Chapter 20

20

M y body shook with barely contained rage. I could feel my control slipping. All I wanted was to go after Trace.

I knew whatever happened in here, he was the cause. And Larkin was...

My gaze went back to her, my heart cracking open, raw and exposed, as she cried. Hands and knees on the tile of the girls’ bathroom floor, trembling like a broken flower.

The look in her eyes, the position she was in... I had seen this before. So many times.

In Long Mesa I almost expected it. But here? And with this girl, it was like a sucker punch to the solar plexus.

I started to turn when I felt her hand on my ankle, barely touching me.

“No,” she begged. “Please, no.”

I knelt again, thinking maybe she didn’t realize who I was. The thought that she might be afraid of me made me want to scream or cry.

Kill , my wolf whispered in my head. I could feel the ripple of fur under my skin as my wolf nearly forced me to shift right then.

I shoved her back, focusing my attention on Larkin.

“Larkin,” I started gently, wanting to touch her, but knowing touch might be the last thing she wanted this second.

God damn, I knew that all too well.

“Please don’t go,” she choked out on a sob.

I pulled her into my arms then, letting her sob against me while my thoughts whirled. I looked at the door, hoping and worrying someone would find us.

After several long moments, Larkin moved, trying to push herself up. I helped her stand, bending to grab a shoe she was missing that had slid under the partition to the next stall. I slipped it onto her foot and she hobbled to the sink, my arm around her waist for support.

She whimpered at the sight in the mirror.

“How can I help?” I begged quietly. “I can grab a teacher—”

“No,” she said sharply, sucking in a shaking breath.

“Lark,” I whispered, touching her tangled hair and blinking back tears.

We both jumped at the bathroom door swinging open.

“There you two are,” Katy said with a laugh as she came in. The second she really saw Larkin, her eyes flared wide, her mouth dropping open in horror.

“What the hell happened?” she gasped, crossing the bathroom to stand in front of Larkin. She looked up at me, demanding answers.

“Trace.” I spat his name, the word leaving a vile taste in my mouth.

Katy’s jaw locked, her eyes going hard. “I’ll get Remy. He’ll kick that dick’s ass once and for all.”

“No!” Larkin’s shrill cry stopped us both.

“Larkin, we need to tell somebody,” I urged. I looked at Katy for back up.

“Please, guys,” Larkin begged. “Help me get back to my room. I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”

Reluctantly, Katy and I helped Larkin get her arms back into her dress, thankful her bra hadn’t been torn away during whatever happened. The zipper was destroyed, so I held the back of the dress together while Katy checked to make sure the hall was still empty.

We kept to the wall, heading out the side exit instead of going back through the dance. We stayed in the shadows of the grounds until we were able to slip into the girls’ dorm. Thankfully everyone was still at the dance, and we made it to the room without anyone seeing us.

As soon as the door was shut and locked, Larkin started tearing at her dress, hands shaking. Fabric ripped as she shoved the dress off her body.

“Larkin, let us help,” I started, moving towards her.

“No!’ she shrieked, whirling as the dress pooled around her feet.

Standing there in her bra and panties, we could see the bruises on her arms and thighs. Around her wrists, the bruises looked like fingerprints.

I swallowed down a wave of bile.

“Okay, honey,” Katy said soothingly. “What can we do?”

“I told him to stop!” she yelled, her voice cracking. Her eyes were wild and scared as they darted around the room. ““I tried to get away, but he wouldn’t... stop . I couldn’t... I swear, I tried!”

“I know,” I replied, heartbroken. “Larkin, I know .”

Larkin looked at me through tear-filled eyes, her knees giving out as she collapsed. Katy and I immediately surrounded her, kneeling by her sides.

“Larkin, we need to know—” Katy sucked in a hard breath. “We need to know how far this went. Do we need to call a doctor?”

The omega flushed. “He didn’t... I mean, he grabbed me and... ripped my dress. But he didn’t, you know .”

I released a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

“I can still smell him on me,” Larkin gasped, sobs ripping from her throat. She rubbed her hands across her arms, face crumpling “Will it ever go away?”

God, I wanted to say yes. But if I closed my eyes, I still knew exactly what Cassian, Preston, and Marc smelled like. I still knew the smells that always lingered in the omega house.

My hands started to shake, and I knew I was rapidly losing control of my wolf. She wanted out and wanted out now .

“What can we do?” Katy asked, smoothing Larkin’s hair out of her eyes.

“I need to shower,” Larkin said, shaking her head. She looked at me and shivered. “Skye, are you okay?”

I gritted my teeth and nodded. “Fine.”

Katy sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re shaking like a fucking leaf.”

A light dawned in Larkin’s eyes. “You need to shift.”

“I need to help you ,” I bit out, trying to shove my wolf back down.

Katy frowned. “No, you’re almost out of control. Even your teeth are starting to change.”

I ran my tongue across my teeth, hissing when I felt the sharpening of my canines.

“Go,” Larkin urged softly, swallowing hard.

“Run it off,” Katy ordered, helping Larkin to her feet. “I’ll get Larkin showered and changed. When you’re back, we’ll figure out what to do.” She looked at Larkin grimly. “But we need to tell somebody.”

After a heavy pause, Larkin nodded sadly. “Okay.”

Fuck. I knew I wasn’t in any position to say no. Larkin needed me, and I needed to get myself under control.

Moving fast, I pulled my dress off and kicked my heels off into a corner. I jerked open a drawer and pulled on a shirt and yoga pants before shoving my feet into my sneakers.

“I’ll be right back,” I promised Larkin, my voice unsteady as I got up.

They both gave me teary nods as I unlocked the door to our room and headed into the hallway. I took the steps instead of waiting for the elevator, my feet slapping against the cement of the stairs.

I was practically vibrating as I hit the stone steps to the front of the dorm. I raced down them. I caught a couple of people giving me strange looks and then a wide berth as I stormed past.

I headed for the northern part of the campus, my wolf whining in my chest. I stumbled as a full body shudder ripped down my spine.

“Soon, girl,” I swore, trying to let her know we were going to shift. I was so furious, I needed to channel it somewhere. Running for miles might start to help me calm down.

I started jogging and then outright running down the path, heading towards the western lake and the alpha cabins. The moon hung low and swollen in the sky, the silvery light showing the way.

I could see distant lights from the alpha cabins and knew I was close. As soon as I made it to the tree line, I would shed my clothes and shift.

“Skye? Hey, Skye!”

I growled loudly as footsteps approached. Rhodes came running up and slid to a stop on the wet leaves as he saw me. He was still dressed in his clothes from the dance.

“Shit,” he whispered, his dark eyes growing round. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

My wolf lunged at the cage of bone and muscle around my heart, demanding her freedom. My mind kept replaying Larkin’s words, her broken words and sobs.

“I tried to get away, but he wouldn’t... stop.”

Rhodes’s eyes went wide, and he stepped back, his gaze flickering to my hands. “Skye, you’re shaking and scaring the shit out of me. What’s going on?”

I curled my hands into fists, feeling my claws sharpening and piercing my skin.

“I can still smell him on me. Will it ever go away?”

“Skye!” Rhodes snapped, his beta voice almost as commanding as Remy’s, but I didn’t care.

I glanced up at him. “Larkin,” I ground out through chattering teeth.

His eyes went wide and he looked around like Larkin would pop out of the shadows. Turning to me, expression thunderous, he demanded, “What happened to Larkin? Is she okay?”

“I... I can’t,” I ground out. The base of my skull throbbed from the effort of holding back my wolf. “I have to—”

Rhodes ran a hand over his jaw, tossing his long dark hair out of his wild eyes. “Dammit, Skye, is she okay?”

“She’s safe,” I answered with a groan. My gut clenched so hard I almost folded over. “She’s with Katy. In the dorm.”

Rhodes took a step back. “I’m going to get Remy.”

I nodded, not really caring and barely waiting until his back was turned before ripping off my shirt. I heard it tear with the force of my actions. I yanked off my shoes and pants next. They had barely hit the wet ground before I was shifting.

There was a certain pleasure-pain that came from shifting. Like cracking your knuckles or stretching a tight muscle. I relished the feeling as my fur sprouted across my body, my bones shattering and knitting back together. The whole shift took a few seconds, but each one felt like beautiful agony.

I shook out my coat and lifted my head with a deep, mournful howl. It echoed against the mountains, and I heard several others join the cry somewhere in the distance.

I let my wolf take over, and she lunged forward, tearing through the woods as fast as she could. She ran across grass and rocks, up hills and back down, heading deeper into the woods and pushing towards the forest.

The air was colder now, my breaths coming out in hard pants and puffs of steamy air.

I drove myself harder as thoughts of Larkin pushed in. I couldn’t escape the way she had trembled, and the way the tears fell down her pale cheeks.

That look of complete heartbreak in her eyes haunted me.

It was like looking in a mirror.

I could remember every time Cassian put his hands on me. Every time Preston and Marc closed in around me. The sound of their laughter, their fingers clawing at me, touching me.

With a loud growl I pushed myself harder, shaking my head as I tried to dislodge the memories. The muscles trembled with adrenaline as I pushed myself to a high speed, the dark forest blurring.

I darted around a tree.

We may not have to wait much longer.

I snarled as I scrambled up an embankment.

Skye is officially an omega.

I stumbled over a root, collapsing to the ground. My heart was thudding in my body, blood roaring in my ears as I panted. I rolled to my side, limbs laid out as my chest heaved. I whimpered, wanting to cry. I whined low, a cry from my soul.

I wasn’t sure how long I lay there under the trees, the moonlight my blanket. It felt like an eternity of minutes. Long after my breathing evened out and my skin cooled.

The snap of a twig had me lurching to my feet. My head swung around and I made out the shape of a human coming through the trees. A breeze brought his scent to my sensitive nose.

Remy.

He paused several feet from me, hands loose at his sides. His expression was alert and he was still in his dark clothes from the dance, but he had thrown a coat over his outfit.

“Hey.” He pitched his voice soft and calm as he approached, hands held in front of him to show he wasn’t a threat.

I cocked my head, not sure what he wanted. If I shifted back now, I would be naked, my clothes a good two or three miles away. And even if I shifted to talk to him, I had no idea what I would say. Or whose story I would tell—mine or Larkin’s.

“Rhodes came and got me. He went to check on Larkin. I came to see if you were okay.” He hesitated. “Skye, what the hell’s going on?”

I pawed anxiously at the ground when he mentioned Larkin, another whine scratching up my throat.

“Look, I’m not sure what’s going on, but I can tell you’re upset from here,” he said softly, moving slowly closer. “Rhodes said something happened to Larkin? But he wasn’t sure...”

With a low, keening cry, I backed up. He didn’t stop moving forward and I forced myself to be still until he knelt in front of me, his dark eyes looking deeply into mine.

“Easy,” he admonished, warm eyes worried.

With a huff, I dropped to the ground, resting my jaw on my front legs.

Remy seemed to hesitate for a second before reaching out and stroking my head. I let out a long breath, my eyes closing as I accepted the comfort. My wolf and I both relaxed against his touch.

“So strange,” he murmured, his large hand stroking against my muzzle.

I opened my eyes.

“Katy was right,” he said, looking at me with confusion. “Our coats are opposites.” He traced the black star in the center of my head. His hand smoothed across my head, moving across my neck and down my back.

After several moments of being touched, I felt my heart rate slowing and my body relaxing as the adrenaline rush crashed. If he kept this up, I was going to fall asleep. The way his hands moved across me was soothing, grounding me again.

“Are you ready to head back yet? We need to talk about whatever happened,” Remy said gently. “I don’t want to call a pack meeting until I know exactly what happened with you and Larkin.”

I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped me, and I was shocked—and a little horrified—when I nuzzled his hand, not ready to head back... or for him to stop touching me.

With a smile, he stroked my head again. “I’ll shift and we can run back to the cabin. Rhodes is having Larkin and Katy meet us there.”

Stretching, I raised up onto all fours. I shook out my fur, eyes fixed as he moved back and toed off his boots. His jacket went next and then his shirt.

I swallowed, hard, locking my jaw to keep from panting.

His muscles were perfect—thick and defined. The muscles of his arms and back worked as he folded his clothes and set them under a tree. I could make out the shadow of a crescent moon tattoo on his shoulder blade. His hands dropped to the button of his pants and my eyes fixed on the thin trail of dark hair leading from his abs and disappearing under the waistband.

He coughed and I looked up, startled, to see him trying not to smile.

I turned around immediately, cursing myself inwardly and trying not to imagine what was under the pants I could hear him pulling off. There was a familiar series of cracks and pops as he shifted, his bones and joints reforming.

I turned to see him shaking out his coat and was stunned. Katy really was right.

Remy’s wolf was a good several inches taller and longer than mine, but his coat was midnight black except for a small white star in the center of his forehead.

He finished shaking out his coat, arching his neck to howl up at the night sky. I felt the instinctive urge to join him, my own howl harmonizing with his in an eerie ballad.

Remy turned to look at me and our eyes met.

The ground shifted, shook beneath me so hard I wondered if Montana was prone to earthquakes. The sounds of the night died all at once, everything going deafeningly silent. The moon shone brighter, bolder, leaving no shadow to escape to. Everything in my world was rotating, spinning on its axis until I thought I would fall over.

All at once, something in me centered, and a peace I couldn’t explain fell over me as I stared into his dark eyes.

Mate .