Taya looked up, still shocked at how large the man was. Damn, he had to have eaten every damn little boys Wheaties in a five state radius. Six and a half feet tall with dark blond hair, blue eyes, muscles upon muscles, tattoos upon tattoos and he scared the ever-loving-shit right out of her. When she’d first met him, he’d been the one whose arms she’d woken up in after she’d blacked out. He carried her around like she was precious, calling her his, but she couldn’t feel her wolf. She knew he thought she was his, but there was no way she could allow him to claim her without that same instinct clawing at her. A one-sided mating would tear them apart, and she didn’t think she could ever allow a man to… dominate the way he would want, or need to do with his woman. Taya was no longer the same female she used to be. She loved the way it felt to be with a man, and wasn’t ashamed of her past. What she was ashamed of, was what had happened to her. Not being in control broke her. She shut the memories down that threatened to pull her under, knowing they’d send her into a space where she didn’t want to be for days.
“Son of a b****,” Bronx cursed, then bent to face her. “Stop it right now. We will fix this.”
She nodded at his vehemence. Nothing sounded better than being fixed, but the saying and doing were two very different things.
She could see the small filthy room with the full-sized bed every time she closed her eyes. The chains that held her down had left their marks on her wrists and ankles. Without thought she ran her thumb across one raised scar, then wrenched her eyes open as Bronx pulled her hand away and placed a kiss on each of her wrists.
“I wish I could have saved you from this. From all of it.” Anger glistened in his beautiful eyes before he stood and abruptly walked away.
In a blink, he went from extra-large man, to extremely large and angry tawny wolf. Envy hit her at his ability to change, yet her wolf didn’t even stir.
“He’s not angry at you, you know,” Taryn said, sipping on her drink while she stared out into the woods.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to look into familiar eyes. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make it easier to deal with.”
Taryn nodded. “I suppose not. So, how we gonna get your wolf back? You know, sorta like that movie with Stella, only you don’t need to get your groove back. Or maybe you do, but I don’t need to know that. Well, maybe I can help you there too. I mean Jett has taught me a shitton of things. I could totally help you,” she stopped talking as the man in question growled out a warning.
“I’m thinking that is his way of telling you to pipe down?” Taya put the straw in her mouth to hide her grin. Taryn was just too damn cute. Oh, she was aware her little whatever she was had a hell of a life before finding her mate in Jett, but damn, she was adorable.
“Really, you should not make fun of me. I’m a total badass who has multiple forms,” Taryn growled.
“Way to rub it in.” Taya stood, her own lack of one form made the food she’d eaten earlier turn in her stomach.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that to be b****. I was teasing.” Taryn’s hand on her arm, holding her in place felt like a tether, taking her back to a place she didn’t want to be.
“Don’t touch me.” She stumbled backward, falling over the back of the bench, she scrambled up, backing away from the crowd. She felt their eyes on her, saw the way Taryn held her hand against her chest. Watched Jett come to his mate’s side, worry written all over him.
“Taya, you’re safe here,” Cora Malik soothed from a few feet away.
She looked at the tiny woman who she’d been talking to for the last week or so. Although she wasn’t a therapist, but a doctor, a vet, she wanted to laugh at the absurdity. “I’m okay. I just need to go home.” Home. She didn’t have a home. She didn’t have a pack. She had nothing. Shoving her fist in her mouth, she turned away from the knowing eyes of the Mystic Wolves and went down the path toward Emerson and Payton’s cabin. They’d been gracious enough to allow her to stay in the small studio space their daughter had when she was alive located at the back of their property line.
The lighted path led the way to the one room place she slept in. It was quaint with enough space for a bed that folded up to be a couch, a small kitchen area and a bathroom. She didn’t need any more room. Hell, she wasn’t sure how long she was going to be here. Looking before she unlocked the door she didn’t sense anyone watching her, but without her wolf, she was like a normal human. “I hate you. Why did you leave me? Come out so we can shift,” she begged her wolf. When nothing rippled beneath her skin, she screamed then slapped a hand over her mouth, not wanting to alert anyone to her distress.
