Page 62 of Bite Me Alpha Cole

“I’m not!”

“Cole Kincaid,” I say, stepping close and glaring up at him. “If youlieto me one more time –“

“Oh, he’s ending it for you,” Rose says, her voice soft and purring as she passes us. “He knows you were all freaked out in the basement. Not that I blame you – I’d be scared too if I stumbled on a prison built specifically to keepmypeople captive.”

“What?” I ask, my eyes following the blonde as she swings herself into the passenger seat.

“What’s she talking about?” Shayne whispers, coming close to my side.

“Rose,” Cole growls, her name thick with warning.

“Oh, come on, she’s a big girl,” Rose says, quite pleased with herself as she buckles her seatbelt. “Aren’t you going to tell her?”

“Tell me what?” I whisper, looking up at Cole.

He sighs, looking down at me, his expression conflicted. But he doesn’t say a word.

Rose laughs and I spin my head back to her.

“In that basement, Nadine?” she calls, smirking at me. “There wasbarelyany wolf scent. The only scent on those mattresses was that ofhumans. And our sweetheartPrincedidn’t tell you because he didn’t want toscareyou any more than you already were.”

She pouts at me like I’m adorable and then turns her eyes down to her camera, starting to flick through her photos.

I turn my eyes back to Cole, my mouth falling open.

Humans.

The wolves here were keeping…humans. Locked away in their basement. Their slaves – enslaved – kept – locked down there –

Like my mother was her whole childhood –

“Is that…” I whisper, shaking my head, wanting to believe that it’s not true – that it’s just Rose being awful. “Cole, is that true?”

He clenches his jaw and looks seriously down at me.

But he doesn’t answer.

Which is answer enough.

Fury just…rips through my veins.

I turn, clenching my fists, storming toward the back of the car, angry tears lining my eyes as my breath starts to come in short fuming pants. How dare he keep that from me – and how dare they – lockingpeopleup – making themlivedown there –chainedto the wall on those disgusting mattresses – where – where –

They could have experienced…atrocities – things people shouldneverexperience -

“Na-na…” Shayne whispers, stepping close to me, putting her hands softly on my shoulders.

But I just duck my head, trying so hard to hold back my tears, not wanting anyone to see but especially not awfulRose–

Images flood my mind of the people suffering down in that basement, but this time they’ve all got my mother’s face. And mymom – not a lot of people know this, but she was born into a world where…

God, her experiences must have been much the same. My sweet, beautiful mother, always with a laugh on her lips, always wanting to help – chained to the wall, terrified –

Is that…is that how she grew up? Is that what she escaped from?

She never talks about those days.

There’s some angry muttering and a bit of a scuffle behind me, but I can barely pay attention to it as Shay wraps her arms around me, perhaps intuiting why this is harder for me than it is for her.

---