“I removed handcuffs from her wrists,” Michael said angrily.
Jason simply nodded. “Her abdomen shows similar lacerations to her throat and breasts, but these ones are deeper. I believe he meant the word ‘SLAVE’ to be a disfiguring and permanent scar.” It certainly spoke of Renta’s ultimate plan for their mate.
The growling grew louder as Samson’s growling was joined by Michael’s.
“Her jeans and undergarments are soaked in blood, but appear to be undisturbed.” Jason undid the button and zipper of Bethany’s jeans, finding the skin beneath unmarked. He couldn’t say for certain, but he was reassured, for now, that she hadn’t been sexually assaulted.
“Apart from some abrasions around her ankles, her lower limbs are otherwise unharmed. We’re safe to move her. Caine and Drake have medical supplies in their truck,” Jason said, releasing some of his tension with a deep sigh. He was glad that was over, and relieved he now knew the exact nature of her injuries.
Michael didn’t hesitate. Bending to take Bethany gently in his arms, he strode quickly from the room. Jason couldn’t blame him. He wanted Bethany out of the room that smelled so strongly of her terror and her blood, too.
As they walked through the main cabin, Jason relieved Samson from his post in front of Renta. Renta glared at Jason, but remained otherwise silent. He looked pale and in pain. Good._
Blood ran from his impaled hands in crimson streams, dripping off his elbows and staining the cream plush carpet of the plane’s interior. Jason felt no sympathy at all, not after just cataloguing each and every piece of torture the man had inflicted on his helpless mate.
Jason could hear Samson murmuring quietly behind him to Bethany. After a few moments, Samson tapped him on the shoulder, and Jason left to follow Michael from the plane.
Just as Michael placed Bethany in the back of Drake’s truck, the airport was inundated with law enforcement vehicles. Luckily, Hunter was amongst the variety of officials that spilled from the cars and trucks. He cleared the way for Jason, as a doctor, to immediately take Bethany and Caine to Eminence for medical treatment.
They left Samson to follow when he could, and took Bethany home.
Chapter 28
Michael helped as Jason set Bethany’s wrists, ready to place them in splints. They’d proved to be the most severe of her injuries. Jason had given her intravenous fluids on their journey home and her vital signs were now stable.
She’d not regained consciousness by the time Drake dropped them home, and Jason now had her lightly sedated to align and set her fractured wrists.
“I’ll run a bath with some Avagard. That will disinfect the lacerations and minimize the risk of any scarring from the shallower ones,” Jason said.
“Will the cuts to her abdomen leave a permanent scar?” Michael said, gripping Bethany’s hand. He hadn’t wanted to face that horrific possibility when her survival was in question. But now…
“I’m uncertain, Michael,” Jason said, bending to kiss Bethany’s pale lips. “When Samson returns, we need to mark her again. That, coupled with her own shifter DNA, will afford her the best chance of not scarring.”
Jason left to run the bath and Michael caressed Bethany’s face with his fingertips. The swelling and bruising to the right side of her face had already improved considerably. Her rapid healing was reassuring, but even shifters bore scars from severe wounds. He had a few himself from his time in the military.
Lifting her gently, he carried her to their bathroom. Michael handed Bethany to Jason while he stripped and got into the big bath. The antiseptic smell was softened by the aroma of lavender. Jason must have had added some to the warm water.
Taking Bethany back into his arms, he lowered them both into the water. She moaned softly, causing his gut to clench. She’d had enough pain today.
“She’s just waking from the sedation,” Jason said, stopping him from standing up with a hand on his shoulder. Jason stripped and got in the bath with them.
The water turned pink as they gently washed the dried blood from her skin. As soon as she was clean, they got out of the bath and dried her, before placing her in the center of their bed.
Silent as ever, Samson appeared beside the bed. “How is she?” His expression was severe, his clothes covered in blood and dirt.
“Healing quickly. We need to mark her, Samson,” Jason said.
Samson nodded and stalked rapidly to the bathroom, the shower starting seconds later.
Michael lay next to Bethany, sliding his arm beneath her until her head rested on his shoulder. He dropped light kisses on her healing face, enjoying the fact that her natural honeyed scent was no longer overlaid with the scent of her blood and fear.
Samson returned to the bedroom cleansed of blood, his blond hair wet. He slid into the bed on Bethany’s other side and gently lifted her until she was against him, her head on his chest.
Michael knew he needed this time with their mate. He’d had to stay and deal with Renta, when his cat would’ve been desperate to be with Bethany.
“I’m sorry, kitten. I should have gotten there sooner,” he whispered in her ear.
“She’s here now, and she’s safe,” Michael said. “Renta is in custody?”
“He’s no longer a threat,” Samson said.
The finality with which he’d spoken the words had Michael worried. “What did you do?”
“Nothing against our Alpha’s command. I just assured Renta that, by morning, his business partners would receive proof of the millions of dollars he’s been embezzling for the last few years.”
“Good.” Michael was glad the man would never get the chance to hurt anyone again. He leaned over and licked his mark on Bethany’s neck in preparation for his bite, thrilled by the gooseflesh that pebbled her skin in response.
“Forever,” he said, the word becoming a vow as he sank his extended canines into her neck.
* * * *
Bethany felt hot, too hot. She tried to move, but her limbs were too heavy. Then she remembered. Renta. She also wasn’t dead. I will fight until I die.
She forced her eyes open, prepared to do whatever she could to escape him. “I won’t go with you,” she screamed.
“You’re safe, kitten,” Samson’s voice whispered in her ear.
She was confused. The last thing she remembered was…blood.
She brought her hands to her breasts to cover them, attempting to stop him cutting her. Then she realized her hands weren’t bound. She also felt no pain. She held her hands in front of her face. There was no blood on her hands.
She turned her hands around. Both of her hands were encased in some sort of wrist guard.
Jason’s face appeared in her line of vision. He took her hands in his and kissed the tip of each finger. His cobalt-blue eyes bored into her, amber sparks growing brighter by the second. “You’re home, Bethany. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“I need to see,” she said, desperate to confirm that she was no longer in that horrible place.
Jason slid his hands to her elbows and lifted her to a sitting position. Her head swam a little and she had to blink several times to clear her vision.
She looked around at the pale-blue walls and the huge windows that looked out to the now-familiar mountains beyond. Taking a deep breath, she breathed in the smell of the clean mountain air and the musky pine smell that was her men.
She swung her head around to look at the bed. Samson and Michael were sitting on the bed, too. They were naked, their muscles bulging and defined.
She pulled her legs up and knelt on the bed. Then she threw herself into their arms. It was real. They were real. She didn’t know how, but she was home.
“Easy darlin, we don’t know if your wrists are healed yet,” Michael said, wrapping an arm around her.
Samson didn’t seem to care about her wrist. He took her lips in a kiss that ignited her senses. His tongue delved deep into her mouth as he smoothed his hand down her back to cup her ass. He molded it in
I’m really home.
Samson ended the kiss and pulled back to look into her eyes. His golden eyes were shining brightly, but his expression was serious. “We nearly lost you.”
Her joy at being safe rapidly evaporated. She recalled everything that’d happened. What she’d done. She needed to face the consequences of her actions.
Her throat grew thick and the words were hard to say. “Your friend, Caine, is he dead?” She closed her eyes, not able to look at them and see their disappointment in her.
Jason pulled her back onto his lap and wrapped his big arms around her. “We need to talk,” he said quietly.
* * * *
Samson sat at their kitchen table with Bethany safe on his lap. They’d spent the previous hour in their bedroom, talking. She’d felt a lot better once they’d assured her that Caine was alive and well, and that Renta was behind bars.
They’d listened as Bethany explained why she’d left, and she’d listened to the reasons she should have stayed. She’d never been part of a family before, never had anyone she could trust and rely on. They’d never had a mate before. They all had a lot to learn, and they had a lifetime together in which to do it.
Her recounting of her torture at Renta’s hands had been difficult to hear, but she needed to talk about it. Luckily, she’d passed out before he’d inflicted the worst of the wounds on her abdomen.
Jason was making breakfast as they all drank coffee.
Bethany put her coffee on the table and pulled at the braces on each wrist. “My wrists don’t hurt. Can I take off these splints?”
“I’ll check them tonight.” Jason placed the pancakes and syrup on the table and came over to kiss Bethany. Bethany wrapped her hand behind Jason’s head and deepened their kiss.
The air grew thick with the scent of her arousal and Samson’s cock thickened in response. He knew Bethany was aware of his erection, because she moved her hips, rubbing her ass over him. With a growl of pure need, he lifted Bethany, tearing her lips from Jason’s as he turned her around and sat her on the table.
She was dressed in nothing but one of his T-shirts, and he pulled it quickly over her head to gaze at her naked body. She’d been self-conscious about the scars when she’d first seen them an hour ago, but he could see that they’d continued to fade.
Regardless, he wanted her in no doubt as to how intoxicatingly beautiful he found her. His breath sawed out of him, his voice husky when he spoke. “Christ, your amazing, Bethany.”
Her cheeks colored in a blush, but her answering smile was radiant. “I love you so much, Samson.”
He stepped forward between her thighs and ran his hands to the apex. He could feel her heat, even before he brushed his fingers along her labia. He found her sticky with her arousal.
“Do you want us all kissing you, touching you? Making you come?” he asked. “Do you want us loving you with everything we’ve got? Right now?” The scent of her arousal grew thick in the room.
She licked her lips as she nodded, her tongue moistening her lips and making them glossy. He groaned, his cock leaking in response to the thought of her parting those glossy lips and swallowing his cock.
Michael and Jason moved to stand on either side of him. Michael took her face in his hands and kissed her, her moans mingling with his. Jason kissed down the side of Bethany’s neck to her breast. He teased one nipple with his fingers and took the other in his mouth.
Samson watched as they lowered her to the table. He parted her moist labia with his fingers and stroked them into her tight sheath. He used his thumb to circle her clit and her hips rocked in helpless response.
He needed to taste her. He lowered to his knees and removed his fingers from her molten pussy. She moaned loudly, and he quickly replaced his fingers with his tongue.
He could feel the walls of her sex quivering under the onslaught of pleasure. His cock ached in his pants, the zipper digging in painfully.
“You’re so sweet and juicy, kitten,” he said, dipping his tongue back inside her to lick up more of her delicious juices.
“Oh, god. Samson, please,” she said on a moan, her back bowing of the table, pushing more of her breast into Jason’s mouth.
He enjoyed the erotic beauty of the scene as he rose and undid his pants, letting them drop to the ground at his ankles. As his cock sprung free it nudged at her heated core and he pushed into her with a swift, deep thrust.
“Fuck,” he moaned, his voice strained as he pumped into her. His orgasm was roaring up on him already, the coil of heat at the base of his spine threatening to ignite his release.
He moistened his fingers with her leaking juices and moved his hand under her to thrust one into her tight ass. She clenched around him as she gasped his name. As her orgasm rocked through her, the walls of her pussy milked his straining cock. He let go of his restraint and let the orgasm race through him, the pleasure intense as his cum pulsed into her.
* * * *
As Samson pulled from Bethany’s body, Jason eased her into a sitting position and kissed her. His body was humming with desire for his mate.
“I want you so bad, I can’t see straight, Bethany,” he said. The raspy growl of his voice showed how close his beast was to the surface.
“We need you, darlin’,” Michael said. “Are you ready for more loving?”
“I want you both, too,” she said, reaching for Jason’s shirt and tugging it up. He pulled it the rest of the way and tossed it on the floor.
Michael quickly stripped and sat down on the chair in front of Bethany. As he pulled her down onto his lap, she moaned loudly and closed her eyes as his cock disappeared inside her.
Jason came to stand by her head, stroking his aching cock in his hand. He touched the glistening head to her lips, and her eyes flew open. She stared almost greedily at his engorged cock.
He closed his eyes and moaned when she replaced his hand with her own, her fingers gripping him at the base. Her tongue licked up the underside, following the throbbing, engorged vein all the way to the purple head. She sipped up the drops of pre-cum that leaked from the tip. He shuddered, fighting the urge to thrust his cock between her lips.
“That’s amazing, sweetness,” he said, groaning with pleasure.
Opening her lips, she slowly took his throbbing length into her mouth.
“Oh, for the love of …” he muttered. His eyes fixed on the erotic sight of his cock disappearing between her stretched lips. Her tongue twirled around the crown, her teeth scraping against him in the tight confines of her mouth.
“That’s it, Bethany. Harder.”
He pumped his hips involuntarily, pushing forward as she sucked deeper. His balls tightening as his release grew nearer. “I’m going to come.”
She sucked him deeper still and his roar shook the walls as he came, sending his cum deep into her throat. His orgasm was drawn out as she licked the head and softly stroked his shaft.
“You are fucking, incredible, Bethany,” he said, cupping her cheek in his hand. “Just incredible.”
* * * *
Michael had held himself still, buried so deep inside Bethany he could feel her womb, as she gave Jason the best blow job he’d ever witnessed. He was tempted to pull out of her tight pussy and beg her to do the same for him. But not tempted enough.
He wanted the walls of her pussy to make him come as she screamed his name in her own pleasure. He rocked gently into her until her breathing steadied.
Her hands wrapped over her shoulders as her own need drove her to push down against him. He bent his head and sucked a nipple into his mouth, gently biting at the stalk before licking the small hurt away with his tongue.
“Michael,” she moaned, “harder.” She rose up and thrust herself down onto his cock.
He responded to her climbing passion and started to thrust harder and faster into her.
She claimed his mouth, and as he sealed his lips over hers, his cock stretched even more painfully, his orgasm climbing with renewed speed through his body.
“Yes,” she screamed, breaking their kiss and shattering around him. Her orgasm made her pussy tight and slick, the sensation making his orgasm crash through him. His cock pulsed as he came deep inside her, bathing her womb with his seed.
She collapsed against him, caressing her hands down his back as they recovered from their lovemaking. As his cock shot one final load of his seed into his mate, the image of Bethany pregnant with their cub popped unbidden to his mind. His cat was enormously happy with that image, and so was he.
Epilogue
Bethany stood at the sink in Melanie’s kitchen and washed all of the day’s muffins pans. She had suds all over her, and the floor was slippery where she’d spilled water all over it.
She stopped scrubbing and spun around, dragging more dishwater onto herself and the floor.
“If you keep doing that,” Peata said, “we’ll be able to wash the pans on the floor.”
“I’m sorry,” Bethany said, turning back to the sink. “I thought I heard a baby cry.”
“You’ll know when the baby is born,” Peata said, walking to stand beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Those four mates of Melanie’s will probably break the windows with their roars.”
Bethany knew she was right. She kissed Peata on the cheek and got back to washing the pans. It had been an amazing few months, and Bethany felt as though she was a different person altogether now. So much had happened in such a short time.
She was now a fully-fledged partner in Melanie and Peata’s home baking operation. Not only had she found she loved to cook, but she was actually quite good at it. She’d experimented at home with a range of savory muffins that had been such a hit with her men that they’d insisted she show them to her partners. Melanie and Peata had loved them, and so did most of the town now.
Jason and Shana had determined that her shifting abilities would remain latent. They felt certain that if it had been possible for her to shift, her cat would have done it to free her from the torture she’d endured. It didn’t bother her men that she couldn’t shift, and she didn’t miss what she’d never had.
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