Chapter 15
Bastien
This was bad. I fucking knew Sissy was getting too emotionally involved. We fucked a few times, and we both knew the score. Our mates were out there, and this was just a way to relieve stress.
Her sobs tore into my mate, and each one caused another hair to rise, and her ears twitched farther back. Bastien’s lips curled but then relaxed.
Mia was fucking magnificent. She was perfect in every way. I will never forgive myself for not being here to explain what was happening. I left her, and that would haunt me for a long fucking time.
Mia’s tail lowered as her upper body shifted. She was about to pounce.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I told Sissy, again.
Her sobs became louder, and my hands curled into fists. She was acting like we had some great love affair. We’ve only fucked three times over two weeks.
“No,” Sissy was standing her ground.
I would have admired that if it was over anything other than what it was.
“I fucking mean it, Sissy. Get the fuck out of here, NOW!” The last was a mix between a shout and a growl. Power pulsed off me.
I waited for her scent to dissipate and for the sounds of her feet as she left, but nothing. Sissy shifted slightly, but that was it.
It felt like a challenge, and my mate looked more than ready to accept. I could win her over and convince her that what we had was in my past. Although, I knew my mate was reaching the end of her restraint.
“You want to live? Get the fuck out of here, now,” I tell her. This time my voice turned calm, and the others looked on, knowing where this was going.
I was going to let Mia have her, there was no other option here. I didn’t want my mate to get hurt, but Sissy was testing her for the role of the alpha female in the pack.
“Is that what you really want?” Sissy asked from somewhere in the crowd. She was hiding from what she knew was coming.
“No, I don’t want my mate to rip your throat out. So fucking leave,” I was too nice. Maybe it was the impending fight or finally finding her, but I was letting this play out far more then I should have. I knew one thing, if Mia had to do it, she would be weighed down with this for a long time. She wasn’t born into this, she was made and freshly at that. She had no clue what the fuck was going on.
Opening my mouth to make it a command, I didn’t get more than my lips to part before the crowd moved and Mia was on her. Sissy screamed and tried to shift, but my mate had her teeth rapped around Sissy arm.
The fight was on, and I was stuck between breaking it up and letting it play out. Mia needed to do this, she needed to prove herself and earn respect to be an alpha. Sissy needed to know her place, as harsh as that was, it needed to happen. I just wish my mate wouldn’t be stuck with it emotionally when it was over.
Chapter 16
Mia
I couldn’t take another moment of her blubbering. The voices and I were on the same page. We wanted her quiet, and no amount of talking was going to grant that wish. So, I leaped. I only hopped the others got the fuck out of the way before my claws found more than one target.
Luckily, they parted like the red sea. The spectators created a path to the female wanting to take something from me, and I didn’t understand.
Her cheeks were pink and covered in tears. Some were fresh and some dried. Her nose was red, and her lashes stuck together.
Between one breath and the next, I was locked onto her. My jaws clamped hard on her arm. My teeth sunk in deep and the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth and poured over the side and down the floor. Sissy shrieked and tried to shake me off, but I wasn’t letting go, just like she refused to let go of Bastien.
My heart thudded against my ribs thump, thump, thump. I felt Sissy’s fist slam onto the top of my head over and over. Pain ricocheted throughout, and my teeth sunk deeper with every hit. Her screams pierced my ears.
I wanted to shout, shut the fuck up! But my teeth sunk deeper as her fist continued to slam on the top of my head. Again, blood flowed and slipped from my mouth like drool.
She wanted me to release her. I wanted her to move the fuck on. Neither of us was getting what we wanted. Just thinking about Bastien being mine had that panic rising again. What was happening to me? I was on four legs, furry all over, and I had my teeth in some bitch’s arm.
Could shit get any more fucked? The thought was brought back with a yes. My claws pressed into her stomach as I used my weight to pull her further to the floor. My hind legs planted and used them as leverage.
She wasn’t getting away with this shit. It needed to be settled before I could calm the riot in my head. We were basically playing tug of war with her arm. Her screams turned to growls as hair started to grow over her arms.
She was shifting, and I was gearing for the fight. I knew deep down that it needed to happen, even if I was terrified of all the new things. Even if I was screaming out that this is fucked up in my head. Even if I wanted to run the other way, I needed to kick this bitch’s ass and show who was the boss. When it came down to it, I will wipe the floor with her sappy ass.
Only Bastien had other plans, his arms surrounded me, pulling me close to him.
“Let her go, Mia,” he tells me, his voice was calm, way too calm.
I snarled and gave my head a shake.
“Don’t you dare shift!” Bastien shouted at Sissy.
I snarled louder, and more blood leaked into my mouth. Sissy was trembling from holding back the shift, and I was sure the pain was no picnic in the park.
“Mia, let her go, and she’ll leave,” he tells me calmly.
Didn’t he get it? She wasn’t going anywhere. I needed to do this.
Why the fuck did I care?
Because he’s ours and you know it, that voice whispered.
His hot breath fanned my face as he leaned in closer. His hand sunk into the scruff of my neck, clenching gently onto my fur.
“Please, baby, let her go,” he pleaded.
I knew this was important for him just as it was for me. Slowly, I released some of the pressure that I had on my jaw. My teeth lifted a centimeter.
“That’s it, baby,” he cooed gently and sweetly.
I needed to show Sissy that Bastien was mine. That centimeter was lost as my teeth sunk back in. My claws curled and sunk into the flesh of her stomach, piercing through the fabric of her shirt.
“Mia,” he tried again.
I ignored him with a slight huff.
“Sissy, tell her you’ll back the fuck off,” he snarled at her.
I should feel sorry for her. I was the one who came in here and uprooted their lives. But at the same time, I didn’t ask for this.
“No,” Sissy whispered.
“Listen to me, WE. ARE. NOT. TOGETHER.” Each word was spoken loudly and punctuated.
Some of my anger drained, and I released her, not completely but close.
The fear was back in place. What was happening to me? What happened to me?
“You need to leave as soon as your free and don’t show your face around here. Not until Mia invites you,” Bastien tells Sissy coldly.
Pushing with my front paws, I shove her as I release her completely and I watched as she hit the wall again.
Chapter 17
Mia
It has been two days since the confrontation with Sissy. True to his promise, she stayed away from the house, but I couldn’t help but see her everywhere.
I needed to escape this place. It was graduation day, and here I was stuck in some village in the woods where I sometimes turned into a dog. They say wolf, I say dog. Let’s face it, we’re domesticated, not feral.
My shoes crunched into the firm dirt as I paced back and forth. I needed a way out, and right now everyone seemed tuned in to me.
There was an opening a few feet behind me. Everyone in the area seemed focused on two pups who were roughhousing, as they called it.
I inched back waiting for someone to turn my
way, but when no one did, I took another step.
“Over here,” someone harshly whispered.
Turning my head, I looked at a man who was completely nude. I wanted to look away, but it was like watching a train wreck, I was caught in its headlights.
“You want out of here?” He asked as his voice filled with a growl that I felt forming in my throat.
Stay here and miss graduation or follow the naked bum? Naked bum won.
“Then get your ass moving,” he sighs.
Quickly casting a look at the others, I follow the bum into the forest. The stench of something rotting burned my nose, and I was sure it was coming from the man in front of me.
“Thanks,” I grumbled feeling guilty that I was sneaking away like a phantom.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he replied.
Yeah, he’s right, we might get caught. Sighing I started walking faster. Bastien was so withdrawn when I told him I needed to go to my graduation. His refusal had sparked my temper.
We walked and walked, and my feet were screaming, and my mind was bitching.
“Did we take a wrong turn?” I asked as I slowed and turned around to look behind us. I didn’t recognize anything, and I did see anyone nearby. The only thing was the smell that penetrated my nose. The stench of rotting clung to this man.
“No,” he tells me.
I waited for him to elaborate but nothing, just silence. Doubt finally made its voice known as I turned back to the man. He was smiling like the wolf who caught his prey.
Fuck, and I seem to be that prey.
Chapter 18
Bastien
I’m an asshole. Mia wanted to go to her graduation, and I turned her down. I remembered the look on her face as I told her it wasn’t going to happen.
First, she was shocked and then her eyes turned to slits as anger transformed her features. I thought for a moment that she was going to tell me to fuck off, but she surprised me with her silence.
Sissy was slinking around watching my movements like a little stalker. I wanted to tell her to get the fuck over it. I was angry at Mia, I was angry at Sissy, and I was pissed I couldn’t find the rogue wolf.
It seemed I couldn’t fix shit in my pack and that didn’t sit well with me. Sissy was moving in closer, and I needed to do something about her.
“Sissy,” I growled.
Her feet moved faster bringing her closer.
“Alpha?” Her voice held a purr like a cat.
“You’re not going to let this go, so I have no choice but to send you to another pack,” I tell her.
It could be worse, but she was interfering with a mating and not just any mating but that of the alpha and his mate. This was a serious crime.
“No, please,” she begged.
“You brought this on yourself. I don’t fucking understand what made you think I wanted you over my own mate? It’s not like we’ve been together for a long time,” I tell her my voice filled with the confusion and anger I felt.
“I thought… I don’t know,” she paused, and her eyebrows shifted pinching together in the middle.
There was no way I could let this go. Mia wouldn’t understand her presence in our pack, and she was my priority.
“I’m sorry, Sissy,” I tell her. There was nothing she could say to change how things were going to be.
Her head fell forward, and her eyes filled with tears as she brushed her cheeks. I knew they had started to fall, and I wanted to tell her it would be okay, but it wouldn’t, not at first.
“Who knows, maybe you’ll find your mate and things will change,” I tried to help her see the brighter side to all of this.
I needed to find Mia maybe I was too harsh. I should have been more open, fuck I could have gone with her. I could have taken her to her graduation, but instead, I let my fear and all the shit I couldn’t fix cloud my judgment. Maybe I still had time?
“Go pack your stuff. I’ll have Roman take you to the Green River Pack,” I tell her lowering my tone to a gentle setting.
Her head lowered further. I should have said more, but the words wouldn’t come. I had no fucking clue what to say to make her banishment better. I had no words to comfort her.
“Bastien!” Roman shouted.
Turning, I looked in his direction. His face was pale and his body stiff as he ran. Closing the space between us, I scanned the area around him then frowned.
“Where’s Mia?” I asked him. My voice was a growl. He was supposed to be watching her.
“Gone,” he tells me.
I could see the fear and resignation in his eyes.
“What the fuck do you mean gone?” I growled.
“She’s missing. I’ve looked everywhere. We tried to pick up her scent, but all we got was the rogues,” he dropped the other bomb.
I felt the shift come over me and for once I had no control over it. My body contorted as my wolf burst from within. I looked at him waiting for the direction the fucker was scented.
Roman didn’t bother trying to lead the way, smart wolf. He pointed to the southern location of our pack grounds. My feet pound into the dirt as I ran with all I that I had in me.
Something inside of me knew they were together, he had my mate. I should have had Mia better protected. Fuck, I should have known she would do this. That she wouldn’t stay here even if it were for her safety.
Pushing myself harder I hoped with everything in me that she was safe. I hope that I was wrong, and the fucker didn’t have my mate.
Chapter 19
Mia
I tripped over my own feet as my lungs pulsed. I tried to suck in as much needed oxygen as I could, but I couldn’t move; I only had a small amount of space.
I was chained to a tree, and I had no way of escaping. My claws sunk into the dirt as my toes curled. Fear was my new reality.
The chain around my neck was used to training large dogs. It had little spikes that dug into the throat if the chain was pulled or stretched to its limits.
Each breath had the chain digging in farther, and I could smell the blood as it spread into my fur. I had shifted as fear took over and the rogue had used my momentarily weakened state to slip this over my neck.
My throat hurt as the pressure continued. It was squeezing the life out of my neck, and the wolf in me kept tugging and pulling.
I had maybe two feet of chain, and my body was at least three, maybe even four feet. Everything hurt. The rogue wolf’s laughter echoed around me as he enjoyed my torment.
“No one’s coming,” he tells me, gloating like the prick he was.
“They have no idea you’re missing. When your pack figures it out, they’ll find out you left of your own free will,” he continued to remind me of my monumental fuck up.
If I got out of this, I was going to rip his throat out with my teeth and watch him flop around like a dying fish.
“How long before it severs your windpipe?” he asked.
Not long, I could feel it sinking in deeper. It was lodging under the skin tearing through muscle and tissue.
“I bet that bastard is beside himself,” he said with a laugh.
Bastien was going to be pissed. This fucker had no idea what he was facing.
“Hurts, huh? You were mine first, he had no right to come in and take my kill,” he growled.
My eyes watered as more pain soaked through my body. I wanted to close my eyes and let the darkness take me into its embrace, to save me from this hell.
He kept laughing, and not listening to the forest around him. I could hear the movement he was ignoring. I could only hope it was a friend, and not another fucker out to kill me.
Please, help me, I wanted to beg.
Chapter 20
Bastien
My lungs froze in my chest, and my eyes widened at the sight before me. Mia was chained to a tree like a dog, and blood coated her brown fur turning it black.
The area stunk of rotting shit, as well as the coppery scent of blood, and my mate’s fear. Her head
was lowering, but she jerked it upright as the thing around her neck dug in deeper.
Turning I looked towards Roman, making it known with my eyes what was going to happen. Roman was going to take the rogue, and I’ll save my mate. Slowly Roman shifted to the left, and he started to inch in the direction of the rogue.
I let my wolf recede as I turned human. Mia was going to need me to pull that thing off her. It broke my fucking heart to see that thing piercing her flesh.
“How long before it kills you?” The fucker was tormenting her.
“I bet another few hours before it sinks into your windpipe and you lose the ability to breathe,” he continues.
Anger had my fist clench, and I wanted to rip his fucking head off. Mia first, she needs you now. Kill him after. Then her eyes lifted and met mine.
I could see the pain she was in and the relief that I was there. She doubted I would save her? That broke my heart all over again.
My eyes moved to Roman who was ready. He gave me a nod, and I rushed from my hiding spot. Mia had backed up and hit the tree. Her nails scrabbling for purchase as she tried to relieve the pressure around her throat.
My knees hit the hard dirt and twigs dug into my flesh, but I didn’t care. I reached for Mia, and her eyes closed as more tears fell from her beautiful golden eyes.
I wanted to pry it off her neck, but the chain was pulled too tight. Reaching for the chain, I followed it with my fingers only to find a padlock holding it in place.
I couldn’t pry it over her head, and I couldn’t fucking remove the chain. Fuck!
“He had a fucking key, find it!” I shouted at Dirk.
His body shifted to human as he grabbed at the rogue’s pants. Roman’s hard teeth wrapped around his throat holding him in place. The stench of his fear hit the air.
“Here!” Dirk shouted, throwing the key to me.
The moment the metal touched the inside of my hand, I turned back to Mia.
“I’ve got you, baby,” I cooed to her.
The moment the chain released, I had to carefully pull the collar from around her neck. Mia collapsed, her body was shaking, and she whined loudly.
Mia’s Wolf (Blackroads Pack Book 1) Page 5
