TYSONI watch in horror as Rose’s face pales and turns a slight grey-green color. Her pupils blow out almost immediately. Her breathing turns shallow and fast and her heart sounds like it is going to beat out of her chest. Her eyes are not focused on me, and I rub her arms trying to get her attention. It doesn’t work. I snap my fingers in her face, that doesn’t work either. Finally, I pat her cheek, trying to move her focus. But again, nothing. Then I realize, she is staring at the group that just came out of the elevator.*Stand in front of Rose, now!* I link over to Justin, Marshall and Mike, all of whom became acutely aware of Rose’s panic attack as soon as it happened. No one argues or questions why, and they jump to obey quickly. But I know that someone in that group of men is from Rose’s past. They raped her, scared her, scarred her. Zeus is roaring in my head, pacing and clawing at my control, not caring that we are in a building with humans. Someone who hurt our mate is this c
ROSE My head is pounding, and I taste blood in my mouth. I try to move but my hands aren’t moving properly. It’s like they’re tied together. I try to move my legs, but the pain is too much, I don’t want to move them. “Mama?” I hear my Maddie’s voice in the darkness. “Mama, are you awake?” She is so quiet; I can barely hear her. And I know my eyes are open, so it’s not like I’m hearing her from a sleep or an unconscious state. “Baby?” "Shhhh,” she says quietly. So, she’s whispering. “Mama, they took us. We’re in a car trunk. We’ve been driving a long time. Are you okay?” I think and assess my injuries. My head is definitely concussed, my lip is busted, I think my right wrist is broken or severely sprained, I have small cuts on my face, hands and arms, and my lower left leg feels really weird too. Very painful. It takes a minute, but I remember it being caught on something and it was bleeding pretty badly. “I’ll be okay, sweet pea. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” “I’m okay. My head wa
ROSEThe outside door to this makeshift warehouse building opens and in walks Kent Michaels. I begin breathing heavily but I don’t completely panic because Maddie is in my arms. His eyes assess us with a nasty sneer on his face. I’m not sure how I use to think he was handsome.“Hello again, lover,” he says, and I shiver in disgust.“I’m not your lover, Kent.” I try to sound tough, and my voice is semi-strong, but it comes out laced with fear. Maddie’s breathing picks up too and I know she’s trying to work out who this man is. She’s about to find out in the worst way imaginable how I got pregnant with her.“Well, not anymore, Rosie. It’s good to see you again though. You definitely look better than the last time I saw you.”“The last time you saw me, you thought I was dead, so I’m sure it doesn’t take much to be an improvement from that.” I roll my eyes at him, not sure where my bravado is coming from all of a sudden.“True. Now, enough with reminiscing about old times. Introduce me to
ROSE“Oh, yes. Any you’ve met him before. One of my good time pals, Darius Chambers. You remember him, right?” I pale. Yes, I remember him. He’s one of the four. “He’s another Alpha who hasn’t quite managed to sire an heir. Unlike me though, he hasn’t met his mate, so he doesn't have to contend with a wolf who won’t let him get it up with a female who isn’t his mate. He’ll have no problem impregnating you. I’d bet money that he fucks you, right here, before he takes you home. Now, Little Beast, it’s time to say goodbye.” Kent moves to lift my arms, but I squeeze Maddie to me as tightly as I can. Knowing it won’t do any good.“NO! You can’t have her!” I scream out as I struggle with Kent. He sighs in exasperation then backhands me across the face. My head whips to the side and I groan in pain. That combined with my earlier injuries, and I almost go out again. He now lifts my bound arms with ease and removes Maddie from my side. She is thrashing and clawing at him, and I hear something
TYSONI pace back and forth in Marshall’s hospital room. It is about 5am and I haven’t slept a wink. Marshall underwent surgery yesterday afternoon to have the bullets removed. Thank the Goddess that they weren’t silver, or he would have died too. We have all been waiting for him to wake up so we can get some intel on the kidnappers. Thomas is sitting in a chair across the room. Next to him is Adam who hasn’t left Marshall’s side. Wanting to stay close in case he is needed.“I’m going for breakfast. Tyson, you need to eat. I know sleeping is out of the question for you, but you need to keep your strength up. The girls will need you to be at your best.” I growl out at Thomas, but he doesn’t flinch. He’s right, of course, but I can’t control Zeus very well right now. Thomas kisses Adam and then leaves the room.“How much longer will he be out, Adam?” I ask again for the millionth time."He should be waking any minute, Alpha. Any word from the search team?”“Nothing new, unfortunately. T
TYSONAmanda uses her claw and removes the zip tie holding Rose’s hands together. Her wrists are severely bruised, and we can see that her right wrist might be sprained or broken. I pull out bottled water and a towel. I begin removing as much of that Alpha’s blood that I can, so we can see where Rose is actually injured while Amanda starts an IV line and begins a saline drip.I don’t see too much on her body until we turn her over. The chair she had been sitting on shattered when she went crashing into the wall; pieces are embedded into her soft skin. Amanda and I work diligently together to remove all the pieces and debris. I flush out the wounds with sterile saline while Amanda uses her claws to pull the wood from her skin. None of them went very deep but they all have to be sewn together with stitches. She has another head injury, probably from the car accident. Amanda cleans that and glues it together. We are almost done when a whiff of a strange aroma catches my attention.“Amand
TYSON“It looks like she was penetrated, but you didn’t feel her being raped. You definitely would have known what that was. My guess is fingers. It still did some damage, but nothing major. Again, just rest and she should heal up. The leg infection is the worst thing for her, I’m afraid. We will be cleaning it daily until it clears up, that means no showers or baths for a few days. She’s going to hate that but nothing I can do about it right now. Not until I can stitch it up, but I can’t do that until the infection is gone. Human healing being what it is, she will probably have a large scar on her leg.”“Thank you, Amanda.” I say and she leaves the room.*Mike, I need you to come to Luna’s hospital room for a debrief and a strategy meeting.**On my way, sir.* Mike replies. I sit at Rose’s bedside and hold her hand while I wait for Mike. It is only a minute, maybe two when Mike arrives at the door.“Well, that was fast.”“Lucy is just down the hall, sir. She’s still under observation.
ROSE POV “Mama, it’s really cold out today.” Maddie says with a puff of frost. “Yes, baby. It really is.” I reply back through my almost frozen lips. We are walking hand in hand down the snow lined city street from our one-bedroom SRO apartment toward Maddie’s school. It is below freezing outside, and the wind feels extra biting today. The trees that we pass are all frozen and bare. Their branches are filled with ice, making them sparkle in the morning sunlight. It is quite a beautiful sight. But all the newly fallen sleet and snow during the night has caused the sidewalks to become extremely treacherous, especially considering the tread on both of our shoes is practically non-existent. The snow is piled high from the snowplows clearing the streets, making it difficult to get around, but we are doing our best. Maddie is bundled into a coat that is a size too small for her and wearing my mismatched gloves, hat, and scarf. I’m bundled as be