She waved off the woman’s worries, getting back to folding. The woman smiled as she began folding as well. “Well, it’s nice to see you’re injury wasn’t as bad as it looked. Torin doesn’t usually get involved with the females, and he’s certainly never brought one home…to his bedroom. You must be very special to him. When did you two meet?”
Autumn’s head spun with all the information, and she had no idea how to answer that question. They had only met…yesterday? It felt much longer. Biting her lip, Autumn remained silent.
The woman tilted her head, tucking a stray piece of white-blonde hair behind her ear before shrugging. “Ah, well. None of my business, really. I’m too nosy for my own good, I guess. My name’s Kayline, by the way. I just realized I hadn’t introduced myself. And you’re being so kind helping me.” The woman —Kayline— smiled graciously, and Autumn nodded.
Soon, Kayline was chatting up a storm, telling Autumn all about growing up with the Delaney’s, whom had apparently taken her in as a young girl, and raised her alongside their only son, Torin. Her face lit up as she spoke of the kind family who saved her from starvation after her own parents had perished.
“Do you mind helping me take these towels into the washroom?” Kayline asked as she grabbed a stack of towels. Autumn nodded and grabbed the other stack, following her into the connecting room.
“I don’t know, Mum. She’s the strangest woman I’ve ever met. Half the time I don’t know what to do when I’m around her.” Torin’s voice floated in through the cracked doorway as footsteps pattered up the stairs. “And she won’t even talk to me. Not a word. I don’t even know her name.”
“You like her, don’t you?” Lauren teased.
“Mum,” Torin whined.
“Oh, don’t deny it. I’m your mother. I can tell these things. You are calling her strange, but really you find her…intriguing. Mysterious. I’ve even heard you call her gorgeous a time or two already.”
“Have you been eavesdropping on me, you nosy woman?” Autumn was expecting him to be angry with his mother, but instead he sounded amused.
Kayline smiled next to her, finding their own sneaky eavesdropping quite amusing herself. She held her finger up to her mouth. Autumn nodded, her stomach doing cartwheels as she peeked through the crack.
Lauren shrugged, smiling from ear to ear.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter if I like her or not. She obviously isn’t comfortable around me. Every time I get anywhere near her, she freezes up and gets this terrified look on her face. Like I’m going to yell at her or hurt her or something.”
Lauren’s smile faded as she grabbed her son’s hand. “You’re gonna have to be patient with her, dear. The poor girl has been through a lot.”
“I’m trying, Mum. I can tell she’s been through…something. When I first saw her, it felt like a light turned on, blinking ‘save her, save her’ over and over again. I couldn’t think of anything else. But now that I have her here, I’m not sure if I did the right thing—”
“Trust me, Torin, you did the right thing.”
“But how do you know I did the right thing?”
“Because I know what that girl has been through, and, trust me, she’s better off here.”
“How?”
“Because…I was a slave in Blackmoon.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Torin’s mouth fell open as his heart sank to his stomach. “Wha…what? You were…were a slave? In—”
“Blackmoon, yes. You heard me correctly.” His mother said, her hands twisting into knots in front of her. She took a deep breath. “I was born into the pack. My mother was a slave. My father,” she grumbled, “was a lycan, one of the pack’s warriors that were close to the Alpha. My mother wouldn’t tell me which one. Perhaps it’s because she didn’t know herself.”
Her voice cracked as she continued. “As a child, my mother kept me close by and, during the day, I helped her with her work. Laundry, dishes, sewing, that sort of thing. But oftentimes, at night, my mother would send me to the older women’s tent. I found out why when I got older.” Tears glistened in her brown eyes, making him step forward to pull her into a tight hug.
She held up her hand, stopping him. “No, no. You need to hear this. You need to understand why this girl deserves all the space and time she needs.” She cleared her throat. “As you are aware by now, many packs use female slaves.”
“Because there are so few female lycans, ummm, lycanas.”
Lauren nodded. “Yes. Do you understand what that means, though?”
Torin hesitated, not liking where this conversation was going. “The males mate with human females because there aren’t enough female lycans.”
Gulping, she nodded again, locking her gaze with him. “Many packs do not require the consent of the slave for such a mating. And that was the case of my mother and myself. It was probably the case of that poor girl in your room, too.”
Fists clenching, he ground his molars to stop himself from cursing in front of his mother. Bastards. All of them. Blackmoon needed to be wiped off the face of the earth. And he was going to be the eraser.
“That was my life until the old Alpha of Whitemoon traded one of their younger slaves for me after I turned eighteen.”
“But Whitemoon doesn’t use slaves.” Torin had just had this discussion with his father. I was the one that banned slavery in the first place.
“This was before your father became Alpha. The Alpha before him was nothing like your father. He was ruthless. Owning slaves was common practice, and he had no qualms about it. He wanted a female at their reproductive peak, so the Alpha agreed to trade a child for me. Back then, the Alpha chose everyone’s mate for them. Your father hadn’t realized I was traded from Blackmoon until after we were married. Later, the Alpha heard that Blackmoon had a lycana that survived past the first year. Whitemoon hadn’t had a lycana in the pack in decades, centuries even. But when the Alpha had demanded a round-up of female wolves to be used for mating, your father eventually stepped in.”
“Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. The old Alpha wanted the males to…to mate with wolves? Real wolves?”
“Well, that is how the first lycana was born, or so the legend says. Males have far less control during the full moon, especially if they’re unmated.”
Good gods, that Alpha had a few too many screws loose. Mate with an animal? Good thing Pop had taken care of him, or he might have taken the crazy Alpha out himself. And then he’d be stuck being Alpha himself. No, thanks.
“Well, really, Torin. Most young males won’t even be able to tell the difference between a female wolf and a lycana.”
He was dying to ask his mother what exactly had been done to her…and the nameless woman in his bedroom. Details he’d probably cringe at or run off in search of something to kill. Probably both.
“Who did it? What were their names?” He sounded harsher than he’d intended, his anger leaking into his words.
His mother’s lip quivered as she shook her head. “I know their faces, but not their names. I’d be surprised if they’d recognize me now. I was just a body to be filled up to them. A carrying case for their offspring.” She grabbed a spare hanky out of her bedside table and dabbed her eyes. “I was one of the lucky ones though. I only conceived once when I was sixteen, and I miscarried before anyone realized I was pregnant.”
His fists clenched at his sides as he told himself his mother’s bedroom did not deserve to be demolished. Some certain members of a nearby pack deserved it, though. His fists would be demolishing some faces in the near future.
His stomach churned as a thought came to him. “Oh, gods, Mum. What if she has a child back there?” What if he’d just torn a mother away from her child?
His mother thought for a moment. “Well, if she did, the child would have been with her. If it was human, that is. If she had actually given birth to a lycan, one of the males would have claimed her and the child, so she wouldn’t have been alone in that shack.” She blew her nose
as her tears began drying.
Crash. He snapped his head around, his neck cracking as he stared at the door leading into the washroom. He crept over to it, his mother close on his heels.
“Miss? Miss?” he heard Kayline whispering from inside. “Are you alright, miss?”
Pushing the door open, he sucked in a breath as he saw Kayline hunched over the mystery woman. She was curled into a tight ball on the floor, rocking with her head jammed between her knees and her hands clutching her ears.
Kayline looked up at him, her brows furrowed in confusion. “She just…collapsed. I don’t know what happened.”
“I think I do.” His mother stepped up beside him. Tip-toeing around him, she signaled Kayline out of the small room, taking her place beside the woman.
“It’s Lauren, dear. Can you hear me?” His mother spoke so softly. “You’re okay. Nothing is going to hurt you here. I promise.” She glanced up at him. “I wish I knew what to call her. It might help.”
Torin shrugged. He would give just about anything to know her name, but what could he do? The woman wouldn’t speak to him…or anyone it seemed.
“Dear,” his mother resumed. “You’re safe here.”
The woman just kept rocking and…was she muttering to herself. “Don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me.”
“No one’s going to hurt you,” he said, taking a step into the washroom.
The rocking got faster and her hands clamped down harder over her ears. “Don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me,” she muttered a little louder.
His mother held a hand up to stop him, shaking her head. She motioned him out of the room. “Stay out here while I try to calm her down.”
“But…” He wanted to help her. Something was still screaming save her, save her in his mind.
“Torin,” his mother snapped, getting his attention. “She is probably having a flashback episode right now. Hearing me talk about the same kind of abuse she’s endured much more recently probably triggered it. Had I known she was in there…” her mother gave Kayline a nasty look, and Kayline lowered her head.
“Maybe I can help,” he insisted.
“No,” she said firmly. “You need to understand that she has been abused, most likely her entire life, by men. If she is having a flashback of her abuse, the last thing she needs to see when she finally rejoins reality is a man hovering over her.”
And that got his ass backing out of the room in a second.
***
She could see him. Standing over her with a sneer on his face as he stripped out of his clothes. He’s not here. He’s not here.
“Let’s see if I can make you scream today.”
Oh, gods. Don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. He was stepping toward her. Giant steps that reached her far too quickly. Who was she kidding? When did he not hurt her? But she wouldn’t scream. She refused to give him the satisfaction.
He didn’t bother to give her the dignity of removing her own clothes, ripping the thin material from her body in one firm yank. She didn’t bother covering herself up. There was no point.
And then he was on top of her, pressing against her, his foul musk making her want to gag. Or vomit.
But this was good. He was in a hurry today, which meant this would be over quickly. She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming as he shoved inside her, tearing her delicate flesh with his violent invasion. No. No screaming! He liked that. That would make him stay longer. Silence. Silence was the only thing that saved her from hours upon hours of torture.
“Come back to us, dear.” Was that a woman? “Whoever hurt you is not here now. You are safe.” Her voice was soft and warm like honeyed tea on a sore throat, taking all the pain away. “You are safe here.” She clung to that voice as it made the monster fade into the background, his image becoming dimmer and dimmer with every sweet word. The pain easing, fading into nothing.
Lifting her head, she blinked, a blonde woman standing over her. Her blue eyes crinkling behind her large glasses. “There we go,” she cooed. “That’s better, huh?”
Looking up from her arms, Autumn glanced around the small room, recalling the towels she’d brought in and set on the shelf next to her.
“Oh, dear. You’ve bitten your lip open. We should wash that out before it gets infected.”
Lauren. That was the woman’s name. The one who’d brought her all the scented soaps and lotions. In Torin’s room. Torin…the man. Who had brought her delicious food to eat and watched over her as she’d slept. Had kept her warm by throwing his own blanket over her.
Lauren grabbed one of the towels she had set on the shelf, turning on the faucet of the sink. She handed the wet towel to Autumn.
“Is everything okay in there?” a man’s voice called from the other room. Clutching the towel, Autumn took a sharp breath. He’s not here. He’s not here.
“Not now, Torin!” Lauren snapped.
Torin. The one who’d brought her food. Not the monster man. Not the monster man. Calm yourself, Autumn. He’s not here.
“Sorry,” Torin muttered. She heard him huff before he walked away from the doorway.
“I’m sure Mum will take good care of your woman,” Kayline said.
“She’s not my woman, Kay” Torin retorted.
“Oh, those two fight like children,” Lauren grumbled. “I’m so sorry, dear. You shouldn’t have to listen to them bicker,” she said, more loudly, leaning toward the doorway. Silence immediately fell in the other room.
Wow. The woman had…power? A slave? Or former slave? What was she now? She certainly didn’t seem like a slave. Perhaps she wasn’t a slave anymore. Was that possible here?
Autumn dabbed at her lip, barely noticing the sting as she got to her feet. Lauren smiled at her. “It will get better. Every day, it will get just a little better.”
Nodding, Autumn managed a tiny smile. Her head was beginning to pound from all the commotion. She had just woken up, but she already felt like she could sleep like a bear.
“Oh, I’ll take that, dear,” Lauren said, taking the towel and throwing it into a small wicker basket in the corner. “How are you feeling? Do you want some ice for your lip?”
Autumn shook her head and followed Lauren out of the washroom, feeling her face flush as Torin’s and Kayline’s gazes locked on her. She bit her lip again, wincing at the sharp sting. Torin stepped towards her, his arms stretching towards her. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Autumn stepped back, touching her fingers to her lip. Crap. She’d broken it open again. There was a tiny red smudge on her finger.
“Give her some space, you two. Torin, stop crowding her,” Lauren snapped, waving her hands at them. Heat rose in Autumn’s cheeks as she realized that both of them now knew that the monster had taken her. Her gaze flickered to Torin. He knew she was a “dirty whore”, at least that’s what the other men called her. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought how disgusting she must look to him now. She’s not my woman, Kay.
When Torin’s face scrunched angrily, the dam broke. She covered her face as the shameful tears rolled down her cheeks in rivers. Choking on a sob, she ran from the room.
“Wait,” Torin said, as she ran past him, reaching for her.
Lauren grabbed his arm, pulling him back, and giving her the space she needed to escape. Bless that woman.
CHAPTER SIX
“I swear, if I ever get my hands on those damn Blackmoons…” Torin clenched his fists, pain streaking from his jaw from the intense pressure.
His mother gave him a reassuring smile, patting his cheek. “You’re a good boy, son. But vengeance isn’t what she needs right now.”
Pity. He was ravenous for it. Blackmoon blood needed to spill…in buckets…at the tip of his sword. “What about you?” he asked, hopeful.
She smiled at him, her eyes crinkling. “I already got mine. I had you and I found my happiness. That’s the best vengeance I could hope for.” She pulled him into a tight hug.
“Well, yeah, but some Blackmoon h
eads on a pike couldn’t hurt, right?”
“Torin,” she huffed, smacking him on the shoulder, but the smirk on her face said she wouldn’t mind. Score. Wait until Alaric heard of their new secret mission.
Torin took a step toward the door, ready to go track down Alaric and give him the good news, but his mother snagged his sleeve. “Wait a minute. Before you go do something foolish,” she said, giving him a knowing look. Damn, the woman knew him too well. “Why don’t you help Kayline finish up in here?”
Torin’s shoulders slumped. “But Mum…”
Kayline glanced over at him, a huge smirk stamped on her face.
“Kay,” his mother said sternly even though her lips twitched with a suppressed smile.
Torin spent the next hour or so being relentlessly teased by Kayline as he helped her fold laundry, wash dishes, and something called “dry dusting” according to Kayline. Why women felt the need to wipe dust off of a shelf that would only reaccumulate there the next day was beyond him. But dust he did. Anything to make Mum happy. Later, she joined them, and they all chatted happily through their chores before moseying into the kitchen to start dinner.
“I’m gonna go fetch the, um, woman. Ya know, in my, um—-”
“Bedroom,” Kayline finished, nudging him in the shoulder.
Torin rolled his eyes before walking away. He really wanted to see if the woman was feeling any better. And hopefully get some kind of a name to call her.
He took a breath before knocking softly on the door. He heard a thud inside and had a sneaking suspicion that despite his soft knocking, she’d still jumped and possibly fallen off the bed. He waited a few moments before knocking again, and this time the door opened a moment later.
Her eyes were red-rimmed and slightly puffy, and her hair was in a wild tangle again.
Kiss of Fire: A Dystopian Shifter Romance (The Whitemoon Warriors #2) (The Whitemoon Warriors Series) Page 4