“It wasn’t just him.” Her voice was barely a whisper. I almost missed the words. I froze and leaned in to hear her better.
“What?”
She took a deep breath. “It was mainly Derek…but Vince and Brandon took part too. Even Morgan did some of it.” She pulled her hand out of mine. She took a minute, but finally her eyes met mine. “You don’t have to command me.” I saw a tear fall. “Just…promise me you won’t change your opinion of me.”
“I swear on the Goddess that what happened to you will never change my opinion of you.” I stuck out my pinky finger and waited for her smile. “Pinky promise.”
She hooked her pinky into mine and then nodded. “I don’t know where to start.” She rubbed her hands together, working up the nerve to explain it all. I held up my finger as a knock sounded. “What’s that?”
“Come.” I called out, and the door cracked open and an Omega rolled in a cart.
“Alpha Amy.” Trina bowed her head quickly. “Gamma Lynn.” She bobbed her head again. “Here is the hot chocolate you ordered.” She smiled as she rolled it all over to us. “The chef also put your food in your room, but I brought the Gamma’s with me.” She stopped next to the table.
“You can leave the food on the cart for now, Trina.” I smiled as I took the cup she offered. The chef outdid himself. There was whipped cream and caramel drizzle. Yum.
“Thank you.” Lynn accepted the cup, and then Trina left us alone. “Why did she bring up hot chocolate?”
I snorted. “I wanted something to drink, and while booze might sound good, for this conversation I figured it would be smarter to stay sober.” I took a sip. The chocolaty goodness filled my mouth, and I might have moaned a little, earning a snort. “Plus.” I put my cup down to face Lynn. “I noticed when you were stressed at the cabin, my mom would make you a hot chocolate and you would settle.”
She nodded and then took her own sip. “My mom used to make them for me when I was a kid.” She put her cup on the table, and then cradled it with both hands, pulling the warmth to her. Her eyes flicked to mine. “I guess it started when I walked in on Shannon and Derek fucking and I rejected him…”
I took another sip as she figured out how to go on. “No judgment.” I whispered when I saw the apprehension in her eyes.
She nodded once. “His scent hit me once Shannon brought me to the pack house, and she noticed. I was trying to head to the Beta wing, but Shannon did everything to keep me away from it.” Lynn laughed. “That should have been the giant red flag I needed to see, but I just figured she couldn’t or wouldn’t insult Derek because of his rank.” Her eyes met mine. “I didn’t know his rank, obviously, but I thought…it was just because the scent led up to the ranked floors, you know.”
I nodded. “Your thoughts weren’t wrong, for a normal unranked wolf that is, but this is Shannon we are talking about.”
Lynn took a sip and chuckled. “I was so naive.” One of her hands wiped at her face. “Anyway. Shannon told me I could come back to the pack house to figure out who my mate was later, but she took me around the pack. At dinner, Shannon brought me to eat, and then said she had to run. I actually thanked her.” She laughed again and tilted her head back, and I could see tears struggling at the corners of her eyes. She was fighting tooth and nail not to cry over that man. “Once I ate, and met some of the other pack members…I figured I was free to go search.” She sniffled. “I went up to his room, trailing his scent, and then I heard it.” The smirk on her face was forced. “There were people fucking in the room, so I walked in. And there was your sister. And Derek.” She met my eyes again. “Do you know what she did? Shannon laughed.” She gave a tiny growl. I watched her eyes become unfocused. “She said, ‘I figured he wasyour mate, so I wanted to give him one final go.’ The fucking whore. I rejected him while he was still balls deep inside of her, because of course he thought I was going to forgive him for whatever reason.”
“He was a narcissist.” I think my answer snapped her out of the scene in her mind, because her eyes sharpened on my face and she nodded. “And he thought that any female would be happy to have him.”
“Yes.” She leaned back over her hot chocolate. “It took a few days. I thought he would get around to accepting the rejection, but instead Vince called me to the office.” I felt a pit open in my stomach. She smiled, but it was almost a grimace. “He commanded me to work side by side with Derek to start.” She took a sip. “And I did it, but then it escalated. I would find him fucking other women every other day. When that didn’t get the reaction he wanted…” She struggled with her words. “It changed.”
“Changed how?” I leaned on my hand. “When?”
She puffed out her cheeks. “After I called you. To warn you about the kudzu.” She rolled her neck. “Brandon thought something happened because you were so locked down that something had to have been leaked.” Her shoulders drew up. “They searched and found nothing, but they still somehow figured it was me. Your mom was pretty much always in the house, and they said that they didn’t hear any phone calls to you. That left me.”
“I’m sorry.” I felt awful that it was the phone call that shifted everything.
She swallowed, and I heard the table crack under her fingers as she gripped the edge. “They took me.”
“Took you?”
She nodded, and once again I watched her eyes grow hazy. “They put me in a special jail…”
I reached across the table and pulled her fingers from the edge, wrapping her fingers around my own. “I know it.”
She squeezed my hand. “It was fine at first. I was finally free from seeing Derek daily. Trying to work alongside my ex-mate while watching him sleep with anything that walked was…draining.”
I snorted. “I’m sure it was more than draining.”
Her mouth lifted into a small smile. “You’re right. I was exhausted, and in pain.” She shook her head. “It killed me. You know. The fact that my mate didn’t want me, even when he saw me, smelled me…it stung. But your father always taught us we deserved better than being treated like dirt.” She looked at our hands. “And he didn’t even pull away from Shannon when I walked in. I could see the need hit him when my scent filled the room, and instead he just fucked her harder.” She grimaced. “But I’m thankful I had that moment of clarity. That small moment to break our bond on my side.”
“Why?” It sounded like a dumb question, after everything she had already said. But I felt compelled to ask.
“Because it saved a tiny sliver of my soul that they couldn’t touch.” Her eyes looked haunted. “Even after everything they did.”
Chapter Forty-Three
