Page 99 of Knot Her Mountain Men

Ryder grabbed some tissues from his desk and I wiped my tears away, hitting play again.

“That’s kind of fucked up, dude,” said Steven.

Paul scoffed. “Like you’re any better with Natalie. You’ve put a kid in her every fucking year since you bonded her, got a damn army of kids building up. These bitches think they’re too good for us and have to pay the price for it. How else are they going to learn their place?”

“I should’ve fucked her first.” Brandon marched over and stole a drink out of Steven’s hand, tossing it back before throwing the plastic cup into the fire.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and for what it was worth, I could feel Bear trying to control his emotions so he didn’t dump them all over me, but I certainly wasn’t able to return that favor.

“I got too pissed to think with my cock,” Brandon lamented, as if anyone would feel sorry for him. “It would’ve been damn good too. She looked so fucking scared. If she would’ve just died out there, I wouldn’t have this problem, but now she’s alive and talking to the goddamn cops and they thinkI’mthe one who tried to kill her.”

“…But youarethe one who tried to kill her,” said Steven.

“They’re not supposed to fucking know that!” Brandon snapped.

I hit pause again, swallowing hard, trying to control my breathing to keep the nausea at bay.

Ryder’s grip on me tightened. “I’d like to commit a crime on every single one of these assholes. Holy fucking shit. I’m so sorry, Morgan. These people were your friends?”

“Friends is a generous way to put it. I tolerated them sometimes, and they tolerated me because Brandon wanted me around. I didn’t visit often, and if I’d ever heard them talk like this, I never would’ve gone back.”

I tucked my wobbling bottom lip between my teeth and hit play again.

“So what did you do?” Steven asked. “Leave her out in the snow?”

“Pretty much, after I took all her shit. How the hell did she get out of there? I had her phone so I know she didn’t call for help. I took her snowshoes so it would’ve taken her days to crawl out of there. I didn’t even call in the search until I was sure she was already dead.”

Bear’s fury pulsed bright and hot down the bond. I was probably reflecting the same back.

The rest of the video was mostly Brandon ranting about how fucked he was, but just before it ended, Steven excused himself to head home. The image warped and focused onto the blazing headlights of a truck, his voice coming loud through the speaker though he was whispering. “He’s hiding out at the compound. There’s a building on the north side about two hundred feet back from the fences. Paul and his family are keeping him fed.”

Then it all cut off.

I hated every single one of them. I could’ve speculated what was going on in their heads, but hearing them say it so blatantly was sickening.

“We have to get this to the police,” said Ryder. “Download it in case it gets deleted.”

When I didn’t move, he did it for me.

Bear pulled me out of my chair and onto his lap, cocooning me in his arms, his purr already rumbling. Ryder took up my spot, prepping an email to send to the sheriff’s department with the attached video and the information I knew about each person we’d seen recorded.

“Do you know the address of the compound that guy was talking about?” Ryder asked me.

“I could probably find it, but I don’t know the numbers. I’ve only ever been out there riding with someone else, which in hindsight was not a smart move.”

“Now you know and can avoid it forever.”

“Yep. Pull up the map, please.” I searched my hometown and scrolled north until I found the road we always turned off to get there. “It’s around here. At least sixty people live on the property, not including the kids.”

“Jesus, why? They got a cult going out there?”

I cringed. “You’re probably not far off. I tried to stay out of it as much as I could. I’ve only been a couple times. Now I feel like I should’ve been going more to give Maisie some company. God, that poor woman.”

“No sense putting yourself in danger. If that asshole was floating the idea to Brandon, you wouldn’t have been safe.”

“I know.” I swiped my hands over my cheeks and sank back into Bear’s embrace. “I just feel so bad.”

“Think of it like on an airplane,” said Ryder. “You have to put on your own mask before helping anyone else. Maybe there’ll be something you can do once you’re settled. Or maybe the cops will be useful. This guy admitted to some pretty hefty illegal shit. I don’t know if it’s enough proof to get her out of there, but hopefully the start of a case at least.”

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