No. Pack Winter. Not my pack. Never mine.
I whimper, the pain of that thought making me double over. The strange alpha reaches his hand out in concern and I kick my leg out, sliding back as far as I can until the headboard meets my back and I can’t go any further. A whine of fear pulls from me, and the alpha backs up again, his hands up. My eyes slide again to the needle, and he catches my look.
“Harper, this isn’t what you think,” he starts, a gentle, rumbling tone to his voice.
He has no idea what I think. Iknowwhat I heard. This is it. I grab my arm, staring down at the faint mark that shows where the needle went in, digging my nails in. How much did they give me before I pulled it out? How much time have I got?
My scent is rising along with my distress, sharp edges of cinnamon filling the space and making my eyes water as I let out a keen of anguish.
“Please,” I whisper. “Please don’t let them do this to me.”
The alpha’s brows fly up. “Do what, sweetheart?”
It hurts, to hear a name they’ve used for me on his lips, and I whimper again.
“Don’t let them put me into heat,” I beg. I feel too exposed, the urge to wrap myself in layers riding me hard. It’s too bright, too open, too fucking much.
The growl that falls out of the alpha shocks us both, a loud rumble of pure anger that sends me scooting back again, agitation rolling up my spine.
“Nobody’s puttin’ you into heat,” he says in a low, furious whisper. “What have they been saying to you?”
I eye him carefully, both of us in a tense standoff. I don’t know whether to believe him. He looks truly shocked, though. Maybe they’re not doing it right now. His expression gives me a small amount of reassurance.
Ignoring his question, I take a quick look at my bed. It’s piled high with blankets, and something twists in my chest. I want them wrapped around me. The room is too big, the ceilings too high. The alpha doesn’t miss a trick, though, and he gestures towards them slowly.
“Have at it,” he says quietly. When he doesn’t move, I reach out quickly and snag one of the blankets, wrapping it around me like a fort. I feel a small amount of relief, but it’s not enough, and I cast a longing glance at the rest of the pile.
“I’m Ezra,” the alpha offers, not moving from his spot. “Ace’s grandpa.”
I flinch when he mentions Ace. Ezra doesn’t miss it, brows lowering slightly in confusion. Reassured that he’s not going to pin me down and inject me with heat hormones – at least not yet – I take in his features. A shock of white hair sits over bushy grey brows, and blue eyes that I’ve only seen the shade of once before peer out at me. He’s shorter than Ace and wider, his shoulders broad as he stands with his arms crossed.
My attention is distracted by the prickling running through my legs. Ithurts. Ezra picks up on my wince.
“You’ve been through quite a lot in the last few hours,” he offers, watching my face carefully. “The boys found you in the freezer downstairs. You were damn lucky not to lose a leg, or worse.”
I cringe, looking down at my leg and touching it to reassure myself that it’s still attached to me. “I didn’t think about that.”
“The pack was in a hell of a mess when I got here.”
I moan in quiet misery, a tug of longing for them pulling at me. I have to be strong, though. I have to learn how to survive without them.
“Why were you in the freezer, Harper?” Ezra’s question is quiet, but it holds an authority that makes me want to answer him. Ezra feels… not like the pack did, but soothing. Safe. Of course, I thought they were too. Before they broke me.
A tear gathers in my eye and trickles down my cheek, closely followed by another. I sink my face into my hands as sobs ripple through me. I can’t breathe, my lungs gasping for air.
I feel Ezra moving closer until his hand lands gently on my shoulder. Part of me wants to push him off.Not right, I think.Not mine. But the bigger part of me really wants some affection right now. I nod slightly and he sits down on the bed, tentatively pulling me closer and letting me rest my head on his shoulder as I weep inconsolably.
He doesn’t rush me and his hand doesn’t move, aside from a gentle movement up and down my arm. That he doesn’t try to take advantage makes me want to trust him more, and eventually, I pull back. He lets me go immediately and I give him a small smile.
“Thanks,” I say, hiccupping. “Sorry about…that.” I wave generally between us.
“Don’t sweat it, sweetheart,” he says kindly. “I don’t know the details of what’s happened here, but I’d sure like to hear it. If you’re comfortable telling me?”
I hesitate, thinking it over, and nod. He either knows all of this already, in which case it doesn’t matter if I tell him or not, or he doesn’t know, and he might help me.
Slowly, the whole story spills out, right back from when I first arrived. Ezra listens intently, nodding his head and cursing when I stutter through my explanation of what happened with Jason. I don’t miss anything out and even talk through some of my life before the compound. I don’t know why, but Ezra is really easy to talk to. Finally, we get to the conversation I heard through the door. A few more tears fall as I go through what I heard, and then I pause. I don’t want to talk through what happened next.
“Oh, Harper,” Ezra looks at me solemnly. “You didn’t think you had a choice, did you, sweetheart?”
