“I told you to wait inside, Laney,” he growled down at her while her brothers nodded, backing him up.
So what? Now they were all best friends? Ganging up on her? Anger filled her, causing her to shake as she attempted to push herself to her feet. However, Cooper had other plans, his hands landing on her shoulders to push her back down onto the couch.
“You want to explain why you disobeyed me, Laney?” He bit the words out, making her wince at the controlled anger behind each word.
“Disobeyed you?” she yelled, surprising herself, her anger temporarily overcoming her fear of confrontation. “You four were going to kill each other, someone had to intervene.”
“You do not step into the middle of a fight, Laney. It’s a damn good way to get yourself hurt. The reason I told you to wait inside was because I knew you would try a stupid stunt like this. You were given an order for your own safety. It’s only because Marcus has such good reflexes that you weren’t seriously hurt!” Again her brothers nodded in agreement.
“I don’t have to do what you tell me,” she muttered, desperately fighting down the need to run and hide.
“I am your Alpha and your mate. You will obey me!” His voice thundered down at her and Laney felt herself pale in reaction, letting her face go blank as she prepared herself for the feel of his fist. As soon as he hit her she’d have to leave, even though it would fair break her heart to do so. “And don’t you dare give me that face. I am not going to hit you. We’re mates, Laney. Is my intent to hit you? Is it, Laney? Do I want to hit you?”
“Yes!” she burst out, watching as surprise filled his face. “You want to spank me—I can see it in your eyes. I can hear it in your thoughts.” She could. The mate bond might be weak, but this thought was coming through loud and clear. He would love nothing more than to drag her across his knee and turn her butt a blistering red.
“Oh, sweet, it’s only a matter of time.” He grinned down at her, but it wasn’t a cheerful grin. Laney couldn’t understand his anger. She wasn’t even hurt.
“I didn’t even get hurt. A few bruises hardly matter,” she muttered to herself, unaware she was speaking aloud. She’d spent her childhood being hit, bullied and punished. Frankly, this didn’t even rate.
“What do you mean, she’s your mate?” Rye asked suspiciously.
“Can’t you smell that we’re mated?” Cooper didn’t bother to look back at his lead enforcer. “And a few bruises matter, sweet. To me they matter a lot.”
Rye took a deep sniff before a grin came over his face. Marcus and Jay did the same, similar grins crossing their faces.
“Well, why didn’t you just say so?” Marcus asked.
“Because,” Cooper turned to them, “I wanted to get my hands on the three of you, and you provided the perfect opportunity. Where the hell were you three when she was being tortured by your father?” He spat the last word out as if it tasted nasty on his tongue. “Where were you while he was locking her in a box, starving her, whipping her?”
Laney let out a shocked gasp and he turned back to her.
“Cooper!” she protested.
“I have the right to ask this, Laney,” he said, his voice gentling slightly, but his face held deadly determination as he turned to the three stricken men.
“Whipped?” Jay whispered.
“You didn’t know?” Cooper asked, disbelief filling his voice as he stared at them. But they didn’t bother looking at him. Their gazes were all locked on their stricken little sister.
“Oh, Cooper,” Laney whispered, dejection filling her.
“Laney?” Marcus asked, coming to sit beside her.
“How could you not know?” Cooper asked as he came to sit on her other side, his fingers gently wiping away the tears on her cheeks. She hadn’t even been aware of them trickling down her face.
Rye and Jay sat on the two armchairs, pulling them closer to the couch so the four men were all within touching distance of her.
“We didn’t live with Zachary when Laney was growing up,” Rye began. Laney watched as Cooper frowned in confusion.
“Zachary wasn’t our father. We all have the same mother. When our father died our mother was devastated, she never wanted another mate. But when Zachary started sniffing around… Well, I don’t know what he did to convince her.” Rye just shook his head. Laney knew that he didn’t really want to know what her father had done to get their mother to move in with him. “But he moved us all into his house.”
“Anyway, Zachary started to show his true colors after the first few months. We’d come home from school to find Mom had a new bruise, or she was walking funny or couldn’t breathe properly. We were too little to truly understand, and surprisingly he never hurt us.”
He looked around at his brothers. “But then Mom got pregnant and things became really good. He treated her like a princess and we were spoiled rotten, until Laney was born and he went completely off the rails.”
“Why?”
“Because I was a girl, a runt, and he wanted a boy—a big, strong male werewolf.”
Rye continued. “Our mother tried to protect her from his rage, often sending us off to our Aunt’s with Laney when it got really bad. Lord, the beatings she must have taken.” Rye turned to Laney as she made a small hurt sound. He clasped her face in his large hands, coming off his chair to kneel in front of her.
“Honey, it wasn’t your fault. Whatever happened to our mother was his fault, not yours. You were a baby, a beautiful, precious little girl who deserved love and affection. Zachary was psychotic. You know that.” Laney watched through a blur of tears as he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. Then she was drawn onto Cooper’s lap to be rocked once more in his arms.
“What happened?” he asked, dreading the answer. He looked down at the precious bundle in his arms. How could anyone hate a baby, their own baby?
Rye continued. “When Laney was three and I was thirteen, we came home to find our mother gone. Zachary said she’d run off, but we all knew he’d killed her. However, he was Alpha and no one was strong enough to challenge him, not without risking their lives. So he packed the three of us off to live with our aunt.”
“Leaving Laney alone with the bastard.”
Rye nodded and Cooper watched as tears filled his eyes.
“Leaving our precious little sister with that sadistic, psychotic bastard.”
Laney sat up at that. “Hey, it wasn’t your fault, Rye. You guys were just kids.”
“We were your older brothers, we should have protected you. God, Laney, I knew things were bad, but he whipped you? He put you in a box?” Rye’s voice broke and Laney launched herself from Cooper’s arms into her brother’s.
“Please don’t,” she begged. “It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t. You guys did your best. You protected me from everyone else. If what happened to Mom wasn’t my fault, then what happened to me can’t be yours.”
“There were other people hurting you?” Cooper roared, jumping to his feet. The four of them looked up at him, their gazes following him as he paced, his body stiff as his angry growls vibrated throughout the room.
“Who?” he barked out.
Laney shrugged. “Just a few of Zachary’s friends, some of the dominants who liked to pick on me because I’m so small, because the Alpha hated me, just because they were sadistic bastards.”
“Names, Laney.”
Rye answered him. “You’ve already killed some of them, or they left. Mainly it was Francis and Samson, but also Suzanne, James and Kane.”
“Kane and Francis are still here,” Cooper growled.
Rye nodded.
“Get rid of them,” he ordered.
“Cooper,” Laney began to protest.
“Don’t!” He leaned over her as she lay still in Rye’s arms. “Do not even try to protect them. They either leave or they die, you hear me?” She nodded, relieved that she wouldn’t have to see the worst of her tormentors again. Rye stood and placed her back on the sofa. Marcus and Jay rose
with him.
“Did they hurt you? Like Zachary did?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. They might have slapped me from time to time— Suzanne was fond of doing that. She was around a lot, not his girlfriend exactly, more like a fuck buddy. I could hear them sometimes. I think she actually liked it when Zachary hurt her.” She shuddered. “The rest of them mainly just watched him hurt me. They enjoyed telling me how ugly I was, how stupid.” She shrugged, glancing away, uncomfortable with this topic and not wanting to meet her brothers’ or Cooper’s gazes.
“They won’t hurt you ever again.” It was Rye who spoke as he crouched back down in front of her. Her gaze met his and she was shocked speechless by the tears she saw in his eyes.
“Nobody will ever hurt you that way again,” Cooper vowed, and when she glanced up at him she saw the fury, the dark promise in his eyes.
“What about Leonard Paterson?” Cooper asked suddenly. Laney frowned, wondering why he wanted to talk about the Alpha of the Silverton pack.
“What about him?” she asked.
“Rye said he used to visit Zachary often. Did he ever hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No, not really, he watched me a lot, though. There was always something about him I didn’t like, something creepy.” She shuddered, memories of those predatory eyes watching her, almost stalking her. “He scared me more than anyone else.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
She looked up at him. “Because he was so sweet, he’d bring me presents, talk nicely to me, and all the time his eyes were cold, hard, mean.” She began to tremble.
“It’s okay, baby,” Cooper said soothingly as Rye sat up on the sofa beside her, hugging her close, rocking her. When her trembling eased, Rye let her go and stood once more. “One more thing.” Cooper turned to them. “I want you to explain to me why the hell it wasn’t ‘feasible’ for you to go with her when she left. The four of you together would have had a much better chance of surviving than Laney on her own—hell, she almost died!” Laney flinched at the accusation in his voice.
Rye looked down at her before his gaze rose to meet his Alpha’s. “It was the price we paid. He wouldn’t go after her if we signed on as his enforcers for five years. We weren’t to go to her, contact her or help her. We managed to keep our contact with her a secret, but we couldn’t leave. It was the best solution we could think of, and it was only supposed to be for a short time. It took us longer than we thought to find someone suitable and get a message through to your brother.”
“What message?” Laney asked, puzzled.
Rye looked at his brothers and they nodded back.
“Cooper’s brother is the Alpha of the Lian pack. We sent a message telling him that we sought a new Alpha for our pack, one who would bring the beliefs and rules of the Lian pack with them.”
Laney frowned. “But why? If you wanted Zachary gone, why not challenge him yourself, why bring in an outsider?”
Rye sighed. “Because we couldn’t break our word, and we wanted someone who would be fair, someone who would break us from the old ways that Zachary was so fond of. Everyone knows how the Lian pack is run, and we knew that the Alpha had a number of strong brothers.”
Cooper nodded. “My brother gave me their message and I decided it was time to break off. I’d always known that I couldn’t stay with the pack without causing problems for Alexander, my brother.”
“But why didn’t you wait until the five years were up?” Laney asked Rye.
“It was too dangerous to wait that long, honey. We didn’t know how safe you were by yourself. Plus, who knew how long Zachary would stick to his word and not go after you.”
Laney looked down at her lap, unsure what to say.
“We’ll go throw out the trash now, with your permission, Alpha?”
Cooper shook his head. “Not Alpha, brother.” He held out his hand and the four of them bumped fists.
“Bye, squirt.” Jay ruffled her hair while Rye and Marcus kissed each cheek.
“Love you, baby girl.”
“Rye?” The three men stopped, turning toward her.
“Thank you, all of you, for everything.”
*
Laney watched Cooper pace around the living room, energy pulsing off him in waves. Her wolf prowled restlessly within her and she suddenly felt the need to run, to hunt. Cooper turned to her, his eyes gleaming amber. Darkness had fallen like a thick curtain, but the moon was bright and it called to both of them. He held out a hand to her.
“Run with me? I need to burn off some energy.”
It was all the prompting she needed, and she stripped before letting the change overtake her. Racing outside, Laney felt him chasing her, heard the slight rustle behind her. He’d given her a head start, but she was as small in wolf form as she was in human and he’d easily caught up.
A thrill of excitement rushed through her. She’d always been considered too weak, too small, to hunt with the pack. But when her brothers had managed to sneak her out she’d loved the thrill of the hunt, the chase. Now she also saw the thrill in being chased. They were pack creatures, designed to run, to hunt and kill together. Not alone, as she’d done for so long.
When in wolf form, they became more primal, their human side remaining but pushed to the background as the animal took over. Their thinking became more simple, to hunt, to eat, to play and to procreate. Everything was sharper, clearer, scents were more intense, noise more pure, feelings more primitive.
Cooper was parallel to her now, although she couldn’t see him. She veered off to her right, thinking to prolong the fun, but he crashed into her side, sending them tumbling together until she landed on her tummy with him lying on top of her. A slight nip to her ear and then he jumped up, leaping in front of her, yapping excitedly. A wolfy grin crossed her lips as she yapped back before bouncing onto her feet and racing off after him.
This time they kept pace together until he disappeared into the bush. Then suddenly a rabbit darted out in front of her, with him following close behind. Both of them chased after the small prey. It was a game, pure fun, and she let out a happy yip as adrenaline surged through her. She felt so alive.
Eventually, she grew tired and sank to the ground in a heap. A snuffling in her ear had her barking softly in reply, then a warm body curled up against her, surrounding and protecting her as she fell asleep.
Cooper changed back to human form, watching the slight, fair wolf sleeping beside him. She was as beautiful in wolf form as human, with long, thick hair only slightly paler than her human hair. But as much as he’d love to lie here sleeping beside her, it wasn’t safe to stay outside unguarded for any length of time.
Not that he worried about his own safety, but he had a mate now and he could never risk her. Until his place as Alpha was completely secure, and all of his enemies weeded out, he would have to ensure she was well protected. He knew she was strong, much stronger than she gave herself credit for. But no matter how much power she held, nothing was going to give her the brawn and stature of some of the larger wolves that he knew were itching to overthrow him.
Changing back into wolf form, he nudged at her, a canine grin escaping at her snort of irritation as she turned away from him and continued to snore softly. He nudged again, harder this time, and she turned to snarl at him softly. He snarled back and, grabbing the skin at the ruff of her neck, pulled her up onto her feet, ignoring her growls of protest. Nipping her back legs, he pushed her forward, giving her an occasional soft nudge when she slowed, grinning as she snarled back at him.
Just when he thought he was going to have to prod her all the way home she took off, a yip of delight echoing back at him as he let out a surprised woof. He snuffled, allowing her a few minutes before giving chase.
He darted off to the side, coming out ahead of her. But she must have anticipated the move, because she was already racing off in another direction. She managed to elude him cleverly, but he picked up her scent again easily and charged o
ff, adrenaline pumping through him.
As he arrived at a clearing, he saw her standing in the moonlight, naked, in human form, her body so still and pale it could have been cut from marble. Changing quickly, he came up to stand beside her, careful to let her see him coming.
Cooper stood staring at the building before him. It was an impressive house, easily the largest on the estate, and although it had been abandoned a few months ago it showed no signs of wear or tear. Even the weeds seemed afraid to grow around this house, as though fearing the wrath of the previous owner.
“Do you want to go inside?” he asked Laney gently, aware of the fine tremor in her hands, her pale face, that had nothing to do with fatigue and everything to do with fear.
“No,” she answered back, gulping. “Not yet, maybe not ever.”
“If you ever do, I want your promise that you will wait for me to go with you.”
She didn’t reply.
“Laney.” He forced her face to him, aware of the intensity in his gaze. This was important, and he was determined to have her obedience in this. “Don’t go in there by yourself, okay?”
She stared up at him, her face so still it was unreadable.
“You think I’m a coward.”
Cooper shook her slight shoulders fiercely. Her apathetic attitude alarmed him and he needed to snap her out of it.
“I do not think you are a coward, damn it! You were traumatized in that house, Laney. Few would want to face those memories again. But I think that eventually you will, and I don’t want you alone while you do so.” He shook her softly.
“Yeah, okay,” she replied irritably, taking a step back as she shook off his touch. “You know, I like my head where it is, thank you very much. I’m not one of those dogs you put in the back window of a car.”
“What?” he asked in confusion, following her as she turned to walk back through the forest. His gaze constantly scanned their surroundings, although it couldn’t help but linger every now and then on her pert backside, which glowed in the moonlight.
“You know…those dogs with the bobbing heads.” She moved her head up and down in demonstration. “I think they have spring necks.”
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