has completely changed from one day to the next, that suddenly you've become someone else, something else.
"It can’t be," I whisper.
Ryan reaches out to me and caresses my cheek. “It is, Haylee. And we will protect you, teach you how to be one of us. Be at your side, always.”
My heart starts pounding again and I feel tears filling my eyes.
He sighs. “Look at me, Haylee,” he commands, forcing me to raise my eyes. “You are our Fated Mate, and I know you can’t understand the meaning of it, but trust me when I say we will do everything to help you.”
"I thought Mya was your mate, or girlfriend, or whatever."
"No, it's different. Our union with Mya was political, while Fates chose you to be our mate. I know it's a lot of things to take, but I swear we'll help you understand everything."
"Mine" I whisper, “you are mine.” The words escape my mouth without even thinking about it.
"Yes," replies Ryan. "As you are ours. Your wolf calls to ours and this is why you feel so overwhelmed right now."
Tears run down my cheeks. “I don't know what to do. It's all just too much."
“Hush, little wolf. Don't cry.” Ryan hugs me. I sink my head into his chest and start sobbing. “It’s okay, I promise. Everything will be all right.”
And m
aybe I really hit my head, because I believe him. I believe my bullies who are now my Fated Mates, whatever it means, and I believe that everything will work out ... or at least I hope it will.
Epilogue
HAYLEE
I never thought I'd find myself like that. My mates are sleeping by my side. Their slight snoring is all I can hear right now. And for the first time, everything is perfect.
I reach out to stroke Ryan's face. My Alpha. My mate.
"Why aren’t you sleeping?" His voice is hoarse and his eyes are still closed.
"Why aren’t you sleeping?"
The corner of his lips lifts into a half smile. "I was sleeping, until you woke me up."
"Sorry," I whisper. “I didn’t mean to.”
I try to take my hand away from his face, but he stops me.
"Don't," he commands and finally opens his eyes. "I like it when you touch me."
I smile and follow his jawline with my finger. He sucks in a breath but doesn’t move. I caress his lips with my fingertips.
"I would like to kiss you," I whisper.
"And why don't you do it?"
I put my face closer and rest my lips against his in a chaste kiss.
"Is that all?" He chuckles and grabs me behind my neck, pressing his mouth hard against mine. He nibbles at my lower lip, making me moan.
"Hush, little wolf, or you'll wake the others."
The idea entices me. Having all three of my mates to worship my body is one of the things I love most, but for now, I want to dedicate myself only to my Alpha.
I slide my hand along his chest, drawing the line of his abdominals with my fingers, until I touch the tuft of hairs above his shaft.
"Don't play with me, Haylee," he growls.
I smile and sink my tongue back into his mouth as my hand grabs his hard cock.
He starts and whines with pleasure with every stroke.
"Enough, little wolf." He pushes my hand away and turns on his back, taking me with him.
I’m straddling him. His cock points at my opening. He grabs it and caresses my clit with the tip. I moan.
"Shh" he whispers, but from the cocky grin on his face, I know he likes to hear me moan for him. He reaches for the drawer of the bedside table, opens it and pulls out a condom.
"Let me." I take the wrapper from his hands, open it, and unroll the condom over his length. Slowly.
"You're killing me, little wolf," he says, groaning.
I smile with satisfaction and press the tip against my entrance. I impale myself on his hard shaft and let go of a long sigh as he fills me up.
We start kissing as I move my hips back and forth on him.
I cry out his name as his hands reach my tits and his fingers pinch my nipples.
I turn to Noah and Jacob and see that they are no longer sleeping. They have their eyes on me while they stroke their cocks.
I bite my bottom lip. “I’m close.” Noah gets on his knees beside me and presses his fingers on my clit for just a moment before moving them in small circles. Waves of pleasure pulse through me before my orgasm hits.
I continue to move with Ryan, riding out one orgasm after another until he groans, his body shaking as his own orgasm hits him fast and hard.
I let myself fall on his chest and turn my face toward my other two mates.
"Good morning," Jacob says to me with his hard cock still clutched in his hand.
“Need any help?”
He chuckles. “Yeah.”
I get up and crawl up to Jacob. I kiss his mouth and then lick my way down from his chest to his shaft. I taste the tip of his cock before taking it all in my mouth.
"Do you mind if I join in?" Noah whispers against my ear. I nod my head without letting go of Jacob.
I feel Noah's hands grab my butt and the tip of his cock tease my opening before penetrating me with a single push.
My moan is muffled by Jacob's shaft.
Noah starts pumping hard.
"I'm close," they shout in unison.
Me too, but I don't dare let go of the big cock in my mouth.
The orgasm strikes me suddenly, while I feel hot and bitter liquid in my mouth and grunts and moans coming from behind me. I swallow Jacob's cum and take my mouth away from him.
Noah pulls out of me and lets himself fall on the bed beside Ryan. From the whitish liquid that covers his belly, I know he enjoyed himself, too. I smile as I lay down next to Jacob. Noah takes my hand in his.
We don't talk, too tired just to keep our eyes open. It’s okay. Everything is perfect right now.
I don't know what the future holds for us, but whatever it is, I'm ready to face it now that the Stevenson brothers are by my side.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my ARC team and my loyal readers for supporting me every day.
And thanks to Sosha and Nichol for allowing me to be part of this wonderful anthology with such amazing authors.
About A.C. Pontone
Angela Camilla Pontone lives in Italy, in a town between Rome and Naples. She's been an avid reader since childhood. She prefers romance, but will gobble up pretty much anything that's available. She's always loved history and literature, so she obtained a Master's Degree in the fields of Italian and Romance Languages, Literatures and Philology, Historical and Musicological Studies, Latin Languages and Literatures, Ancient History, and Archaeology.
Camilla's secret desire was always to be a writer, but she never had the courage to pursue her dream until her life experiences led her to seek a way out of reality. The publication of her first novel, Flames of Truth, was met with international acclaim on Amazon. Her dream is to continue to create great stories that her readers will love.
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Guilty by Association by Rieka Eli
A Bully Reverse Harem Romance Prequel
Trigger warning: This book talks about suicide, and dead bodies. May be a possible trigger for some people.
Prologue
For me and so many others just like me, finding happiness is an everyday battle. Suffering from mental illness has always come with a stigma. We don't talk about it, we all act like nothing's wrong when inside we are drowning.
I wasn't strong enough to fight my demons. Seeing my wife in the arms of another man because I had failed to keep her safe. Because I had stupidly pissed away all our money on a pyramid scheme.
Our life used to be perfect, we had a nice house, good savings, and we were trying to start our family. When I saw the commercials on starting a 401k and them doubling it in about 10 years, I couldn’t resist.
I didn’t do it because I was greedy, but I was just a policeman. We didn’t make much money, and I wanted to have a nice nest egg for the baby.
I should have known better, if something sounds too good to be true it usually is, but I was just so excited that I wasn’t thinking.
Everything was perfect until Raynor Corp got busted for tax evasion and the owner cleaned out his accounts and fled. Leaving everyone who had invested and put in money, penniless. Myself included.
Depression is a funny thing, you can be the happiest person in the world, but all it takes is a small breeze to blow you over and that's it. My breeze was that bastard taking off with the money. That was when the drinking started.
I tried to hold it together, but it got worse and worse. Losing my job was just another breeze that blew me further towards the depression hole.
My partner took my wife
and me in when we lost the house, but she didn’t stay long. As bad as it is to say, I can’t even blame her.
So now here I sit, writing this to you. I just can’t do it anymore, I’m too tired, too broken. There is no saving me now. I’ve got a date with my gun. I never wanted it to end this way, but I’m left with no other choice.
Mary, my wife, if you happen to read this, know that I never meant things to happen like they did, and I will always love you.
Jaxon, Dexter, Cooper, and Maverick, take that fucker down, I’m sorry you have to do it without me now.
I was happy for a long while, and it was because of you all. May you all forgive me one day.
Dan Masters
Chapter One
Jaxon
Arriving at the crime scene in a blaze of blue lights the tires of my car squealing as I come around the corner to the edge of the cliff. I don't even think the car had actually stopped before I threw myself out the door.
When the call came over the radio a horrible feeling started in the pit of my stomach, telling me to get there and to get there fast. The look on the face of the young detective who was first on the scene told me it was bad. Suicide was never pretty but this was different. I knew it in my soul, that this call was going to change me.
Being a homicide detective in a town known for death and corruption, I have seen a lot of horrific things over the years. Nothing, however, could prepare me for the sight of my best friend, my partner, broken and bloody in front of me.
A horrible pained noise filled the air as I fell to my knees beside him. Begging him to wake up, to just open his eyes, but I knew it was too late for that. It was clear that he had been here for at least a day, due to the bloating that was visible in his body.
Tormented: A Bully Romance Anthology Page 17