“I’m sorry,” Nessa murmured sympathetically. For the second time today, she was compelled to reach out and touch another, to offer comfort, even though she hated when others initiated contact with her. “I have no say over what happens to Dante.”
Angela’s head shot up, tears pooling in her eyes. “You do, though, don’t you? You’re the Alpha’s mate. He’ll listen to you, if you just tell him—”
“I’ve heard enough,” Jasper interrupted, pushing to his feet.
“No!” Angela shouted, her voice shaking as she added, “Please, I’ll—I’ll take Dante’s place. It’s my fault this is happening to him. He doesn’t deserve to lose everything because of me—”
Nessa held up a hand, and Angela quieted. “I heard about what happened. I know Jason threatened to hurt you if Dante didn’t—”
“Threaten?” Angela laughed, the sound wounded and broken. “Jason didn’tthreatento do that shit to me. His pack killed my original one, and he took me as a gift. He raped me for months. I tried to escape, but he always caught me, and when he did, he’d beat me until I could barely move. It wasn’t until I finally stopped fighting back that he lost interest.”
A tear slid down the wolf shifter’s cheek and, angrily, she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “He gave me to his beta after that who was just as evil. Every day I wanted to die. I had nothing to live for, no hope … I thought about how easy it would be to just give up. To end things.”
Nessa’s mouth dried, an old white-hot rage resurfacing in the wake of Angela’s confession. She’d lived through such a similar scenario. That fear, that self-loathing. That hopelessness. Just waiting for something, anything, to end her agony.
Tony had been a horrible, twisted son of a bitch who’d done everything in his power to break Nessa.
But Jason?
Jason was worse. The day she’d met him, the day he’d attacked her and Hunny and nearly killed them both, that was the only time she’d ever felt more afraid of someone than her ex-fiancé.
“And then I met Dante,” Angela continued, wiping away an errant tear. “And finally,finally,I felt that maybe I could live for someone else if I couldn’t live for me. Jason and Brandon made me go with them whenever they both left pack territory. I think they were worried I’d run away again if they ever gave me an opportunity. They were right.” She smiled through another tear before taking a shuddering breath. “That day, they took me to bear territory.”
Jasper mumbled something under his breath and returned to his chair, most of the anger drained from his face. Good. Nessa understood his ire and obvious prejudice against the wolf, but he was a compassionate person, and nothing involved in this situation was black and white.
Were there even shades of gray?
It seemed like an entire tapestry of color bled in every direction.
Angela gave Nessa a chagrined smile. “Dante was patrolling, and he came across us sneaking onto their territory. As soon as we saw each other, we felt it; the pull of the mating bond. It was so intense; we were drawn to each other, like two magnets.” Her smile shifted, becoming genuine as a warmth filled her eyes, the first glimpse of happiness the wolf had shown since she arrived.
“And that’s how Jason found out?” Nessa asked softly, already knowing the answer.
“Yes.” That joy dimmed in Angela’s eyes. “Jason saw his chance to manipulate our mating bond, and he took it.”
“What happened?” Jasper asked suddenly, propping his elbows onto his knees. He placed a fist under his chin, frowning as he listened intently.
The wolf made a small sound of distress, the keening noise catching in her throat. It was disarming, and Nessa felt it like a punch to the gut.
“Dante was so shocked to find me—we both were—that he didn’t realize wolves were surrounding him. Not until they grabbed him and threw him onto the ground. Jason …” Angela rocked slowly back and forth before stiffening abruptly. “He hit me a few times. Touched me while a few wolves had Dante pinned, forcing him to watch. Then Jason told Dante he would torture and kill me if he didn’t do everything he wanted.”
She shook her head, meeting Nessa’s gaze. “Jason told him he’d let everyone in the pack rape me, over and over, until I was too damaged to do anything but die. And then he said he’d force me to shift, so I could heal and they could start fresh.”
“Oh, my god,” Nessa whispered in horror, sliding her hand over her mouth. She’d known about this part, about the threat Jason had lain at Dante’s feet.
She’d even sympathized with Dante, knowing if the roles were reversed, she would have done whatever she could to save Murphy. But hearing Angela’s side, understanding the torment she’d faced daily for so long, only solidified her belief that Dante didn’t deserve to die.
She’d voiced a similar sentiment to Murphy only days ago. But he was adamant that Dante face justice for his crime, that he pay for the pain and suffering he’d inflicted on others. The decision was eating her mate up, but would he rescind Dante’s death sentence if she asked him to?
Nessa bit her lower lip as indecision warred within her.
She didn’t want to overstep. Murphy was a bear shifter and an Alpha—she didn’t know exactly what all that entailed. His responsibilities were vast and complex. He worried that being lenient would sew the seeds of discord within the shiftercommunity, that it would make him look weak and easily overthrown. And maybe it would. But this …
“Nessa,” Angela called, snapping her from her thoughts. “I’m sorry that I’m making this your problem. But this has impacted Dante so much. He feels horrible for what happened to you.”
The shifter’s gaze hovered on Nessa’s shoulder, almost as if she could see those scarred claw marks through the material of her shirt.
“He refused to complete our mating bond.” Angela released a shuddering breath. “He doesn’t want me to feel the pain of his death when the killing blow lands. He won’t even come live with me. He stays close to you, to protect you. He believes he failed you both.”
