Chapter Thirty
Graham cracked one eye open at the sound of his phone vibrating. Catherine was laying across his chest so he could only shift his head to look at the lit up screen. The name he saw there had him shifting Catherine over to get up.
“Graham,” Catherine whined as he repositioned her on her other side.
He kissed her shoulder and tucked the blanket around her as she shifted to get comfortable without his body. “I’ll be right back, Baby,” he whispered.
Catherine continued to grumble, still half asleep until her face went slack and she began to lightly snore. Graham grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to the number saying he would call them back in one minute. He pulled some shorts on and closed the bedroom door. He walked toward his office and shut that door too, making the room soundproof, even to lycans.
Sitting at his desk he called Lucas.
“Hey, Man,” Lucas said, answering after the first ring.
“Hey, what’s up?” Graham asked, tapping his fingers nervously against the desk.
Lucas had been in Moonstone for several days now, collecting information on his mate and what may have driven her away.
“Man… I have some shit to tell you.”
“Great,” Graham sighed, dreading the conversation with every fiber of his being. “Tell me everything.”
“Right, well I got to Moonstone a few days ago. Did some digging around the orphanage and the hospital she was reportedly born… Nothing. She wasn’t lying. Isobel covered her tracks pretty damn well. All I could find is what we already knew… Born October 9, 1998, dropped at the orphanage doorstep on October 12. She lived at the orphanage until she was six. The current orphanage manager was a nurse during that time. All she could remember about Catherine was that she was quiet but smart, like wicked smart,” Lucas said. Graham smiled.
“What about her abilities?”
“Abilities? She was six when she left, Man,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, well, apparently she and Jensen could shift earlier than that.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Damn… that’s awesome.”
“Yeah… and?”
“Right, other than her being brighter than kids her age, she was pretty normal. Then she was adopted by an older couple one Martha and Hector Bennings. So I went to them next. Real pieces of work, Man. Real tight lipped too. In fact the whole town was. They’re certainly not used to outsiders, especially since Dominic arrived. Whenever I would bring up the subject of a girl who’d gone missing some five years ago, people would clam up.”
“Afraid of Dominic?”
“That’s what I thought too. Anyway, it took me actually mentioning Catherine’s name and telling them who my alpha was for the parents of the year to start talking.”
“Fuck, Lucas, you weren’t supposed to…”
“Hey! I needed the fucking answers as much as you do and you ordered me not to resort to torture! So shut the hell up and let me finish…” Lucas paused to see if Graham would interrupt again. “Anyway,” Lucas sighed. “After Dominic arrived, mateless, naturally the first thing he needed to do was find a luna.”
“Obviously, fucking wolves, Graham spat. Heaven forbid you gain the trust of your pack, strengthen your defenses and build on your wealth. No, all wolves cared about was having someone to fuck and siphon her power.
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Chapter Thirty
“Right? Well, it gets worse. Have you ever heard of Achmond Rais?” Lucas asked. Graham’s stomach churned.
“You mean the mating ritual that was outlawed among Lycans centuries ago?”
“That’s the one. Well, apparently some backwater werewolf communities still honor the law. Dominic proclaimed it which meant every mateless female within pack lands between the ages of 16 and 25 was brought to the packhouse, willingly or not. If the female resisted, the parents had to sign them over.”
“Even then it probably wouldn’t have stopped a fucker like Dominic,” Graham growled. His mate had been locked in a packhouse with Dominic DeAngelo? Maybe she’d gotten out before the law was proclaimed. Maybe that was what propelled her to run. Even as he thought it, he knew it wasn’t what happened.
“I haven’t even gotten to the bad part. I don’t know how familiar you are with the law but basically these girls were put through the ringer. They had to perform, attend balls, dinners, they had to shift and go on runs together with Dominic and, from what I heard…” Lucas paused and Graham heard him throw back a shot of some kind of liquor and slammed the glass on the table.
“Lucas…”
“Fuck… If Dominic liked them, Graham, he was legally allowed to sleep with the contestants.”
Graham’s mind went blank. It was the only thing his body could do given that he couldn’t break something for fear of waking his mate, and he couldn’t shift for fear of breaking his house. His phone cracked slightly and he cursed.
“Give me a minute,” Graham said absently. He set his phone on the desk and cracked his knuckles. He laid his palms flat and tried to take long deep breaths. It took probably five minutes for him to be able to pick up the phone again. “Okay, continue.”
“Right, well…” Graham could practically hear his friend swallow. “I still haven’t gotten to the bad part. You see, it didn’t take long for one girl to stand out above the rest. Dominic really took a liking to her. Most of the girls were sent home within a few days. It took another week before he announced to the pack that he’d found his luna. By law, he couldn’t mark her as his mate until a blood oath was taken in front of the pack council. A rumor was spread throughout the castle maids, however, that he’d still staked his claim, somewhere on her body. He’d made sure to essentially brand her.”
Lucas went silent, trying to give time to put the pieces together. He didn’t need time though, he’d sussed it out after the second sentence. A brand on her person, a mark. Dominic DeAngelo marked his mate on her thigh. He’d pumped his venom into her, made her sick, and tried to take what was his.
“Lucas,” Graham finally said, his voice filled with an anger he normally reserved for the people he tortured for information. “Are you telling me that Dominic DeAngelo raped my mate and marked her?”
“I’m telling you that Dominic DeAngelo chose Catherine Bennings as his Luna. I’m telling you that she escaped. I’m telling you that he has not claimed anyone else since and, according to her parents, he will find her and bring her back.”
Graham’s anger snapped. He threw the phone across the room. It fractured against the stone wall, sending shards of glass and metal across the room.
“Fuck!” he screamed, unable to hold it in any longer. “Over my fucking dead body, you asshole!”
Graham padded down the stairs and into the kitchen where the bottle of whiskey he’d found earlier was still sitting on the table. He grabbed it by the neck and returned to his office. He drank down a quarter of it before setting it down. He never drank. He didn’t like how alcohol dulled the senses and, even worse, made you lose control if you weren’t careful.
After the alcohol had dulled his anger from a blistering heat to a dull ache, he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a new phone. He dialed Lucas’ number and waited.
“You cool?” Lucas asked after the second ring.
“No.”
“Good, I’d be worried if you were.”
“Lucas, how invested in this arrangement did her parents seem?” Graham asked.
“Completely devoted.”
“When did you speak with them?”
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Chapter Thirty
“The first time was three days ago and then dropped the bomb on them today.”
“So Dominic will know of her location by now.”
“Correct.”
Graham thought for a moment. “I need you home.”
“I’ll be there in five days.”
“I need it sooner. I’ll send some guys to get your car. I need your ass on a plane and home within two days.”
“What’s the rush?”
“There have been some developments. Because I’m mates with his daughter, Jensen is using it to his advantage.”
“Did he ask you to be beta again?” Lucas asked on a chuckle.
“He’s demanding it. He calls it fate. He…” Graham cracked his neck. “He commanded me not to mark her until he gives me permission.”
Lucas full on cackled on the other end of the line causing Graham’s scowl to deepen. “And you didn’t challenge him? That’s rich!” Lucas howled.
“Yeah, that’s what it is… funny,” Graham responded. “I have a feeling he’s going to put the pressure on me by sending me out to do some scouting or tracking or some bullshit to get her alone, in the packhouse.”
“Are you worried he’ll sway her to his side?”
“No, I’m worried he’s going to make me go insane without her until I cave and accept the position.”
“That’ll do it,” Lucas said, still finding the situation humorous. “Alright, Man, I’ll be there by this time Thursday.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries,” Lucas said, starting to chomp on something. Graham went silent as he thought about everything Lucas had told him. Lucas sighed. “What’s eating at you?”
“I…” Graham started and stopped, his heart weighing heavily with emotion. “Did Dominic hurt my girl?”
Lucas exhaled long and hard. “It’s Dominic, Man… You know the answer to that. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, thanks. Travel safe, Luke.”
“Will do. See you soon.”
Graham sat in his office for another hour, his mind riveted to his mate. He finally went back to his bedroom but got caught in the door as he watched Catherine sleeping peacefully. She’d kicked the sheets off and had her legs splayed so the moon caught the jagged scar he’d left over the old.
He thought about what she must have gone through in order to get away from the sadistic prick who’d try to force her to become Luna. She had no one to turn to. She’d run across the country trying to be free. He had wondered why she’d chosen Sterling. A brief flash of memory flitted through his mind.
When they’d left Sterling and he told her how far away the city of Blackmoore was, she seemed taken aback, almost frightened. Putting two and two together now she must have learned during her time at the MoonStone packhouse that Dominic DeAngelo only feared two men. She’d run toward them, toward the men Dominic would never want to go against. She’d run toward Graham and Jensen: her future mate and her father.
Graham got back in bed and Catherine immediately shifted to wrap her tight, little body around him. She snuggled her head into his chest and inhaled his scent. A contented smile framed her face. Graham wrapped his arms around her and sighed. He brushed his thumb over her forearm. He kissed the top of her
head.
“He’ll never touch you again. He’ll never get close. I’m here for you. I’ll always protect you,” he whispered to the darkness.
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Chapter Thirty
“Mmm, love you? Catherine mumbled sleepily and kissed his chest.
“Tuck, I love you too.
