Page 11 of Tamed Wolf

I bite my tongue until it bleeds, making sure I don’t say anything to damn myself further.

Eventually, Ivan takes a deep breath and shakes his head like he’s disappointed by me and drives in silence.

I shadow them through the meeting, taking notes for them. At lunch they order in and hand me a salad with chicken on it, no dressing or cheese or anything to make it taste remotely good, but I choke down what I can.

Then they have to visit the office for the construction company they’re hiring to do some reno work at the bigger building they’re moving their club into, and I stumble along behind them like a doll, completely ignored.

They don’t say a damn word to me all day other than to tell me to fucking write down everything that’s said in each meeting, but then they don’t even look at my notes, and I’m convinced they only made me take them so that I’d have something to keep me busy. They’re of firm minds that idle hands are devils’ play.

By the end of the day my feet are aching from standing so much (I was never offered a chair while they discussed any business deals), my head hurts from stress, and my heart is hammering away in my chest because I have a feeling that when we get home, things are going to get bad.

I spend the drive home mentally going over all the worst-case scenarios I can think of so that I’ll be prepared for anything. I imagine them hitting me, I imagine them starving me, I imagine them taking away more of my comfort items, but what actually happens is a hundred times worse.

The drive drags on and on, and when I finally look up to try and figure out where we are, I realize none of the surroundings are familiar, and the way they’re teasing each other about stupid shit is a giant red flag amidst the way they’re completely ignoring me.

They’re talking about moving things around at the house and reclaiming closet space and being able to not worry about their side pieces getting found out, right in front of me.

Nothing makes sense until they pull up somewhere that I think would send chills to the very core of any female wolf out there.

I don’t jump out of the car when they park, I start to hyperventilate and stay buckled until Ivan reaches a hand in that I ignore, only for him to crawl in and unbuckle me himself.

He pulls me out and stands me up, pulling off my shoes and jacket and cute designer top they insisted I wear today, until I’m left in nothing but thin slacks and a camisole that’s meant to be worn under something warmer with more coverage.

“I’d take the rest of your clothes too if I thought you wouldn’t fight us, but we bought these so they’re coming with us. I just want you to know, Lark, that we really fucking tried.”

Trevor nods and pats Ivan on the shoulder like he’s offering him support. “You’re not easy to live with. You’re difficult to care for and your attitude isn’t worth how great your body is or how pretty your face is. We’ve got a solution though.” He turns to Ivan to take over again and I stupidly move my head to him, praying to the goddess he’ll refute what Trevor just said.

“When we realized how stuck up and ungrateful you were, we kind of had this option in our back pocket in case we needed it. The idea of having a mate fated for us was really exciting in the beginning. We’ve had some good times, haven’t we? But the truth is, being mated isn’t as great as we thought it would be. Or maybe it’s just being mated toyou. You’re always bitching at us when we act like the independent adult men we are, and you’re fucking frigid. It’s like you hate sex or something, and for a couple of wolves that own a strip club, that just won’t do.”

“This is only temporary,” Trevor promises. “This is the best place for you right now because you’ll be out of our way while you grow that kid for us and we won’t have to deal with any of the unsatisfactory side effects of pregnancy; we don’t want to see you blow up and get all fat, you dig me?”

“We’ll come back when the baby is born and make sure he’s healthy and take him off your hands, and then you can live the rest of your days here, amongst other sad women that hate men. It’s really the perfect place for you; I hear they give the residents their own rooms and everything.” Ivan steps closer and cups my face, like he used to do when they first met me and were pretending to be nice men. “I hate that you’re making us do this.”

“Then don’t fucking do it! Really, what have I ever asked for? Is it really so much to ask of you guys to treat me with the tiniest bit of respect and keep your dicks in your pants? Is it really so awful being mated to me that you want to break apart everything we’ve been building after less than a full year of being together? How is this where we’re at?”

Ivan’s hand slips to my neck and starts to subtly squeeze, warning me. “You’ll not talk to us like that. We’ve been good to you, Lark. We haven’t done you any harm. You’ve done your best to make us miserable at every turn though, and it’s affecting our mental health. A separation is best for all of us.”

They can’t reject me. I won’t allow it.

I turn and try to climb back into the car, waiting for them to drive me home, but turning my back on them was absolutely the wrong call.

Trevor grabs me by the hair, keeping a tight fist on it so I’m forced to follow his hand unless I want my hair ripped out, and no doubt he’d blame it on me if it happened. After all, it’s not him pulling my hair, it’s me working against him that’s causing me pain.

The air escapes my lungs as they lead me to the desolate front doors, Ivan checking me out like he wants to take me one more time before he lets me go, but I start thrashing, wanting nothing more than to stay with them, even if that makes me pathetic.

“Please, you’re my whole world! I love you guys, I n-need you. How can you abandon me? I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me! I’ve bent over backwards to take care of you and keep you happy, and I’m sorry, okay? I made a mistake! That’s all this was, I was going to tell you, I was! I was planning a big reveal for you, I knew how happy you’d be when you found out.”

I’m sobbing, a complete wreck, but something cuts through because Ivan steps up and kisses me sweetly, making me believe that there’s something inside of his twisted chest that acknowledges how important I am to him.

“Maybe we’ll come back for you in a few years when you’ve grown a bit. You gonna better yourself for us, sweetheart?”

Someone on the sidewalk catches my attention, someone that looks like maybe they’re a resident here, the shelter for rejected mates, and she’s watching this all play out like it’s not somebody’s life.

She meets my eye and shakes her head, taking a deep breath before striding right up to us. “That’s enough. Can’t you see you’ve broken her already? Congratulations. Get the hell out of here.”

She tries to separate me from them, which just pisses them off more because it’s no longer on their terms, and I’m clinging to them like a stupid child, wanting the comfort of their arms that I’ve felt so many times since they came into my life.

It hasn’t been all roses and sunshine, but there have been so many times I’ve laid there next to one or both of them where everything just felt so incredibly right. They’d rub my back and hold me like I was the most important thing in the world.

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