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My head was throbbing when I finally came to. I was so sure that he was going to kill me.
He couldn't believe that I would really attempt to kidnap Willow.
I pushed myself onto my hands and knees. I was instantly hit with a wave of nausea. It took a while for the dizziness to stop. It took even longer when I sat up on my knees. I touched one of the tender spots on my head.
Blood covered my hand like I had just stuck it in a bucket full of blood. It was dark red and clotted. I'd be worried if the blood looked fresh.
It was no wonder I felt so dizzy. The drying blood around me told me I lost a lot of blood.
The blood smelled metallic and made my mouth water. My stomach rumbled. I was starving.
We need to eat something bloody to heal. My wolf grumbled.
"Where am I?" I muttered knowing no one could hear me.
We need to move. The scent of our blood will attract unwanted predators.
"Werewolves are the predators down here. We should just let them find us."
We cannot trust them anymore. Let's move. The wolf pressed. We need to go.
I got to my feet and stumbled to one of the many trees. What if I was going the wrong way? I was low on blood, but I was pretty sure all the bleeding had slowed down, maybe even stopped already.
I took a deep breath and tried to settle. I needed to be level headed so I didn't get completely lost.
I smelled something familiar. I took another, deeper breath. It smelled fresh, like water. Maybe
I was close to the lake. The group ran past it often enough that I knew my best chance of being found was there.
I had to stop and rest against every tree I came across. I was so tired and too weak, but I had to move. My vision started dimming. I was losing consciousness again. I was just too weak to move anymore.
A splash and deep laughing voices gave me some energy.
I tried to whistle to get their attention, but no sound came from my lips.
It wasn't surprising. If they were messing around at the lake they wouldn't hear me coming. My noises would fade into the ambiance.
I took a deep breath and fell to my knees, resting against the tree. I couldn't go any farther. I was too tired, too weak to move. I'd have to count on someone following the scent of my blood.
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I dreamt of Roger. It was disturbing. I didn't feel as drawn to him since I wasn't in the room with him. It was like he put me under a spell that I couldn't break.
When I came to, my sore ass told me that no one had found me. I hissed as I adjusted. I felt a lot better, but I was starving. I got to my feet and did an assessment. My clothes were smothered with dried blood...my blood. My hair was stiff and tangled. I knew that it came from the head wound I had.
I finished the walk to the lake. It was dark and there was no one around. At least from here I knew how to get back to my room.
It didn't take long to get there. When I saw the house, it was dark. All the lights were out. I couldn't believe it. I had been in Rogers control all this time and they could sleep like nothing was wrong. I felt my wolf rouse. She felt betrayed, I felt betrayed.
I had looked like crazy for Roger, but they kept me in the dark. I tried to capture him and they just let me go.
They knew how much stronger he is than me. I didn't even get a real warning.
I wasn't wanted here. They didn't care about me. Everything had been a trick to get me to comply with their rules. They just wanted me to behave so I didn't cause any problems for them. They didn't really care. None of them really cared. I didn't feel like I belong here. My wolf made me feel like we were on territory that wasn't ours; we needed to retreat as soon as we could.
I made a pit stop at the kitchen to pick up whatever food there was to eat in it. Luckily I found some meat so I made a sandwich. The medium rare meat satisfied my wolf's craving for blood.
I quietly made my way up to my room. I finished the sandwich before I made it all the way there. I'd grab my bags and go. I didn't have much anyway. When I get settled somewhere else, I'd come back for my things that we brought over from my apartment. Assuming that they'd let me come onto their lands to collect my belongings.
I grabbed a towel and walked into the bathroom. When I flipped on the light I saw how bad it was for the first time. There was dried blood all over my body. I looked like I had taken a shower in blood…like I was staring in some cheap horror movie. My hair was matted on the side of my head. There was a thin red line that was in the right spot where the head wound would be which Roger gave me.
I stripped in the shower to make the clothes easier to clean, if I even kept them, and washed all the blood off of me. The smell of the blood engulfed my senses. I felt my wolf's thirst for blood all over again. I was just so hungry.
I felt infinitely better when I stepped out. I stood in front of the mirror and took a look the damage. I had bruises all over my arms and legs. There were even a couple on my stomach and back. There were thin red lines where I knew I had bled out. There were even teeth marks on my shoulder, chest, the front side of my hip, even a couple bite marks on my back. I don't remember him biting me. It must have happened while I was passed out.
I put on comfortable clothes, not bothering to take the blood and dirt caked clothes out of the bath tub. I didn't want to make a huge mess. I threw the clothes from my dresser onto the bed and grabbed a bag. I needed to be out of here before someone noticed that I was in their house. I was zipping up the bag when my door opened.
"You're back." Mason's grumpy voice grumbled.
"Obviously." I slung the bag over my shoulder. "I'm leaving."
"Going back to your boyfriend?"
I felt my face flush with rage that sparked through me. "I know you're good at seeing in the dark. What kind of boyfriend hits their girlfriend?"
He leaned on the door frame with his arms crossed over his bare chest. The sight didn't affect me like it used to. He was just some shirtless guy now.
Mason shrugged at my question. "The kind that goes around murdering my pack members." He didn't make my heart race anymore. Nor did his grumpy features make me smile. Being with Roger must have turned me off from all guys.
"Yes, well, good luck finding him then." I made my way toward the door. I wanted to leave. I wasn't welcome here anymore. I wanted to get away from everyone who thought they could influence me. I didn't want to be a puppet on a string anymore.
"We'll use you to find him." Mason didn't even try to move out of my way.
"Oh really? He beat me senseless then left me in the woods to die. I was out there for a long time before I made it back here…all by myself." I was furious now. "What happened to the patrols? Shouldn't they have found me? There was tons of blood around me when I woke up."
"We took away the patrols for a few days. He's killed everyone he's come across. He took most open opportunities to kill.” He said it so easily, like that was the logical thing to do in this kind of situation. “Why would he leave you alive? What makes you so special?"
I shrugged. "I don't know." When I stepped closer again, he didn't move. "Can you move?"
He nodded, but stayed put. "Of course I can move."
Ass. My wolf grumbled. We'll make him move. He'll never see it coming.
Her threat was serious, which surprised me. She'd never really said anything bad about Mason. Then I realized, she didn't want to be controlled anymore either. Mason used to have control over us, and she was still resentful about having to listen to him.
So as one we charged him. I used the werewolf's strength to muscle past him. He looked surprised that I had moved him. No one ever really dared to shove Mason.
He grabbed my arm when I started walking away. "You smell like him."
"I can't smell like him. I was caked in blood so I took a shower."
He nodded. "I know." Mason's face changed to an emotion I had never seen before. It was a mix of concern and fear. "Did he mark you?"
I felt dread in my belly. "Mark me?"
He looked me over as he spoke. "Sometimes it works on the back or on the side of your ribs, right next to the breast. But normally it's on the neck or shoulder. It looks like a bite mark, but it heals fast, leaving a unique scar."
I looked away from him. I did have a bit mark on my neck…I had bite marks in several places. "What makes that bite mark so special?"
"It's a claim on a female." Another voice said, right next to Mason. I didn't recognize this man from somewhere. "It makes females less desirable to males and it makes females desire only the one who marked them."
Roger had bitten me all over while I was unconscious. I only knew because of all the scars that remained. "How can you tell?" My voice was barely audible. Mason let my arm go. He knew I wasn't going to go anywhere until I knew the difference.
"Let me look at it and I can tell you." I jumped away from the voice that was directly behind me, towards Mason. I might be resentful, but somehow I felt like he'd protect me still. I looked over to see a man who looked more concerned than Mason.
"Who are you again?" I took another step back, but Mason wrapped his arm around my waist to stop me from moving any farther away.
"My name is Mikko. I am Finn's son."
Then it clicked. I had met him briefly before this all happened. "The head alpha’s son."
He smiled weakly and nodded. "I came out here to help deal with Roger. It was my fault that no one followed you out."
I dropped my bag to the ground then did something that I never would have thought about doing, in a million years. Mason didn't know what I had planned, so he let me go. I punched the head alpha's son right in the jaw.
Before I could even pull back the swing, Mason had pulled me away from Mikko and placed me behind him. "Are you completely stupid?" My hand throbbed, but the satisfaction it gave me was well worth the pain.
Mason kept his eyes on Mikko.
Mikko was more shocked than anything. "If it wasn't for the Emily situation, I'd be so pissed." He rubbed his jaw. "But Emily has shown me that women can be pretty unpredictable." There was a twinkle in his eye when he looked at Mason. "It's okay Mason. I'm not going to hurt her."
Mason tensed a little, but moved so I could see all of Mikko again, but he stayed between the two of us. Mason grabbed my wrist before his fingers painfully probed my throbbing hand.
"Ouch!" I pulled away.
"I think you broke a few bones." Mason growled. "Let me set them before they heal and Brian has to reset them."
I hesitantly held my hand out to him. "Well he has a hard face." I retorted.
Mikko just smiled. He distracted me just long enough so that Mason could pop a few things and yank my finger once. I quickly took back my hand once the searing pain started. It hurt.
"Show me your mark please." Mikko asked nicely, once Mason let my hand go. He didn't bother taking a step closer to me.
I pulled my shirt to the side and showed both of them the bite mark they were referring to. Mason looked away from me after he looked over the bite.
"Roger marked you." Mikko sighed unhappily.
"So what does that mean?" I looked between both men.
Mason was off in his mind, probably ranting off a lot of nasty comments. "You're his." Mason managed to hiss after an awkward pause.
I shook my head. "I'm not anyone's." I'm not property.
Mikko held up his hand, stopping any argument that was going to happen between Mason and me. "I'll prove it to you."
He ran down the hall into a couple of rooms. When I glanced at Mason, he was staring at where the scar is, but all he could see was my shirt.
Any other time I would assume that he was checking out my boobs, right now I knew better. "What?"
Mason shook his head and mumbled "nothing" before he went after Mikko.
Mikko came back (alone) carrying two shirts.
"Scent them both and tell me which one you prefer."
"What's this going to prove?"
He urged me to take the one he was holding. "I'll explain after."
I took the shirt apprehensively. I didn't want to get stuck in some trick. Maybe there was chloroform in one of the shirts and I'd pass out, but I had to go along with it.
So I brought the shirt to my face and smelled. "It smells like someone worked out in it." I scrunched my nose and rubbed it to try to get the smell to go away. "It doesn't smell good."
He kept a stony exterior. I couldn't tell if I passed whatever test this is correctly. It had to be a test.
He handed me the other shirt. "Now this one."
I was hesitant because I didn't want that smell in my nose any more than it had to be.
When I finally inhaled, I did so deeply. "That smells good." The smell made my wolf long to smell it over and over again. I felt drawn to Roger all over again. I needed to leave here and get back to him. He was the only one who would ease the tension I felt growing in me.
He took the shirt back with a weak smile. "You did good. Let's go meet the others in the office."
"What does smelling shirts prove?" I asked following Mikko. He was an awfully fast walker. Confused, I followed him. Grayson, Casey, Brian, Amanda and Mason were waiting for us.
None of them looked happy.
Mikko offered me a large chair. "Why don't you sit down?"
My wolf told me I couldn't be locked in a room with these people, that they weren't my friends anymore. They needed to say what they wanted to soon, I needed to get back to Roger. I could feel even more anxiety building.
I shook my head, "I'd rather hear what you have to say standing."
He nodded and looked back at Grayson and Mason before looking back at me. "You were marked by Roger. One shirt you smelt was Roger's, the others was Mason's. You preferred Roger's over Mason's."
"It's just a shirt."
Mikko shook his head. "Not really. No matter how the bond was created, a mate bond will always make the wolf prefer the scent of their mate over any other."
"Mason's shirt smelled like he had been working out all day." This was crazy.
"Mason wore that shirt around the house yesterday." Amanda interjected. "I brought them some food and I remember the shirt. He didn't work out yesterday."
"He had to."
Mason shook his head, "I didn't have time to yesterday. We were looking over maps all day."
"Maps." I said in disbelief. He nodded. "You were looking at maps while he had me?" I felt angry all over again. "You stayed here in your nice safe house while he beat me?" He had a great poker face. "Then you pounce on me, implying that I was the traitor, that I had something to do with his master plan."
I wanted to punch him right in the face, but I couldn't since my strong hand was already recovering from breaks. I would be happy if I never had to see him again.
"You two can work out your little tiff later." Mikko shot Mason a look before turning back to me. "You're going to lead us to him."
"How? He dumped me while I was unconscious." I shot back angrily. I didn't have to be nice to anyone. None of them controlled me.
Mikko nodded, "But the thing about the mate bond is that you can find your mate with it."
"And how do I do that?"
"I'll teach you. It'll be a bit of a crash course, but it's not so bad once you get the hang of it." Casey didn't give me much of a warning before she sent memories and feelings my way. There was nothing I could do to stop it either.