Page 61 of Freed

“What kind of answers?” Maddox asks, but Bain’s eyes stay on me as he speaks.

“I need to know how many and what they’re for.”

I frown, shaking my head slowly in confusion.

“How many what?”

He licks his lips then stands, stalking toward us. Wordlessly, Hunter slides down to the floor to sit beside Gage as Bain takes his place on the couch beside me, his eyes never leaving mine.

Slowly, he reaches out a hand to cup my cheek, and I press my face into his touch. He strokes my cheek, then his hand moves down and back, until his fingers are touching the skin just below my right ear.

“I want to know how many of these there are and how they did it. How they killed you.”

My eyes widen in surprise, realizing he’s touching my heart marks. He wants to know… how I got them? And how many? I’m not even sure I want to know.

“Bain, I don’t think that’s a wise idea,” Hunter warns.

“We can’t ask her to relive that,” Maddox agrees.

“Will it make you feel better? Will knowing help?”

“I want to know what you’ve gone through,” he explains. “You don’t have to go into details. I just need to know. Your pain is my pain.”

“Our pain,” Chase corrects as he squeezes my shoulder from behind me.

“What’s the worst thing they did?” Gage asks.

“Skin me,” I say instantly. The memory of that is still fresh in my mind.

I swear his eyes flash red before he nods. “How many times?”

“Only one other,” I frown, adding, “that I know of.”

“What else?” Bain asks, his eyes boring into me. He looks like he’s on edge, and I worry that hearing this will freak him out.

“You’re sort of losing it,” I say in worry. “I don’t think I should.”

“Please,” Bain begs, his hand coming back to cup my cheek. “I need to know what you’ve been through. It’s killing me that I don't know.”

I nod, deciding to just rip the bandage off. “They burned me, shot me, cut me open, and gutted me. They tried stabbing each organ, one at a time and in different combinations. They gave me different poisons. They cut off my legs a couple times and, uh, they suffocated me.”

They all look murderous, even Gage and Maddox no longer look calm. My gaze bounces between all of them, knowing they won’t hurt me but scared of their reaction nonetheless.

A low growl starts in Bain’s chest, making my eyes widen in surprise. It gets mirrored in Chase as Hunter whispers, “Oh shit.”

The sound of fabric shredding is the first thing I notice. Then it’s the twin growls filling the room. Maddox curses, and I blink, seeing Bain’s large blonde wolf and Chase’s grey one standing where they each used to be sitting.

“What’s happening?” I ask with worry, my gaze pinging between the two wolves on either side of me.

“It’s okay,” Maddox says, giving me a hug of reassurance. “They won’t hurt you.”

I try not to roll my eyes at that statement. “Of course they won’t, they’re my mates.”

“They need to go for a run,” Hunter says, getting up and jogging over to the back door to slide it open. While he’s doing that, I reach out and stroke Bain’s head, marveling at how pretty he is. And huge.

This might be the first time I’ve seen him in wolf form when I’ve been human. Chase starts to press against my side, clearly wanting pets as well, and I chuckle, stroking his head with my free hand as he rubs along my side.

Then, in unison, the two of them turn to the back door and sprint outside.