Page 60 of The Librarian and Her Alphas

“Tell us about them. Your old pack,” prodded Gunner, his jaw set in a stern line.

After their shocking news, I try to gather my thoughts. Taking deep breaths, I pause for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain.

“It started well enough,” I eventually say. “My family didn’t approve, but I still left home to be with them.”

“Why didn’t they approve?” Gunnar asks, and I turn to him, finding his gaze locked on mine.

I shrug, attempting to appear nonchalant despite my nervousness. “They didn’t like Zorin. They thought I could do better. And I thought it was true love.”

“So what happened when you left home to be with them?”

Panic claws at my chest as the memories overwhelm me, and I swallow hard, trying to push them down. “The four of them courted me, showering me with love and affection, and I fell for it. But once they had me, that was where it ended.”

Max takes my hand, and I squeeze it gratefully. I take a deep breath and continue.

“Why did it end?”

“Nothing I did was ever good enough for them. I was useless. They tore down my self-esteem, breaking me, and said I was useless for not producing a pup for them.”

“You’re not useless,” Damon growls quietly, and I glance at him, afraid of the tightly controlled anger simmering in his eyes. “Don’t ever say that about yourself.”

This is the hardest part to get through, and tears well in my eyes as I reflect on that fateful night.

“The very last night I was with them, everything went wrong. We were on our way back from an event when they stopped by the side of the road and beat me, leaving me for dead. I would have died that night if it weren’t for a kind stranger who found me and took me to the hospital.”

I pull up the sleeve of my pajama shirt, showing them my long scar.

“It’s how I got this scar,” I say quietly. “Zorin scratched me. When I was finally well enough to leave the hospital, I moved here and never looked back. They probably thought I died, but now Zorin is here.”

Hot tears spill down my cheeks, but I’m too exhausted to wipe them away. I got through my story, and that’s enough for me.

Damon, Max, and Gunnar are quiet. Each of them has their fists tightly clenched, their knuckles white. Their anger is palpable, but I know it’s not directed at me.

“I’m the person who found you in the rain,” Damon admits quietly. “I took you to the hospital. Even though you were wearing a mask at the time, I knew you were injured.”

“I know,” I say. “Max—I also want to come clean. You and I met at the ball before all this.”

Max shakes his head in wonder. “This was meant to be. For us to be together.”

“Zorin will never come near you again,” Damon says quietly, each word clipped with fury. “I will always protect you, Lena. To my dying breath.”

Max nods, echoing Damon’s sentiment, but Gunnar is still too angry to speak, his gray eyes glowing in the dark with rage.

Damon lies down on the bed behind me, and I follow suit, allowing him to spoon me. He wraps an arm around my middle and pulls me closer.

“I need to hold you, sweetheart,” he murmurs.

Max lies down in front of me as Gunnar fixes the blankets around my legs. I feel safe and protected, surrounded by these alphas, and I finally begin to relax after my nightmare.

“I’m going to check the perimeter quickly and keep guard,” Gunnar says. “I need to make sure that Zorin stays away.”

“If he shows up, you know what to do,” Damon growls ominously, and I shiver.

“You got it,” Gunnar replies, leaving the room and closing the door.

Damon and Max sandwich me between them.

I can hear their hearts beating, and the sound soothes me. The feel of their rigid, muscular bodies against mine ignites a spark of desire. Damon plays with my hair while Max strokes my arm tenderly, whispering comforting words.

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