2. Kezia

The days passed in a blur.I could have been here one day, one week, one month. I no longer knew. Landon had bandaged my damaged wrists, but somewhere between then and now, someone had removed them, and once more, my skin was torn and blistered where the silver cuff rubbed against it.

I’d stopped eating. Cannon would laugh at the miracle of me refusing food, I had no doubt.

Cannon.

My mate.

My mate who I had left. Who I hadn’t trusted enough to help me.

I was dehydrated, but still, the tears came. My body hurt. My heart was destroyed. I’d fought him so much, so determined not to accept the fact I was his mate, and just as we were both open to accepting it, I’d run away in the hopes of saving my brother.

Now Cannon was gone, and no one had told me if Kris still lived, and I had lost the strength to fight.

I knew I needed to be fighting, trying to escape. I couldn’t do anything. My body was weak; it was as if learning of my mate’s fate sapped all the strength out of me.

The bed dipped and I no longer moved away from the feel of Landon beside me. Bale hadn’t returned after the incident where he lost control, and I knew somehow that I had Landon to thank for that. The idea of thanking Landon for anything upset me.

Landonupset me.

The touch of my old friend made me stiffen as he smoothed his hand over my hair. I stank. I knew I did, but he didn’t flinch from touching me. Maybe he thought I needed consoling. Soothed? Hell, maybe his touching me soothed him—I didn’t know, and I would never care.

“Kezia, you need to eat.”

I found the strength to move away, no more than an inch, but it was enough when I heard his unhappy sigh.

“Kezia, you’re not helping.”

Had I the energy to lift my head and bite him, I would have.

“Can you hear me?” His voice was lower than a whisper, but I heard him given how close he was to me. “Kris is alive.” The weight of his hand stroking over my hair got heavier, pressing my head down slightly as if he anticipated my reaction to his words. “Kris doesn’t know you’re here. He’s with my sister. They locked them both up. Kez? Help me, I can’t do it alone.”

Help him.

Why would I help him?

Bale took Cass?

Slow, burning anger ignited within me. Cassandra was the apple of her father’s eye. Or so I thought.

Landon let out a loud sigh. “You’re proving them all right, Kezia. They told me that you were too wild and feral to accept pack life. I hate that they’re right.”

I felt him leave the bed and walk away.

“Who’s they?” My throat was so dry my voice was unrecognizable. My head remained on the mattress, my matted hair covering my face, but it was enough to stall Landon’s exit.

“Dad. Some of the other older pack members.” Landon gave a dramatic sigh. “The Pack Council, you know, the usual.”

I did not know, and he was telling me. Telling me his father had the backing of the Pack Council. This was so much more than the loss of Cannon, and I thought…perhaps Landon was as trapped as I was.

“I’m thirsty.” The wobble in my voice was more than a lack of hydration—true fear gripped me.

Landon moved back to the bed where I lay unmoving. Once more, his hand stroked my hair. “I’ll get you some water,” he told me gently, “if you stop this silliness and show me that you can behave.”

For the first time in days, my stomach churned, and I feared I would vomit.

“Can you do that, Kezia? Can you behave?”

“I don’t know.” It was the most honest answer I’d ever given. But it seemed it was the right one as I heard a huff that was too far to be Landon.

“She’s broken?”

Landon’s fingers dug into my hair, and I tried not to wince. “Not yet, she’s smart,” he spoke in a low voice. “Give me time. She’ll see reason.”

Footsteps approached and I curled into a tighter ball. Bale stood over me. “She stinks.”

“Well, Dad, you won’t allow me to wash her.”

The sigh was long and loud. “Don’t let a pretty face and a warm cunt fool you.” A touch that was not Landon’s ran over my hip, and I shrank from the unfamiliar hand. “She’s poison, like her mother.”

Landon’s voice was calm and even as he spoke. “You’ve known Kezia since she was brought into this pack,” he told him reasonably. “She’s rebellious, but after this, she will understand, Dad. Trust me. This is the best plan. You said it yourself.”

“You’re letting sentimentality rule you,” Bale grunted in disappointment.

“Am I?” It was Landon’s turn to snort. “I coerced her to leave that fucker, Cannon. I got her here. She’s been chained to a wall with silver for three weeks. My sister is under lock and key too. Have I not done everything you have asked of me, Dad?” A sigh of disappointment followed. “Why do I still need to prove myself to you?”

“Because you still cling to this whore. She humiliated you.”

Landon withdrew his hand from my hair. “He was her mate. She had little choice.”

“And now he’s dead.”

Pain stabbed at my abdomen.

“And now he’s dead,” Landon spoke with a coolness that was chilling. “Kezia will remember that being my mate is what she wanted all along.”

There was a long silence, and I hardly dared to breathe. Landon’s words contrasted with his actions. Bale filled me with fear, and I could practically feel his hate surrounding me.

“Wash her. Feed her. Fuck her—see if it gets her out of your system. Then we’ll talk.”

“I’ll wait to have sex, Dad,” Landon said with a laugh that caused my churning stomach to roil once more. “I like a little participation, not an almost dead half corpse.”

Bale sniffed loudly. “Keep the cuffs on. If she’s no use, give her to the men. They’re strung tight waiting for the retaliation. She’ll give them some relief.”

Lurching to the side of the bed, I threw up all over the floor.

“Fuck!” Bale yelled. “Get the bitch washed and this room cleaned. She’s a disgrace to this pack.”

His footsteps faded, and when they were gone, Landon crouched beside me. Lifting my head, he forced my eyes open to look at him. His concern was genuine, but his voice was hard and brutal.

“You heard your pack leader! Get this shithole cleaned up,” he yelled to the corner of the room where the red light blinked incessantly. “You can’t run yet,” he murmured in my ear as he lifted me as if I weighed nothing. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

I never saw who came into the room, scared it would be a pack member I knew and liked. I couldn’t handle any more betrayal. Landon seemed to know that and skillfully kept my head turned into his chest. The cuffs fell from my wrists, and I gasped with relief.

“Don’t fight me,” he whispered. “I need you to act the part of broken.”

Act? I wish I were acting. I was broken. My heart was shattered, and my soul ripped open. Cannon was dead. My mate was gone, and I knew I had to fight. I knew I had to get to my brother. Hell, even Cass. But it was as if knowing Cannon was gone meant I was gone too.

Landon carried me down stairs that led to rooms that I didn’t recognize the scent of.

“We’re not in town.” He kept his voice so low I had to strain to hear him. “There’s a whole other level of fucked up you’re going to have to learn.” His grip tightened. “Try to trust me.” My body jerked at the thought, and he let out a soothing sound. “I know, I know, it’ll come back. I hope.”

He lowered me to my feet, and I staggered. Landon caught me in his strong grip. For the first time in days, I looked at him properly, and had I not been a shell of myself, I would have hidden my reaction better.

His blond hair was dull and uncared for. His once golden skin was pale and ashen, and his normally bright blue eyes that sparkled with mischief were dull and lifeless.

“Landon?” Instinctively, I reached for him.

He grabbed my hand like it was a lifeline, pulling me to him. “There’s cameras everywhere. They’re always watching. You need to play the part.”

He stepped back, his voice firmer, his face stern. “Strip.”

“Fuck you.” It was automatic, but Landon looked almost relieved.

“We’ll get to that,” he said with a wink that held none of his usual humor. “Right now, you stink, like so bad, Kez. Let’s get you washed.”

Breaking his stare, I saw we were in the washrooms. I’d never seen this place in my life. Concrete block walls, several simple showerheads, and an open drain in the center of the room. There were no stalls. It was completely open.

“Strip,” Landon commanded one more time. He was angled in such a way his back was to the camera, but I wasn’t. Landon let out a sigh. “We’re shifters, Kez. Get naked. I’ve seen it all before.”

He had. There was no issue, usually, with being naked between shifting to wolf and back, but it wasn’t the same as being vulnerable in a shower block with someone you thought you knew, in a pack you knew you would never belong to but wouldn’t have thought they’d turn on you so completely.

“I have no problem taking your clothes off,” Landon warned, his eyes flicking to the side to remind me of the cameras.

As if I could forget.

Footsteps made me back up, and I saw Landon frown as he turned to the newcomer. A male I didn’t know and had never seen before walked in with a wide grin.

“She putting on a show or what?”

Landon laughed. “She’s putting on a show of defiance,” he said with amusement. He looked back at me, his tone light as he spoke, but his eyes were pleading. “I’m letting her have her moment of rebellion,” he said with another good-natured laugh.

The newcomer walked closer. “She’s too thin for my tastes.” He came closer. “I like something to grab onto.”

He reached for me, and Landon had his arm twisted up behind his back. His other arm was around his throat. “Let me make this very fucking clear, because you’re new. You don’t touch my fucking mate. Ever. Unless you want me to remove your head from your shoulders.”

The stranger tapped Landon’s forearm. Landon glanced at me once, and I saw his reluctance to let the male go, but he did. He stepped away as the stranger rubbed his throat.

“No touching,” the stranger said with a laugh. “Got it.” He looked me over. “I can watch though, right?”

Landon’s smile was brittle. “Make yourself comfortable.”

I had no time to process as my once best friend stepped into my space. He refused to look at me as he quickly and efficiently stripped me of my shirt and leggings. Cold water hit my skin, and I jerked forward, and in doing so, Landon was able to reach around me and unclip my bra.

“Looks like she’s more eager than she lets on,” the stranger said.

“Aren’t they all?” Landon pretended to be easy and casual, but I noticed that he avoided looking at me or at my body. “Under you go.” A gentle push, and I stepped back under the lukewarm water.

Waking up in the back of Bullet’s truck hadn’t made me feel as vulnerable or as exposed as this. Tears of helplessness welled, and I tipped my head back under the spray to hide their fall. A warm hand grazed my hip, and my eyes flew open to see Landon semi-naked in front of me.

“I’ll help.”

My instinct was to push him away, but the stranger moved, and I realized, in his way, that Landon was covering me with his body. Shielding me under the pretense of being intimate with me.

“What’s real?” I whispered as he began to use the soap to lather his hands.

“Me.” Then louder, he spoke with easy familiarity. “Never smelled a shifter smell like a wet dog before.” His joke caused the stranger to laugh. That’s how he washed me. Making jokes and laughing with a stranger as he helped me get clean. Landon was clever though, so much smarter than I ever thought. He never touched me intimately, only on my arms and back. He helped lather my hair, and slowly, so slowly, I began to trust him.

No matter what he said or how he acted in front of this stranger, his touch was gentle and respectful. Or as respectful as someone could be in these circumstances. He wrapped me in a towel before he stood back and wiped himself dry quickly with another.

I saw the warning look in his eye as he once more stepped in front of me, his lips brushing mine gently. “Good girl, Kezia. Let’s get you back to bed.”

I ignored the stranger’s lewd comments because Landon was already scooping me into his arms and carrying me back through this strange compound.

His father blocked the way to the stairs. He was leaning against the wall, an apple half-eaten in his hand. “Did she bite?”

“She’s not an animal, Dad.”

Bale scoffed as he took another bite of his apple. “Now what?”

Landon stiffened but tried to hide it, and perhaps had he not been holding onto me, I may not have noticed it. “I thought a change of scenery might help.”

“She’s not going into the pack.”

“Duh.” If I had been watching him, I knew he would have been rolling his eyes. “My room. I meant my room.”

Bale looked speculative. “You think because she lets you hold her, wash her, shield her…” Okay, so he had been watching. That creeped me out more than the stranger in the washroom. “You think she’s compliant?”

“Or maybe I’m exhausted,” I spoke quietly, feeling Landon’s grip get tighter. “Maybe I’m tired and lost. Maybe the fact I don’t know why you’re doing this, why my pack leader beat me, said such ugly things to me. Hurt me. Maybe it’s taking a long time to process that I don’t know why any of this is happening to me.”

Bale watched me, his eyes narrowed, but I dropped my stare as a good pack member would. I had to be careful.

For me.

For my brother and Cass.

For Landon.

“War makes us all unpredictable, Kezia,” Landon said.

“War?” I dared look up, but the pack leader’s attention was on his son.

“It’s not for you to worry about,” Landon soothed me. “Can I take her to my room, Dad? I’ll keep her chained.”

He would?

“Fine.” Bale waved him away with a careless shrug. “Keep your trophy. One ounce of trouble from her, she’s gone. Understand?”

“Of course.” Landon dipped his head in acknowledgment.

“Of course,” Bale sneered mockingly. “Remember I’m watching.”

He walked past us, his shoulder knocking into his son’s like he was an enemy.

“Even you?” I whispered. Bale was watching his son also?

“Yeah,” Landon grunted and slowly climbed the stairs. “Especially me.”