Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
I take my burner phone into Mark’s backyard to call Meagan. He watches me through the window, like he’s afraid to take his eyes off me, but it doesn’t feel controlling. Just protective.
I let Angie come out with me, and she starts picking up fallen leaves, examining them and comparing their colors.
“Hello?” It’s a new number, so my sister doesn’t recognize it.
“Can you talk?”
“Hang on a sec.” I hear the bang of a door, and my sister’s footsteps crunching over leaves. I picture her walking out the back door of the little cabin she shares with her mate and two small pups toward the woods. “Okay, I’m good. How’s it going?”
“Have you heard anything? About me, I mean?”
Meagan is still part of our father’s pack, the second largest pack in Kentucky. She stayed at home and mated her high school boyfriend after getting pregnant. They’re not fated mates, but they do love each other and make a good match.
The largest pack in Kentucky belongs to Dirk, which is why my father offered me up to be mated to him in some kind of medieval uniting of kingdoms. Things were horrible right from the start, but I couldn’t tell my father because Dirk told me he’d kill my father and take over his pack if he ever challenged him.
“No, is everything okay?”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Good. Yes. Well, no. Jayden got hit by a car and was taken to a hospital—he’s fine, of course—but I was afraid word might somehow get back to Dirk if he’d filed a missing persons report.”
Meagan scoffs. “He wouldn’t do that. He told Dad that you two had a misunderstanding, and you were being stubborn, but you’d be home soon.” Meagan hesitates a moment then adds “I know you didn’t want me to, but I finally told Dad the truth. I told him what Dirk had done to you and that you three were running for your lives. Dad’s beside himself. He hasn’t gone over to challenge Dirk yet because he needs proof to show the pack if there’s going to be a war.”
I swear softly. “I don’t want a pack war over me, Meagan. Dad’s pack won’t win. Dirk would kill Dad just to hurt me.”
Meagan’s quiet. “I know. But Dad has the right to know. And now that you’re out of that house, I feel like it’s time to stop keeping the horrible secret.”
Tears spear my eyes. “Don’t let him challenge Dirk,” I beg. “Promise me.”
“I’ll do what I can. What about the humans at the hospital? Did anyone witness Jayden’s healing?”
“No. I called the alpha in Colorado Springs, and he just came and pulled us out of there before Jayden got checked or anything.”
“That’s a close call. So you’re under his protection?”
“Not exactly.” I glance toward the house, everything warming as I think about Mark. “I’m in Denver… with my mate.”
Meagan gasps. “Oh my God. Are you serious?” Her excitement practically vibrates through the phone.
“Yeah, but Meagan, what am I going to do? Dirk will kill us both if I let him mark me.”
Meagan goes quiet for a moment then says fiercely, “Fuck Dirk. Why did you leave him if you’re not going to live? Are you just going to stay in hiding for the rest of your life?”
“I’m just trying to keep my pups safe and alive!” I cry, angry tears forcing their way to the outer corners of my eyes.
“Fuck. I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Meagan soothes, even though I’m the older sister. She’s the only reason I was able to get away. She brought me enough cash to get bus tickets to Colorado and to pay the first month’s rent on an apartment. We didn’t have time to plan things out—it was a hasty decision after Dirk got violent with me and Jayden.
“I gotta go. Let me know if you hear anything.”
“This is your new phone?”
“Yes.”
“What’s his name? Your mate, I mean.”
“Mark. Mark Ruhl. He’s a DEA agent and a shifter council enforcer. He’s older. Like in his forties.”
“A silver wolf.”
I can’t stop the way my lips curve thinking of him. The way I’m instantly soothed from the anxiety of a moment before. “Not too much silver, but yeah. Super hot silver wolf. And he likes to be called Daddy.”
“Oh my gawd. That’s so hot.”
“Super hot.” I laugh. It’s the first time I’ve ever had anything sexual or fun to share with Meagan. I was just out of high school when my dad pawned me off, and I couldn’t share the joy of Meagan’s exploits when she started sleeping with her mate because my life was so traumatic by then.
“Let him mark you, Co-co. You can’t delay living forever. At some point, you have to claim your own life.”
I don’t answer because my sister can’t even begin to understand the mental slavery I’ve been in for so long now, and I’m not going to defend myself.