“How do we know this girl isn’t an interloper sent to find more of us?” Nick says, standing up. He’s one of the elders of the bear clan and a close ally of Kyran’s.
Another person I don’t recognize stands behind him. “What if they implanted some tracking device on her? Then they can track her here and find all of us. And if you said she was one of the last people there, wouldn’t that be a good motive for them to let her go?”
I feel a wave of apprehension coming from Cole beside me, and I look at him. When we left this morning, he was determined to find them and bring them to justice. But now, after thinking about it more and hearing these different ideas, it seems like he’s changing his mind.
“Nora is pregnant. That’s my mate, and that’s my priority,” Cole says. He looks at me with a hint of remorse in his eyes, but I can see the worry pushing through even more. “I can’t risk my family with her here. Maybe we can just take her somewhere until the danger passes? We can assign a guard to keep an eye on her if needed. But it could be too dangerous having her here.”
“That sure as hell isn’t going to happen!” I say, shaking my head. I slam my hands down on the table, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
A part of me understands where they’re coming from. They have other people to look out for, but so do I. I’m the only onehere with a vested interest in Addison, and I’m going to make sure nothing happens to her.
“Addison was held captive and tormented for ten years. We don’t know how it happened, but that means there’s a group of militarized sadists who could be looking for more of us to torment. She’s the only person who knows that facility. Weneedher,” I argue, my voice raised.
Declan stands beside me and puts a hand on my shoulder in an effort to calm me down. Kyran stands too, looking at the others in the bear clan and gesturing for them to take their seats.
“If she has a tracking device on her, someone would have already found her. I think because nobody has set foot on our territory, it’s safe to say she doesn’t have one,” Kyran offers. Declan nods in agreement.
“Zeke is right,” Declan declares, looking out at everyone in the room. “What happened to Addison and everyone else who was in that facility is atrocious. If it happened to her, it could happen to any of us. We can’t let them get away with this. We can’t let this go on.”
He pauses and looks out as if making eye contact with every person in the audience. They watch him raptly, their faces a mixture of apprehension and agreement.
“Something has to be done about this. And I won’t rest until this facility is burned to the ground,” Declan finishes.
Chapter 9
Addison
I’ve been goingcrazy all day. Tara and Nora are great, and getting to know them today has been interesting, but I need to be with Zeke.
Last night, after everything, we spent more time together. Zeke used his hand on me again. I could feel how hard he was poking against me, and all I wanted was for him to finally mate with me.
The feelings I have for him are undeniable, and I can’t resist any longer. I’ve been thinking about him nonstop, and all I want is for him to come home and finally help bring me some relief.
I’m lying in bed when I hear the front door open and close. I perk up and sit on my knees, waiting with a smile.
I can feel that he’s close. I know that he’s walking down the hall and heading toward me right now. My heartbeat thuds against my ribs.
Zeke opens the door and stares at me with a mixture of emotions in his eyes. Through everything, I see relief. Like he’s happy to see me here, all in one piece, doing better than I have in a long time.
“Mate me,” I say before he has a chance to get a word in.
His eyes go wide, and his mouth pops open. He quickly catches himself, closing the door, before walking over to the bed. I reach my hands out to him as he gets closer. He wraps his fingers around mine.
“You said you wanted to wait until I was better, and I’m better than I’ve been in a long time,” I say, talking quickly. I pull up the sleeve on the oversized sweater he gave me to wear and show him the wounds that were previously on my arm. “See? They’re all gone.”
He looks at my skin and traces his fingers gently across it. It surprises me that they disappeared as quickly as they did. The entire time I was at the facility, I was always covered in bruises and scars. But then again, I never quite had a chance to heal.
When I talked to Nora and Tara about it earlier today, they told me about natural healing abilities that shifters have. It doesn’t take long to recover from major injuries, and now that I’m not being poked and prodded and filled with drugs to sedate me, I’m recovering.
As soon as they said it, I realized how true it is. I feel stronger. My mind isn’t fuzzy. I’m not as afraid of everything around me like I was before.
I’m worlds better than I was three days ago, and I’m certain mating him will only elevate my new life.
“I’m ready for it, Zeke,” I continue, reaching a hand to his face and cupping it gently. “And if we don’t do this now, I feel like I’m going to explode. I’ve been dying for you.”
Zeke licks his lips and looks at me. I can already smell his arousal, and I know he wants this as much as I do.
“You sure you’re ready for this right now?” he asks, his voice low but laced with desire.
