Chapter Two

~Emma~

I slumped in the passenger seat of the vehicle while Wallace drove.

“You should be sleeping,” he said, flicking his gaze from me to the rearview mirror then back toward the road ahead of us. “We’ll be there soon. I didn’t call them.”

I knew it was protocol to let the local alpha know when you were in his area, but none of that was my concern. And honestly, I was afraid of being told no. Better to show up and let them see me beaten and broken, hoping they’d at least let me stay long enough to be able to shift and allow my wolf to help me finish healing than to call and have Cyan Richards tell me to piss off.

Cyan Richards. My brother. I had another brother. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. Nothing made sense, least of all another brother. Why did our mother love him enough to let him go? Why hadn’t she loved me enough to do the same? All the times I’d begged her to send me away and she’d refused, saying families stuck together. Lies. How much of my life was a lie?

“Emma?”

I glanced at Wallace and saw a frown pull at his lips as he took in my face again. It had healed over the last two days he’d been driving, but not enough to make me look much better than I had when he and my mother had rescued me. The broken pieces of me were slowly healing, but the bruises, even after days, were still a deep, dark blackish-purple, showing how far they went under my skin. Wallace had helped me set my nose the first night, still it would never be as straight as it had been before my father slammed it against the cement wall the first night he’d taken me from my bed. I’m sure the other face plants into the wall hadn’t helped.

“Emma?” Wallace barked again when I didn’t answer.

“Just drive, Wallace. We’re going to the address my mother gave you. If my…” I bit the words off. It was hard to refer to a male I’d never met as my brother even to myself much less aloud. “Cyan Richards will have to send me away to my face.”

“Maybe, I should take you somewhere to rest first?” Wallace suggested. “I can stop somewhere outside Rigton County. Give you a few more days to recover. Maybe, be able to shift.”

“We don’t have the luxury of waiting. We don’t know for sure that my father was killed. He could have people following us now. He could be following us.”

“The building exploded. There’s no way anyone survived it.”

I didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to remember my mother kissing me goodbye before she went back inside. I shut out thoughts of her. I refused to give them airtime in my head.

“If anyone did, it would be the bastard who sired me,” I muttered. “We go to Cyan’s. No stopping.”

Wallace nodded but didn’t say anything else. I rested my head on the back of the seat and closed my eyes. I could do this. No matter what happened. I would handle it. I’d survived my father. Hell, at this point, I could be the last one standing. Jonathan was dead. Sam was missing. Mom was… I swallowed down the sob that wanted to surface. Mom couldn’t have survived. If there were any justice in this world, then Clayton Richards was dead, too.

“We’re here.”

I blinked open my eyes, taking in the driveway we’d pulled into. The men were already spilling onto the front steps.

“Sit tight.”

Wallace stepped out of the car before I could stop him. What the hell was he thinking? The plan was to let me engage with them while Wallace stayed inside the vehicle. They’d be less likely to attack first and ask questions later if they saw I’d already been attacked. At least, that was my hope.

It took me longer than it should have to get my fingers to cooperate and unlatch my seatbelt before releasing the door. Three men faced Wallace.

“Just dropping off,” he growled, holding his arms wide of his body, palms out to indicate a lack of threat. He gestured toward me with his head. I pushed the door wider then held tight to the frame while I hoisted myself out, forcing my shaky legs to hold me upright. Letting the door close behind me, I leaned heavily against it as I took in the men in front of me.

My gaze kept pulling away from the male I knew in my gut was Cyan Richards. He stood on the steps, feet spread wide, arms crossed over his chest as if he were daring me to lay claim to a bond he wouldn’t acknowledge. Or at least, that was my interpretation. Next to him had to be the alpha, Bastion James. I should have bowed my head, dropped to my knees and offered fealty, but I couldn’t keep my gaze from veering toward the third male. Tall with shoulder-length ebony hair. No matter how hard I tried to focus on Cyan or James, I couldn’t. There was something about the other male that called to me.

“She’s your problem now.”

I jerked my head at Wallace’s comment, but he refused to look at me. He was back in the vehicle before I had time to move. Forget kneeling. My grip was torn from the door when he threw the car into drive and peeled out. I hit the ground hard, head bouncing and sending specks of light clouding my vision as pain shot through me, sucking the breath from my lungs, and leaving me hovering at the edge of unconsciousness.

I gasped for air, not wanting to leave myself any more vulnerable than I already was. Ridiculous given the fact any of the three males could easily end my life with very little effort. My lungs refused my command, though, and no matter how I fought, darkness surrounded me, pulling me into oblivion.

“Easy. Easy,” a masculine voice ordered softly as strong arms wrapped around me, hugging me against a broad chest. “I’ve got you.”

It was the dark-haired man I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off earlier. He had bright blue eyes that sparkled like jewels. He was possibly the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. His scent made me want to nuzzle closer, to lick his skin and see if he tasted as good as he smelled.

“She’s awake.”

I glanced over as another male approached. I hadn’t seen this one previously, but I felt a pull to him just as strongly. His hair was varying shades of brown, darks and lights blended perfectly. His eyes were blue also, but lighter. Like a perfect sky on a sunny day. It felt right when he moved so I was caught between them, their bodies closing around me. I felt safe. God, when was the last time I’d felt safe? Truly safe.

“Who did this to you?” the second male asked.

I shook my head. “Who are you? Where’s Cyan?”

The dark-haired one growled when I mentioned my brother’s name.

“I’m Anthony,” he said.

“Donovan,” the other male answered then lifted his brow in question.

“Emma.” I glanced back and forth between them. If Donovan hadn’t joined us, I would have thought Anthony was my mate. But the pull was equally strong for each of them. That wasn’t possible. No female wolf I knew of had ever mated with two males. Occasionally, slept with more than one male wolf? Yes. But sex didn’t require mating. At least, not in the pack I’d been born into. My father had never been faithful to my mother. Apparently, my mother hadn’t always been with him, either. Not if I had another brother.

“Where’s Cyan?” I asked again.

Anthony and Donovan shared a look, one that seemed to equate to an entire conversation I wasn’t privy to.

“Answer me,” I demanded, and both their gazes snapped to me.

“Why are you asking about our beta?” Anthony asked.

“Wallace, the male who left, was supposed to bring me to Cyan Richards. Isn’t this his house?”

A growl rumbled up Anthony’s throat as he shook his head. “Wallace better hope I never get my hands on him. He hit you with the tail end of the car when he left. You hit the ground and passed out before I could get to you. I brought you here, so you could be comfortable while you healed.”

Wallace hit me with the car? I remembered him leaving and me hitting the ground. He’d never promised to stay with me, though. He’d only given his word he’d get me to the James Pack and Cyan Richards. I was sure he considered his promise fulfilled.

“Did he do this to you?” Donovan demanded, his gaze running over my body.

I glanced down and finally noted I was in a bed. I wore nothing but my bra and panties under the cool sheet. I’d definitely had on clothes before. My gaze snapped to Anthony, who had the grace to look apologetic.

“Your clothes were covered in dirt and blood. I undressed you as soon as we got you here. We cleaned you as best we could, but I’m sure you’ll want to take a shower,” he added. “One of us will help you with that.”

“Who did this to you?” Donovan asked again, his wolf vibrating in his voice. He looked ready to rip someone into pieces.

“No, Wallace didn’t do this.” I shook my head wearily. “It’s a long story. One I’d rather only share once, and I’ll need to do that with your alpha and Cyan Richards present.”

Donovan didn’t seem to like that answer, but as he continued to look at me, his gaze softened. “Why don’t I run you a bath? Your muscles could probably use a good soak. Anthony can get you something to eat.”

“We’ve got soup and fresh baked bread,” Anthony offered, and they both dropped their gazes to my belly when my stomach growled. “How long’s it been since you ate?”

I shook my head. I didn’t know. Were we on the road two days or longer? How long had I been locked in that room? God, I was so tired. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. Exhausted in my soul. Tears pooled in my eyes, and I was helpless to keep them from spilling over. Donovan was the one to scoop me up onto his lap and press my head to his chest.

“Shh, baby. We’ve got you now. We’ll take care of you. Rest. Food. Enough so your wolf can come out and heal you. Then we’ll talk.”

I might not have that long if my father hadn’t been killed. Or if any of his loyal men had managed to follow Wallace and me. They could be looking for me right now.

“Get her into the tub,” Anthony ordered. “Then food followed by sleep. You’re safe now, Emma. No one will hurt you again.”

Donovan growled in agreement. Anthony leaned in, turned my face toward his and kissed me. I gasped in surprise, and he slipped his tongue inside, gently tasting me before easing back.

“You belong here. With us. Trust us to take care of you.”

It wasn’t an order, but it didn’t seem like a question, either. I bit my lip even as I nodded. Why was I nodding? I didn’t know these men.

I watched Anthony leave through the bedroom door then whimpered at the painful reminder of what my body had been through when Donovan stood with me in his arms.

“Sorry, baby.” He dropped a kiss on my lips as if Anthony hadn’t just done the same. As if both of them kissing me was natural. Maybe it was. My brain was scrambled after everything that had gone down with my father. Being taken, beaten, tortured. Was it possible to go from hell to heaven in just a few days?

“Sit here for me,” he said as he placed me on the closed lid of the commode then turned to run water into a white, porcelain, claw-foot tub. I watched him adjust the temperature then add bath salts to it.

“To help the soreness in your muscles,” he said as he turned and helped me to stand.

I didn’t say anything when he reached behind me to release my bra before tugging it off my arms and dropping it to the floor. He brushed his thumb over one taut nipple, and I swore his fingers shook. Then he crouched at my feet, slipping his fingers into the sides of my panties and gliding them down until they pooled at my feet. He eased first one foot then the other out before tossing them to join my bra.

“In you go,” he said as he lifted me into the tub.

I moaned at the feel of the water, then whimpered as it embraced me. I closed my eyes at the sheer bliss.

“Lift,” Donovan said, using his hand to ease my head from the edge of the tub before placing a folded towel under it. “There you go. Relax. Let the water and salts do their job.”

He leaned in, his lips brushing over mine again then again. I blinked heavy lids open and saw his pupils dilate as he let his gaze sweep over me. I followed his heated look, taking in the hard points of my nipples where they broke through the water, down over my flat stomach to the hairless cleft between my thighs, all the way down to my toes. I wondered if he saw the feminine parts of me or the broken ones. Was it my breasts and hips and thighs that brought that light to his eyes? Or did he only see the bruises, scrapes, and cuts that marred my skin? It didn’t matter. I was too exhausted to do much about either at the moment.

“Relax,” he whispered against my lips. “Let your mates take care of you now.”

Mates. He thought the three of us were mates.

Right or wrong, I liked the sound of that. I closed my eyes again, following his orders and trusting his promise. They’d take care of me. I could let them do that. Just for a little bit. Just long enough to catch my breath.