His smile faltered. “What?”
“We could become lone wolves together.”
Rick flinched back in horror. “You can’t be serious.”
“You said it yourself,” I said, never letting my fake smile fade. “You don’t care about a pack, or wealth, or any of that stuff. Let’s leave it all behind. Me and you together, on the road. Doesn’t that sound romantic?”
Rick pulled back even farther, shaking his head. “Well, no. That’s not what… um, I thought that… well…”
His stuttering nonresponse told me what I already knew. Every word out of his mouth was a lie. All he wanted was toownme.Useme. He wanted to stick his filthy cock in me, make me have his baby, and then he’d probably take care of me the same way his dear daddy got rid of his mother. The Masters men were a pathetic lot, and I was glad I’d seen it early enough to save myself.
Using Rick’s confusion as my chance, I shoved him out of the way and bolted to the door. I managed to grasp the doorknob before he yanked me backward, slamming me into a filing cabinet.
“I’m done with the nice guy routine,” he snarled. “If you won’t give yourself to me willingly, I’ll take what’s mine.”
“The fuck you will,” I growled.
I rolled to the side, righting myself before he could reach me. A folded “wet floor” sign leaned against a wall. I grabbedthe bright yellow hunk of plastic and brought it down hard on Rick’s head. The plastic shattered, slicing open Rick’s forehead. He didn’t even blink or pause as he crashed into me, driving me to the ground. The air burst out of my lungs in a moan of pain.
As I writhed beneath him, trying to catch my breath, the months of training I’d done in my MMA classes came back. Muscle memory kicked in. Rick made to grab my throat, but I caught his wrist and twisted it hard to the right. When he tilted to the side, hissing in surprised pain, I freed my legs and wrapped them around his arm, pulling back hard to get his limb locked into an armbar.
Unfortunately, my strength wasn’t a match against his drug-fueled rage. Rick yanked his arm free before I could get the hold locked in and break his elbow. He lashed out with his foot, missing my stomach but connecting painfully with my thigh. White-hot bolts of pain shot up my leg, but I pushed the agony aside and struggled to my feet.
Rick tried to grab my ankle as I made a run for the door. I kicked out, catching him in the jaw. Anyone else would have been out cold. Instead, blood flowed from his busted lip, and he growled as he scrambled to get up.
My wolf urged me to shift and let her fight off this bastard. I almost relented, but I hesitated, unsure if I could even do it under this kind of stress. What I really wanted—what I needed—was Nate. Even after everything we’d been through, the one thing I knew for sure was that he would protect me and keep me safe.
I’d have given anything for him to be here. Rick wouldn’t have tried this with Nate around.
I’d managed to get back to the door, but couldn’t even grab the knob this time before Rick wrapped his arm around my neck and hauled me back. It was like a steel band wrapping around my throat. Pressure built in my head as he cut off my airway. Hewas going to choke me out. Once I was unconscious, he could do whatever he wanted. Drag me from the building to wherever he was hiding. Rape me. Kill me.
I had to do something.
As my vision turned gray, I jammed my right foot on the ground between Rick’s feet and pivoted my hips. At the same time I twisted, I bent low. Rick tilted forward, his equilibrium thrown off my hips, and he tumbled forward over my head to the floor, releasing my throat. He cursed as he hit the ground.
Stumbling backward, I rubbed at my neck, gasping for air. I readied myself to leap over him and make a third try for the door, but before I could, a scent caught my attention. A familiar one that was out of place, and I froze where I stood.
No way.It couldn’t be. There was no way.
An instant later, the door burst inward. Nate stood silhouetted in the doorway, fists bunched at his side, nostrils flared and eyes burning with anger. He took a step into the room and growled, the deep rumble echoing through the room. He gazed down at Rick with disgust and fury and leveled a finger at him.
“Bad choice, motherfucker.”
54
Nate
Ihad a difficult time getting to sleep. My head was still spinning with everything I’d learned. For an hour, I lay there, staring at the dark ceiling and imagining my parents.
For my entire life, I’d assumed they were deadbeats, junkies who’d tossed me out so they’d have more money for their habit. Or perhaps they were immature and too stupid to realize what a commitment a child was and cut their losses. Those were the images I’d held in my mind.
Now, with the information Cameron had given me, the image had changed. Altered in a way I could barely imagine.
What would my life have been like with parents who had wanted me, had loved me? Hugs and kisses from my mother before being tucked in, my dad swinging me around the living room, both of us laughing until we cried. A mother and father, grinning happily as I opened the gifts Santa had brought me for Christmas.
As I imagined these scenarios, a bone-deep sadness and shame filled me. Sadness that I couldn’t remember thosemoments, and shame that I’d held hate for them in my heart for so long—hate they didn’t deserve. The very fact that I’d survived the car going off the bridge meant they’d probably used their final breaths to make sure I got out of the car alive. They would have been the ones who’d gotten me out of my car seat or seatbelt and out the door or window.
A selfless sacrifice of love, and I’d spent the better part of two decades cursing their names. Even though I couldn’t have known, it still felt like a heartbreaking betrayal.
