Chapter One Hundred and Eight
Catherine paced back and forth in the small cabin. Juno groaned as she shifted on the couch. She lifted the ice pack from her thigh and winced.
“So who is he?” Catherine asked.
Juno sighed and finished readjusting herself. She let her head fall back on the couch cushion. “Marty Caldwell.”
Catherine stopped her pacing. “Marty Caldwell? Marty Caldwell as in…”
“First born son to Alpha Nathan,” Juno confirmed. She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m the fated mate to a future alpha. Jealous?”
Catherine tried to remember Marty Caldwell. He had reportedly been away travelling for several years which would make sense why Juno never met him before. Catherine met him recently at the party Curtis and Dominic disrupted, but he was one face of many she’d seen for the first time that night.
“That’s why you couldn’t come to the party,” Catherine guessed.
Juno shrugged and winced. “He doesn’t want people to know about me. Apparently his daddy is negotiating with a big player for a future luna better suited for the role but if Alpha Nathan realizes Marty found his fated…”
Catherine sat down on the coffee table in front of her friend. She reached a tentative hand out and brushed the swollen, marred skin of his mating mark. Something was terribly wrong with it, as if it was poisoning her. The mark itself was swollen and red with black veins lacing outward. It reminded her of the mark Dominic had left on her thigh. Was that why Juno wasn’t healing?
“We need to leave,” Catherine said for the hundredth time. “I can take you to Blackmoore. Graham can protect you.”
“No,” Juno repeated. “He’ll know. He’ll come for me. The laws are on his side. I’m his Goddess-damned property now.”
“I am not going to leave you here. How long do you think before he figures out you’re hiding at Paul’s cabin?” Catherine asked.
“I’m not going to involve you further! If you get in the way, Marty will call his father. He’ll get the council involved. All of our histories will be dredged up and I… I can’t do that to you or Toma or Timone. You guys are my family.”
“And that’s exactly why none of us will let you live this way,” Catherine argued.
“I’m so tired, Kitty. I just want to sleep.”
Catherine sighed. Maybe if Juno were to fall asleep, she could put her in the Mustang and force her back to Blackmoore. She checked her phone and groaned at the black screen. She was dead. So caught up in her thoughts and the events of the day, she had forgotten to bring a charger. The anxious but calm energy around them suddenly shivered and snapped into something sinister. Catherine stilled.
“Did you hear that?” Juno whispered, voice suddenly shaking in fear.
She did: the unmistakable sound of an engine cutting off and the stomp of feet over gravel. A few seconds later the door was kicked in, sending splinters of wood across the room. Both girls shrieked and Catherine ducked, covering her head with her hands. Juno gasped. Catherine glanced up and froze.
“Graham.”
He stood in the doorway, his chest heaving, his expression unhinged fury. His dark eyes were completely black and his lips snarled over his exposed canines. She noticed his fists shaking at his sides, his knuckles white with tension. He was completely naked, telling her he had been in lycan form in order to track her faster. His eyes left hers and flitted around the room. His nostrils flared, searching for something before focusing back on her. He started walking and Catherine fell back on her butt. She skidded back along the floor, away from his dangerous advance.
“You left me,” he growled. Catherine shook her head. “I told you to stay in the house.”
Graham grabbed her upper arm and hauled her up. He pulled her against his chest and claimed her mouth, stifling a shocked gasp. His one hand gripped her ass in a bruising grip and his other locked around her hair, keeping her immobile. He assaulted her lips until her body slackened against him. She moaned and gripped his shirt in her fists. He growled in pleasure at her submission.
“Holy fuck, Grey.”
1/2
Catherine turned her head, breaking the kiss, and glimpsed Lucas walking into the cabin. Lucas’ eyes were on Juno and they blackened at her state. Juno gasped in fear. Seeing this, Lucas stopped in his tracks and shut his eyes. The tendons in his neck strained as he controlled the rage he felt at seeing Juno bloody and beaten. A moment passed before he opened his eyes and his expression was calm once again. Catherine pushed at her mate but his possessive grip refused to let her go.
“Let go of me!” Catherine hissed, struggling to get free.
“Not before you tell me what the fuck you were thinking!”
Catherine finally succeeded in getting out of his hold. She raised her hand and struck him across the cheek.
“Oh shit,” Lucas gasped dramatically.
Catherine ignored him. “I called you! Dozens of times! I called everyone dozens of times! I even called Jensen. You disappeared without a trace and my friend needed me,” Catherine yelled, unleashing the hurt she’d felt since he left for his mission. “You weren’t there for me but I’d be damned if I wasn’t there for
her!”
Graham’s gaze cut toward Juno and then to Lucas. He gave Lucas an almost imperceptible nod and redirected his glare back to Catherine. His jaw ticked against the redness of his cheek where she’d hit him.
“Hello, Sweetheart, remember me? You trying to make me jealous or something running off with the wrong man?”
“In your dreams,” Juno said, shaking off the last of her fear and trying to match his light tone.
“Atta girl,” Lucas said with a chuckle. “Let me have a look then.”
Lucas cupped her cheek with his palm and Juno’s eyes fluttered shut. Tears fell down her cheeks and Lucas wiped them away before he started to take stock of her injuries.
“Jesus, fuck, Grey,” Lucas hissed. Lucas pushed Juno’s shirt up slightly to reveal the dark bruises along her abdomen. Catherine gasped. “Infidelity marks. Fuck ton of ’em. These other bruises, did your mate give you those too?” Juno nodded. Lucas glanced at Graham, a look of pure hatred in them she’d never seen before. Black swirled around his blue irises, clouding them over.
“You need to reject him,” Lucas said, standing decisively.
“She hasn’t marked him yet,” Catherine said, stepping away from Graham.
“It doesn’t matter,” Graham growled before pulling her back into his side.
“They need to reject each other. If one holds out, the other has to go through a whole bullshit legal system. Judging by the size of the mark, he’s alpha lineage?” Lucas guessed. Juno nodded. He knelt down and touched her chin. “Mine’s bigger,” he said with a wink. She let out a breathy laugh and pushed him away. “Legal systems would favor him. Hell, if you’re fated they’ll just tell him to make you luna and have a mistress on the side.”
“Lucas!” Catherine hissed.
He shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
“I tried to reject him… Right after he hit me the first time. He wouldn’t accept it. The second time I tried, he marked me against my will. Like I was some fucking lunch in the fridge at work that he wrote his name on so no one else would dare to take a bite.”
Graham scoffed. “Fucking idiot.”
“He’s not a fucking idiot,” Catherine said, looking between them. “Juno is powerless here. You just said so yourself. Even if he were to reject her, the fact that she’s marked and he’s not might kill her.”
Graham smirked but Lucas answered. “The pup thought if he marked her it would protect him. He’s wrong. It’s a common misconception in the world of wolves. These infidelity marks are extensive and the beating he gave her… Not only did he mark her against her will, he then disrespected the bond. If they reject each other, it will hurt him more because of what he’s done. Think of it as a loophole gifted to females by the goddess. You know, to prevent males from forced markings and such. She probably won’t be affected at all.”
Juno and Catherine stared at each other. “Is that true?” Catherine asked Graham. He nodded, his jaw still tight whenever their gazes met.
2/3
Chapter One Mundred and Eigh
Juno shook her head and stared down at her lap. “He’ll never reject me. I’m his fated. Rejecting your fated as an alpha compromises your ability to lead.”
Graham sighed and ran a hand down his face. He and Lucas looked at each other, a silent conversation taking place using just their eyes. Lucas nodded and started to walk around the cabin.
“I’ll need something that smells like him,” Graham said, resigned.
“Why?” Catherine asked.
“Catherine, either do what I say or I’ll leave the whelp and take you home by force,” he said, his fists clenching in aggravation. She glared at him but stood to do as he said. She handed him the jacket Juno escaped in.
“Got it!” Lucas exclaimed, running back into the room with a bottle of whiskey.
Graham nodded and held the jacket to his nose. He inhaled, his eyes turned black and his nose pinched at the smell before he handed the hoodie back. Without explaining he turned and headed for the door.
“Hey!” Catherine yelled as he disappeared into the darkness. She ran after him but stopped at the threshold. She heard an angry howl and the sound of feet hitting the hard ground. “Asshole.”
