Page 48 of Tamed Wolf

“If it concerns your safety, we don't need to have a discussion. Consider it handled.”

She starts to cry so I turn us again and hold her, our bodies still joined. I know my knot is starting to go down, but being able to hold her like this, while I'm inside of her, is making me feel pretty damn important.

Beckett slides back onto the bed behind her, keeping her back warm as he starts to pepper kisses on her shoulder, giving her comfort while her body processes all the heavy emotions running through it.

“Thank you for coming to find me,” she eventually whispers. “I thought I was going to die in there. I didn't even care.”

Nothing we have planned for those fuckers is going to do enough damage to appease me, and so what if I'm daydreaming of ways to better torture them.

“You have to know we're always going come for you, Lark,” Beckett tells her. “We were giving you space after the date because you made it clear you wanted some. I’m just sorry that it took us so long to get you out of their grasp. We should have checked on you sooner, should have known they were slimy enough to weasel their way into the shelter and take you. You're never going back to them; do you hear us? Even if you don't want us, we'll get you somewhere safe. You never have to see them again. For any reason.”

“I don't see how that's possible,” she sniffles.

“You have a couple of options,” I say gruffly.

Her eyes fly open, and she grabs my shoulders. “Please tell me you didn't kill them.”

“Would it bother you if we did?” It’s a hypothetical question, but it still needs to be answered. I need her reaction.

She thinks about this, her face confused. “Them being dead… I don't think would bother me. Does that make me a horrible person? I think it would be knowing that they were dead because ofmethat would make me feel guilty. And I know that's messed up because they've effectively ruined my life, but I don't know how to turn that part of my brain off. They still fathered my child, even if they managed to turn him against me.

“I understand they’ve made their own choices, but I don’t know how to turn the part of my wolf off that still thinks they can change. That somewhere deep inside they care for me, and maybe I’ve misunderstood things.

“Then I circle back to knowing, without a doubt, how fucked up I am directly because of them, and I want to kill them myself. It’s too soon for me to make a decision about that. I don’t know how I feel about that option.

“But I believe you that you’d do it if I wanted you to. And I’m alarmed that that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Just a little,” she says pinching her fingers together in the cutest fucking way possible. Even if she’s talking about literal murder.

I bark out a laugh and send a prayer up to the goddess for fixing the past wrongs, for getting this woman into our life so we could connect like this and begin to really heal, to live up to the full potential our wolves need.

“They're alive for now,” Beckett says, making sure she understands that that's not promised for the future. “Ultimately, it's going be up to our dad, the alpha, to mete out the punishment. For now, he's letting them hang out completely ignored in a very controlled environment, but we’ll figure all that out later. Have you ever heard of a trauma bound mate?” He presses another kiss to the back of her shoulder, pulling her attention over to him.

Lark’s eyes narrow, daring him to spring something else on her. “Should I have?”

“It's rare,” he explains as I begin to carefully untangle her hair, gaining immense satisfaction from taking care of her in this simple way. “Dad told us about it, though. Basically, we were in the right place at the right time, in the right state of mind. All of us being essentially rejected helped, but that instant attraction we felt for you must have been returned, because there’s a bond between us.”

“And what bond is that?”

She’s playing hardball, refusing to take the facts in front of her and put them together. We’re going to have to make her understand though that what we’re doing with her isn’t a fleeting thing or a one-off. We’re building a future. “You felt my knot,” I tell her. “Tell me Lark, when is shifter male able to produce a knot?”

Her eyes light up and she starts to cry again, her lip trembling. “You mean I'm…”

She can't even get the words out, so I help her out. “I like to think the goddess is trying to atone for what we all had before. We can be your mates now, if you'll have us. But nothing needs to be decided right now. Why don't you rest?”

“Do you have a bath? I can't remember. My head still feels all foggy.”

Beckett hops up quickly. “I'll get it running for you. There should be food getting delivered any minute for us as well, and we're going to expect you to eat a good meal and get some rest while you're lucid enough. I don't know how this heat is going to function, if it's going act like a normal one or if it's going to be wonky because it's artificial, but will you please let us take care of you?”

Voice soft, her head tucked under mine, she nods. “I won't fight you. Thank you, both of you. Not that I don't love both of you being here with me, but is Brooks going to be back soon? Or is he too busy?”

Beckett nods his head towards me, telling me to field this question so he can get the bath going. I rotate her a tiny bit so she’s flush against me again, now that I don’t have to share her attention. “He's getting you some of your things from your room in the shelter,” I explain. “He wouldn't miss this for the world.”

She's barely conscious by the time the bath is ready, her body finally able to relax after we gave it a little bit of what it’s been forced to crave. I get in the bath with her and wash her up. Beckett comes in to wash her hair, then we get it combed and dried, working together to prop her up at the table long enough to get some protein and fluids into her body.

At that point though, sleep is going to be the best option for her, so we tuck her in and hold her, resting while we can, expecting her to wake us up as soon as the heat spikes again.

Chapter Twenty

Beckett, Now

---