“Did they rape you?” He spoke softly, gently.
“I don’t know!” She squirmed her way back to stare at him. “It sounds so stupid, but I really don’t remember. I can feel them grabbing me—my human body—and throwing me on the floor. I shifted, and then there were wolves on top of me, trying to mount me. I shifted back and they tore my skin.” She lifted her blouse and twisted to show him the scars along her lower back and her hips. “I shifted so many times in a short period of time I passed out, exhausted from the effort. The next thing I remember is being at home in bed, and Missy telling me she was engaged to Jeff. Dad had made promises to the Alpha and she was furious. I never said a word, but I know it was my fault she ended up in that marriage. Dad sold her off to save me.”
64
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Wolf Games
She thought she’d already wept all the tears possible over this. Thought the well had run dry and she had nothing left but a cold stone for a heart. But in Erik’s arms, his scent surrounding her, she found sorrows she’d never realized she still clung to. Great racking sobs shook her until she was gasping for air.
Erik rocked her, cradled her, his presence embracing her even closer than his arms. He poured love over her, acceptance. His anger simmering underneath didn’t frighten her. It reassured her she would never, ever have to face a situation like that again.
When she could speak there was a quiver in her voice. “I left right afterward and never went back. I worked summers and attended UBC and I never shifted into a wolf. Missy and I kept in touch via email and phone, especially after Mom and Dad died in a car accident, but I refused to physically go back to Whistler.
Every now and then I’d see pack members hanging around outside my classes, like they were keeping track of me.” She shuddered. “Once, they tried to get into the apartment I shared with Pam, but I told her they were cousins I didn’t want to see, and somehow she got rid of them.”
“I knew I liked her for a reason.”
She snorted, and wiped at her teary eyes. “Yeah, well, she thinks you’re a little freaky. You know, she’s about the best friend I’ve ever had. Brave and loyal, and fearless and fun, all at the same time. So often I wanted to tell her about being a wolf but I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk her leaving me.”
Erik handed her a hanky and she wiped her face clean. She settled back into his arms, his comfort healing her pain. They sat together for a long time, Erik rubbing her back and whispering foreign phrases to her. She had no idea what he was saying, but the words soothed her, eased the ragged edges around her heart.
“I can see why being around wolves frightens you. Not only was your Alpha a rotten bastard, the whole pack was diseased.”
Maggie ran a hand up his forearm to caress his biceps. Touching him made her feel so much better.
“I’m surprised you’re not offering to go rip out their throats.”
“Oh, I’m thinking about it. But your brother-in-law, Tad, already killed the Alpha who instigated the whole thing. What I plan in retaliation for the others’ sins you don’t have to know about.”
She sat up quickly. “You’re not going after them.”
“They hurt you, you’re my mate. There will be an accounting.”
“I didn’t tell you this so you’d go off half-cocked killing people.”
Erik raised a brow. “Killing them. Okay, I had other things in mind, but now you mention it—”
“Stop it. It happened a long time ago. It’s been seven years.”
“Yet you’re still hurting. Sounds like I have cause to give them pain.”
She opened her mouth to speak and then froze. Oh damn it. Damn, damn, damn.
He was right.
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65
Vivian Arend
Maggie scrambled out of his lap and stared down at his dark eyes in horror. A light bulb went on in her head and she could clearly see herself in the room again, the wolves still attacking her. It was like she’d locked the door and never let them go.
She paced toward the nearby trees, grappling with the revelation. She’d suffered years of mental pain and confusion. Loneliness like only a pack animal separated from family could experience. Even the physical weakness caused by locking her wolf away—none of it had been necessary.
She turned to face him. Her gentle giant, staring back with love in his eyes, concern and anger warring in his heart. He’d seen clearly so many times in the past days exactly what she needed. Was it the mate connection that made him able to cut down the walls and help her break free?
Suddenly she knew part of what she needed.