Page 36 of Tamed Wolf

“I’m fucking texting him. I want to make sure he hears it from us that we’re pursuing something with his mom.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” I ask Blake. “What if her mates retaliate?”

“Considering who we are and who they are in terms of pack hierarchy, I’m pretty sure we can take care of that problem,” Blake responds. “That agreement they filed is far from watertight. I know we already told her she no longer has to comply by it because there are so many red flags and violations on their part that it’s completely unenforceable, but if they touch her now that she’s under our protection, they’re going to have a whole fuck ton of mess to contend with. I want Camden and any other fucker he runs with to know that she’s off limits, and that if they harm her in any way, they’re going against us. I hope they fucking retaliate, because I’d love nothing more than to have an actual reason to punch their fucking lights out.”

“And that, dear Rowan,” I say under my breath, “is not how we handle bad feelings.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lark, Now

I stumble to my room, feeling so stupid for ruining what was a really good day. Probably top five most pleasant since I landed here at the shelter, actually, and one stupid little remark that I’m sure he meant nothing by, and I had to go and bite his head off like a psychopath.

The worst part is that I probably could have easily talked myself into hanging out with them again, because I was already fighting the daydreams of finding a pack that wanted to be with me.

Good thing I’m here to get in my way.

I make it to my room and fit my key in the lock, but my hand is able to turn the handle before the key does anything. I carefully open the door, and there, sitting on my spring-filled bony mattress, is one of the men responsible for getting me into this whole mess. “What the hell are you doing here? And how did you even get in?”

Ivan sits up slowly, trying not to spook me, but I’m too pissed off to be spooked.

He puts his hands out, placatingly. “Just hear me out, sweetheart—"

“No. Get. Out.”

He sighs as if I’m the one that’s the disappointment in this scenario, making no move to get up. “I just want to talk. Please?”

It’s late, and I definitely don’t want to be the one that keeps all her neighbors awake, so I close my door and sit against it, hanging my head in exhaustion. “Stay the fuck over there.”

“I…I came here to apologize.”

I snort but hold my position.

“That’s all? I thought you’d be happy.”

Okay fine, I’ll look at his stupid face. “You said you came here to apologize.”

“Yeah.”

“And are you going to?”

Now he’s looking at me like I’m crazy. “I just did.”

Is it weird that I want to laugh? “No, you said you came heretoapologize. You know that’s different thanactuallyapologizing, right? If you’re going to apologize, you have to actually say the words, ‘I apologize’,and if you’re seriously hoping to apologize for all the shit you’ve put me through over the years, you better have a hell of a lot more words to offer me after you start there.”

Ivan rubs his face, and I notice the dark rings under his eyes, and take in the hair that’s shorter than I’ve ever seen it, buzzed like Trevor likes to keep it. “I fucked up, okay? Is that what you want me to say? When we met you, I wasn’t ready to settle down, and I probably resented you. You were so young and beautiful, and I think part of me knew I’d never be enough for you, so maybe I sabotaged myself. I don’t know, but I’ve been actually trying to fix myself, and every day new memories hit me, and it’s just really been weighing on me. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“I agree. Now will you leave?”

He scoffs. “You could make this easier on me, you know? You think it’s easy to humble myself this way after you’ve spent the day around other males, and you come stumbling in here late, smelling of them? This is exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Don’t you ever just get tired of spinning bullshit? Ivan, you’re in your late forties. You mated me against my will, took everything from me, ruined my fucking life, and still can’t seem to take any accountability. You’ve taught me I’m only worth the money I can make you. Well since I no longer work for you, I guess I’m worthless to you, so just do me a favor and walk out. Don’t even bother looking back.”

It feels so good to finally be able to say those words, but there’s a part of me that’s still terrified of the repercussions. I know legally he can’t do anything to me since he’s been violating the contract he had me stuck in for years, but he’s conditioned me to expect the worst.

I don’t feel the kick to my ribs until he’s collapsing back onto my bed and crying, sobbing about how I always make him out to be the bad guy.

The crunch of my rib is still reverberating in my ear, the thud of something snapping piercing my side in pain as I cry out and hold my side.

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