“Yes?”
“How many of them have been hurting you? How often?”
The brightness in Kirsten’s eyes dulled. “Maybe six or seven these days. It was worse right afterward. There were more of them then. But since we traveled out here, their numbers seem to have dwindled. It’s not as bad now, but it’s still pretty regular. Nearly every night there are a few of them.”
Dana didn’t like the sound of that. But Cole wouldn’t let that happen to her, would he? No matter how much he despised her, she couldn’t imagine him standing aside and letting other men rape her. He might not respect her, but he always desired her. When he was tying her up earlier, she knew he’d wanted her just as badly as she’d wanted him. He wouldn’t let anyone else have her, would he?
And she was mated, so if it did happen, it would be extremely painful.
Having sex in human form wouldn’t break her wolf bond—she had to be in wolf form to do that—but it would be agony.
She shuddered.
Kirsten gave her a sympathetic look. “Maybe the SF will get here before then.”
“Maybe,” said Dana. She wasn’t sure the SF was coming anymore. When they’d gone to meet Geoffrey, Cole had said it would be better if she didn’t have a cell phone. He said it might raise suspicion as to why he hadn’t taken it from her. So there was only Cole’s phone to track. And she didn’t know if Cole was really on the SF’s side or not.
She should have listened to Avery, when he tried to tell her not to trust Cole. But she’d been blind.
You don’t know that Cole isn’t following the plan, she chided herself. Maybe Cole was in a bad position right now. Maybe he was doing his best to get her out of here.
“Listen,” said Kirsten, “if not, it’s best if you just try to pretend it’s not happening.”
Dana turned to her sharply.
“It’s only your body, you know,” said Kirsten. “It doesn’t mean anything. Just take your brain away, imagine you’re someplace else. That’s the best way. Of course, the first time, you’ll probably fight. We all tried.” She looked out at the other women. “But it only means you get hurt. Take it from me. Just go limp and think of something else.”
Well, that really wouldn’t be possible. Not with her alpha bond. The pain would make sure she was present for all of it. It was yet another reason that the wolf shit was barbaric and horrible. Wasn’t being raped punishment enough? But that was the way nature worked for the wolves—one more way to ensure that packs stayed together, she supposed. Keep the female alphas in line. Make sure they don’t stray.
And she was straying, wasn’t she? Wasn’t that the whole reason she was in this situation?
Couldn’t be happy with your husband and your daughter and being a housewife, could you? Well, making dinner and cleaning up messes on the floor is looking pretty good right now, isn’t it?
Dana felt ashamed of herself.
CHAPTER TEN
Hours later—well, Dana thought it was hours, but she couldn’t be sure, because there was no way to tell the time—someone came down into the basement. Dana steeled herself for him to be followed by more men. In her mind, they looked like cartoon caricature bad guys with heavy brows and sneering lips. She supposed that imagining them that way helped to lessen the horror somewhat. After all, these men where conducting organized sexual abuse, and she couldn’t fathom what kind of men did that. They must be horribly evil. Through-and-through morally bereft.
In some ways, it was easier for her to think of a rapist as a lone prowler, someone who knew his urges were abnormal and wrong, someone who tried to hide them. That individual was divorced from social bonds. He was an aberration.
But this? Out in the open? Keeping women chained up in a basement? All of the men participating, like it was an institution or something? It didn’t make any sense. Didn’t one of them—at least one of them—know what they were doing was wrong?
She supposed organized rape was just as barbaric as the wolf bond. It was something that ancient barbarians did—traveling marauders going from village to village. They’d even had a phrase for it, right? “Rape and pillage.”
Just another reason that Cole was right. Humans and werewolves were all animals—deep underneath any semblance of civilization, both races were nothing but savages, and they gave in to their primal urges in terrifying ways. Dana was caught in some kind of power struggle. The renegade wolves rising up against the SF. And it was just as primitive as the ancient barbarians struggling to take as much land and as many women and as much power as they could. Nature spoke in a coarse voice. It directed things on a brutal scale.
She loved feeling part of nature when she shifted into the wolf. But she’d gone too far last time. She’d killed those campers. She wasn’t any better than the men who were going to rape her. She struggled to fight against her own wild nature, and she lost.
Or maybe she was only thinking cynical thoughts because she was having trouble finding the hope in this situation.
She waited for the group of men to follow on the heels of the first man.
But the man that came into the basement came alone. He was a tall man with burly muscles and a thick neck. He had a tattoo on his shoulder, but in the darkness, Dana couldn’t quite make it out. She thought she saw teeth etched into his arm.
He knelt down in front of her, and he didn’t look like a bad guy at all. He had a very pleasant face—a baby face. Upturned nose, dimpled chin. His eyelashes were very long. He smiled at her. “Hi there, Dana Gray.”
He knew who she was, but she didn’t know him. She was naked and chained, and he was clothed and free. He had all the advantages.
Dana decided there wasn’t any point in her speaking.
“I’m Enoch. It’s nice to meet you.”
She just stared at him. So this was Enoch. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. This man with the pretty face and the lethal body fit the bill, she supposed. What was he going to do to her?
He leaned forward. “Sorry, sister, I know we haven’t really had a chance to get to know each other yet.” He put his nose into her armpit, and he sniffed. Then he leaned back. “Hmm.”
Why was he smelling her? It was some wolf thing, Dana supposed. She had to admit that she didn’t know very much about the things she could smell. She’d been a tracker, and they’d used their ability to scent out rogues, but she’d never used her sense of smell in other capacities.
“You’re mated,” said Enoch. “That dog. No wonder he was freaking out about you.”
He could smell that? Dana shrank from him.
Enoch shook his head. “See, I wondered why all my guys were so upset when I said not to touch you. But now it makes sense. An alpha bitch. Everyone wants to fuck an alpha bitch.”
He was right about that, but Dana had been an alpha for so long that she hardly remembered what it was like not to be hit on by all the lone wolves. And, of course, she now spent most of her time alone with Piper, so she never saw any other—
Was that why Avery had been so adamant that she stay home with the baby? Had he been trying to keep her away from other wolves?
Enoch was tapping her free arm. “Move this, sister. Put your wrists together.”
She glared at him. She wasn’t going to do anything he wanted her to do.
He laughed. “Move your hand, Dana Gray. Otherwise, I’m going to leave you down here, chained to this pole, and I don’t know if my guys are going to be able to resist that sweet alpha bitch scent you got there. They might just decide to disobey me.”
She lifted her chin defiantly.
He raised his eyebrows. “You ever been fucked over and over again by different men? One right after the other? Maybe two at once?”
She felt sick. She moved her hand.
“Good girl,” he said. He tugged a key out of his pocket, and worked quickly to move the handcuff from the pole to her other wrist. Now her hands were handcuffed together, but she was free. She would have made a run for it, bu
t Enoch grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. “Come on.”
Dana let him lead her out of the basement. She looked over her shoulder at the other women, who were all watching her be taken away. Apparently, this wasn’t the way things usually went.
Enoch pulled her after him, up the stairs. They emerged into a darkened house. There was an old smell of burnt wood. The floor was covered in broken boards and shattered glass. Dana picked her way gingerly over it, but Enoch didn’t seem to care that her feet were bare.
Within a minute or so, they were out of the house. Dana could now see that it was a ruined farmhouse. Part of it had burned down. Outside, it was twilight. The sun was hanging heavy in the sky, and everything was bathed in purplish-blue light. The air was a little chilly, and Dana wasn’t wearing clothes. She shivered, goosebumps appearing all over her body.
Enoch dragged Dana forward.
They walked across a field, heading towards a cluster of RVs. Where was he taking her, and why? She thought about stopping, refusing to move her legs, demanding that he explain it to her. But she didn’t. She didn’t feel like she had a voice, not without her clothes. She was chained and naked, and her dignity had been stripped from her. Maybe that was the worst of it.
Of course, she hadn’t actually been raped yet. Maybe she shouldn’t speak too soon.
Then she realized that she’d just thought of being raped as an eventuality, something that was definitely going to happen in her future.
Fresh horror washed over her. What the hell was happening to her?
Enoch took her to one of the RVs. He opened the door and pushed her in ahead of himself.
Inside, it was bright and warm. There was a kitchenette, a small table, and then a bed in the back.
Cole was sitting on it with another woman. He stood up, his eyes widening. “Dana.”
“Yeah,” said Enoch. “I brought her here for you, so don’t say I never did you any favors.”
Cole’s gaze skittered over her body, then away. “Can she have clothes?”
Enoch laughed. “See, Cole, you’re not doing a very good job of convincing me that you don’t care about this bitch.”
Oh! Oh, good. Cole was on her side, then, wasn’t he? If Enoch didn’t believe it, that was because Cole was trying to pretend to be undercover, just like they’d planned.
Unless…
Unless Cole really was on Enoch’s side, and he was trying to prove that he was.
Either way, it worked out to the same thing. Cole wouldn’t be able to be kind to her. He’d have to act as if he didn’t care about her at all, whether that was the truth or not.
Cole glared at Enoch. “I don’t see why it has to be a choice. I don’t see why I can’t have her and also be dedicated to the cause. You make things more complicated than they need to be.”
“No,” said Enoch. “You make things more complicated. You’re fucking pussy whipped, and ever since you got mixed up with this girl, you haven’t been yourself anymore.” He turned to look at the woman, who was still sitting on the bed. “You know it, right, Angela? He used to be a leader here, and then, he just fell the fuck apart.”
“It’s true, Cole,” said the woman—Angela, Dana supposed. “We lost you, and it was because of her.”
“I’m here,” said Cole, looking annoyed. “I’m not lost.”
“You mated with her again,” said Enoch. “I can smell it on her.”
“No, I didn’t,” said Cole.
“What? She’s mated to someone else then?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” said Cole.
Enoch seemed to consider this. He turned to look at the woman again. “Ang, you think you could clear out for a bit? Cole and I need to talk alone.”
Angela got off the bed, rolling her eyes. “If you want to fuck her too, I don’t care, Enoch. You know that.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Enoch.
“Whatever.” Angela began to make her way through the RV.
Enoch let go of Dana’s arm to stop Angela. “Hey,” he said, looking into her eyes. “You got to stop with this shit about thinking you’re not enough for me, huh?”
Angela shoved him away. “I’m going, Enoch. I hope you’re happy.” She left the RV, the door banging behind her.
Enoch folded his arms over his chest.
No one was holding onto her, Dana realized. She looked at the door, wondering if running for it would help her. She took a step backwards.
Enoch grabbed her again. “Hold it, sister.” He shoved Dana at Cole. “Prove it.”
Cole caught Dana by the arms, holding her away from his body. “Prove what?”
“Prove that you’re not mated to her.”
Cole furrowed his brow. “How am I supposed to do that?”
Enoch shrugged. “I don’t know. Kiss her. Play with her titties or something. If she freaks out, then we’ll know.”
Cole swallowed. He glanced from Enoch to Dana and then back to Enoch. “Seriously?”
“What?” said Enoch. “You afraid that I’m going to find out you are mated to her?”
Cole’s lip curled. “Fine.” His hand moved away from Dana’s arm to her breast. He cupped it, gave it a brief squeeze.
Dana felt a surge of pleasure go through her, but she fought not to let that show.
Cole ran his thumb over her nipple.
It stiffened. It felt nice. And then the wolf bond reared up and pumped black pain into her. She winced, gritting her teeth, her whole body going tense.
Cole’s hand fell away from her body. “There.”
“Huh,” said Enoch.
Dana was shaking. She was afraid, and she was still reeling a little from the shocks of pain that had gone through her. The worst thing was that her nipple was still hard, and it was throbbing a little bit, and that felt… confusingly arousing. She wanted to hide. She wanted to run. She wanted to throw herself into Cole’s arms and beg him to protect her from this.
“Maybe she faked it,” said Enoch. “Maybe the two of you are in on this together. Maybe she whipped you so hard that you’re working for the pigs at the SF.”
Oh, God, he’d figured it out. He’d just said the truth out loud.
“No, Enoch,” said Cole. “I would never work for the SF. You know what they did to me.”
“You did, though. You worked with them back in Brockway.”
“To get my father,” said Cole. “Means to an end. That’s all. What you’re describing, it’s insane.”
“Is it?” Enoch took Dana by the shoulder and turned her so that he could look at her. “Why didn’t you mate with her? You always want her. You’ve been mated to her before. You really trying to tell me that you captured her, and you didn’t want her for your own? I don’t believe it for a second.”
“You don’t trust me,” said Cole.
“I want to.” Enoch slowly shook his head, looking sad. “But this woman is way too important to you. Why didn’t you mate with her, Cole?”
Cole took a deep breath. “I thought she might know things about the eastern regional SF. And I thought that keeping her mated to someone else would provide a unique way of torturing her for information. Something I thought I might enjoy.”
Dana’s eyes widened. What the fuck?
Cole’s expression was cool and calm as he surveyed Enoch. There was a ruthless smile twisting his lips.
Jesus Christ, she believed him. She thought that he actually did want to sexually torture her for information.
Enoch raised his eyebrows. Then he started laughing. “Okay, okay. That I believe.”
“See?” said Cole. “You need to trust me, Enoch. Let me know where we are. Let me know what the plan is. I’m back. I’m here. I’m with you.”
Dana looked back at Enoch. Was he going to buy that? If he gave Cole that information, it was all the SF would need.
“I want to, brother. Believe me, I want to tell you everything. I want to be sure of you, too. But you’ve been gone a long time. I just…
” Enoch rubbed his chin, thinking. “Okay, look. You do that. Go for it. Get her to give us info. And when that’s done, then I’ll tell you everything.” He went over and sat down on the bed.
Cole raised his eyebrows at him. “You think I’m going to do it in front of you?”
Enoch smirked. “You want privacy to torture your bitch?”
“Yes. I do.”
Enoch shook his head. “No, I can’t do that. Because, then I don’t know what you’re doing to her. Then I start getting more doubts, Cole. I start thinking you don’t actually want to hurt her.”
Cole turned back to Dana, and she could almost feel his gaze sear over every inch of her skin. His voice dropped to a rasp. “Believe me, I want to hurt her.”
Her stomach turned over.
“So, do it.” Enoch settled into the bed, getting comfortable.
“Not with an audience.” Cole crossed his arms.
Enoch chuckled. “You’re always such a fucking prude about sex. Like you’re ashamed of it or something.”
“I’m not ashamed. I just don’t want you to watch.”
“It’s because of your dad, right? Angela told me how everyone in the community was supposed to be celibate except for your dad and his wives or whatever. And he had so many of them that most of those chicks didn’t get to bang him that often. So, it was basically only your dad who ever got to fuck anyone, right? Like he was the only one who was allowed to have sex, and you guys weren’t, so you’ve got some kind of complex about it, don’t you?”
Cole just glared at him.
“Look, you don’t even have to actually fuck her,” said Enoch. “You can keep your dick in your pants and get information from her just as easy. So, I don’t see why you’re so freaked out about me watching.”
Cole’s jaw twitched. For the first time since she’d been dragged into the RV, he looked into her eyes.
She tried to see something in those dark depths, but they were empty and hard. She was afraid. Very afraid.
Cole turned back to Enoch. “So, if I did? If I fucked her in front of you, would you let me do the rest of it alone?”
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