Page 127 of Family: Posy 4

Shaking hard, she knotted her little fists into the blanket. Figuring we'd seen what we'd wanted to see, I sat on the bed at the headboard, then pulled her onto my lap. She snuggled into my chest, and the pups cuddled her on either side.

"Lark, you don't need to tell us," Topaz tried to tell her again, but she shook her head.

She needs to talk, so let her,I linked my brothers. We'll comfort her when she's done.

"Then Agate told me, 'Go in your bathroom, Lark, and cover your ears and sing a song.' I did, but I still heard Aiden. His screams went on forever."

Goddess. How could a man do that to his own sons? I didn't even have one yet, but I knew I'd cut my own hand off before I used it to hurt my pup.

And I'd absolutely slaughter anyone else who tried to.

"When it got quiet, I left my bathroom. Outside my room, I heard James. He begged alpha not to punish me. 'My idea, not hers,' he said. He told alpha he'd do anything he wanted. 'Just leave her alone.' "

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks and her breathing picked up.

"Alpha didn't listen. Alpha made James hold me down while alpha cut my back feets."

Why he cut back feet?Gran linked me.Why not front or all feet?

Because,I said through clenched teeth,when she shifted to human, Posy's hands would be fine to cook and clean for him,but her feet would bleed and hurt for days and days.

Bastard,Topaz snarled, and a low growl rumbled out of Gran's chest.

Lark cried a little harder, and the pups let out empathetic whimpers. I wanted to comfort them, too, but our mate came first, and I knew they understood that.

"Oh, sweetheart." Rocking her back and forth, I pressed my lips to her forehead and kept them there as she cried. "Shh. We're here. You're not there anymore. He can't touch you."

She's okay, Gran. She's okay, Paz. She just needed to drain the poison from the wound.

Poison!Topaz yelped and ran his hands all over her, then picked up her feet and looked at the scars again.

Damn literal wolf.

I closed my eyes because, if I rolled them one more time tonight, they were going to roll right out of my head.

She doesn't have a wound and there's no poison,I sighed. Her sharing what happened waslikedraining poison out of a wound.

No poison?He narrowed his eyes at me.

No poison.

Letting out a heavy breath, he relaxed and slumped against her back, his arms wrapping around her waist and his face buried in her neck.

When her tears slowed to a stop, Gran got up, fetched a warm wet washcloth, and gently wiped her face. Topaz handed her a box of tissues - yes, the whole box - and I raised an eyebrow at him.

What good's one tissue at a time like this?he said with a shrug.

Sighing, I waited until she was finished blowing her nose, which did indeed take more than one tissue, and Topaz stuck his tongue out at me as he gathered up the pile and carried it to the trash can.

"Brothers not help you again?" Gran asked her before I could stop him.

"I notletthem help me again. Alpha shut off my links. Banned me from talking to Slate or Agate. Alpha make brothers hurt me to punish them, so brothers moved out of alpha house."

"How do you know it was to punish them and not you?" I asked.

"Alpha said so. I hate to know they got hurt because of me."

"You want to talk to brothers, my love?" Gran kissed her cheek. "We call them?"

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