Page 19 of Betrayed Bullied Mate

“I was there for a little more than a week, trying to work with the messy paperwork and financial documents to help get things in order,” I say. “During that time, I saw a lot of girls coming in and out, a lot of them crying, fighting against shifters, pushing back. Sometimes, they were wearing practically nothing. Sometimes, I didn’t see them leave for days.”

Aris swallows, his eyes on the floor, and I shift, trying to settle myself.

“I heard from some of the older women in the pack that—that Varun has kind of a thing for a lot of those old pack rules and traditions, the stuff that most people just ignore. He started demanding girls report to the bar once they turned 18, and if they didn’t, he found them and brought them in. Any girl who was going to go away for college was forced to stay local or not go at all. Many of them ended up just working at the bar, developing alcoholism, and funneling their paychecks right back into the bar.”

Aris abruptly stands, pacing back and forth, running his hand over his stubble, which has grown out even more. My eyes track him back and forth as he walks, and I realize that though he’s clearly upset and acting aggressive, I feel completely safe.

“There was one girl,” I start, swallowing when Aris fixes the full weight of his gaze on me. I look down at the duvet, picking on a loose gold thread. “Varun got her pregnant. He didn’t want the threat of a rising alpha, apparently. Nobody has heard from her since. Her mom has been frantic, desperate, trying to find her. Varun’s lackeys just laugh at her when she comes in asking about her daughter.”

I feel a tear tracking down my cheek and roughly wipe it away.

“I saw her on one of the days I was there. She was so distraught, the poor woman. I just wanted to hug her. But it’s not just girls—Varun’s also been ruling over the men in the pack with an iron fist, brainwashing them with a lot of the old ways of doing things. I’ve seen guys we went to high school with doing horrible things and acting like oafs. When—when I was there, Tommy Fage… He started to—”

Aris kicks over a plastic bucket in the corner, sending a sponge across the floor. I jump at the sound and watch as he whirls around, eyes blazing.

“That same asshole from prom?”

I nod, pulling the blanket up higher. Varun may not have done anything to me, but Fage was more than ready to start round two of harassing me. Never mind the fact that I told him I was just there to do the financials and that I wasn’t interested—his hand managed to find its way to my thigh anyway.

Aris comes back to the bed, putting his hand on the bedpost again and leaning in, his eyes intent.

“Listen, Linnea, stay in this cabin, okay? Don’t come out for any reason. You need something, you can call out, I’ll come bring it to you, okay?”

“You are not seriously trying to imprison me in here—” I start, but there’s a knock at the door.

“Hey,” Byron calls, “We got the commander on in five. Signals spotty, got to make sure we get the timing right.”

“My mom has a whole bunch of books in the living area,” Aris says, walking backward toward the door. “Under the coffee table. Help yourself. Just don’t leave the cabin.”

I cross my arms, aware that I look insolent but not caring. He really thinks he has the right to just boss me around and lock me away.

“Don’t want to rush you,” Byron says, “But the commander is coming through now.”

Aris swears under his breath, gazes at me for a long moment, then turns and walks out the door without another word, once again leaving me alone in the cabin.

Chapter 11 - Aris

As I walk out into the bright sunshine, Byron is waiting nervously, bouncing on his toes, his mop of blue hair bouncing with him. When I came back to the cabin to check on Linnea, it was still dark, but now the sun has risen up over the trees, washing the area in golden light. I squint against it, my lack of sleep making my eyes more sensitive than normal.

“Oh, hey,” Byron says, clearly relieved that I’ve finally come out. “This way.”

I follow him into his cabin to find a projector screen set up on one end and the chairs from all the cabins pulled in so we can all sit together comfortably. I take the seat nearest to the screen, and Byron hits a few buttons on his laptop, bringing the commander’s face into view.

Of course, I’m ready to hear what information we gathered and get on with the mission, but this meeting is also a great way to take my mind off the woman two cabins down from us.

As the commander straightens his notes and checks his microphone, I feel the subtle sensation of Linnea’s heart rate picking up. My body urges me to go back to the cabin and investigate and ensure she’s safe, but I ignore it. She’s probably just getting out of bed, easing out of her resting heart rate.

The commander looks even older over video chat like this, and something in his eyes is different than normal. I stare at him, trying to determine if it’s just the poor image quality. I wish we were in person—I’m much better at reading people when I can see them face-to-face, smell them, and watch their expressions.

“Good morning, team,” the commander says, clearing his throat. “Thanks to all of you and Mr. Cox, we were able to receive the data from Varun’s computers and go through the information last night. The situation is a lot worse than we thought.”

“We’ve gathered some evidence about the abuse taking place under Varun’s thumb,” I say, thinking of what Linnea was telling me, imagining those poor girls losing their futures because Varun thinks centuries-old rules still apply to the shifters in his pack.

“Unfortunately, Varun’s abuse of his pack-mates is actually the least of our troubles,” the commander says, his brow wrinkling. I sit back, crossing my arms and waiting to hear what could possibly be more important than protecting the shifters who rely on us.

“With the intelligence you were able to send over,” the commander continues, “Varun’s illegal activity stretches much further than drug trafficking and abuse of his pack-mates. First, we have reason to believe that many of the human abductions nearby are at the hands of Varun and his pack. We are unsure what the reason for this illegal interaction with humans is, and one of our next steps in the mission will be to gather more information about it.”

The commander clears his throat, clearly uncomfortable. “The human abduction problem is also not our highest priority in this mission, however. Byron, can you pull up the image I sent through?”

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