Page 89 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter
He’s not joking. Not baiting me, not playing some twisted game. He’s asking like he genuinely doesn’t understand—like he really believes she should’ve been happy here, chained and collared and raped and bred like the rest of us.
And all at once, the grief hits me. Sharper than it has in years.
June, with her shy smile and soft voice. June, who used to tuck wildflowers into her braids and hum lullabies she barely remembered. June, who helped plan the escape and ran beside me in the dark—only to vanish into the sea.
I never saw her again.
And now I have to stand here while her would-be mate stares at me, baffled. As if her dying breath was still somehow a betrayal.
“No,” I whisper. “You didn’t make her happy.”
He flinches. Just for a second.
“She was terrified of you,” I add. “Of all of this. And if you’d loved her—really loved her—you would’ve seen it.”
His expression hardens. “She should’ve stayed.”
“She should’ve lived.”
The silence between us is sharp enough to bleed.
Ephraim turns without another word. He stalks down the hall, boots echoing against the metal grates until they fade into silence. I wait until I can’t hear him anymore, then close the door and press my back to it, breathing hard.
My hands are shaking. My heart is aching.
For June.
For the girls who didn’t make it out.
For the ones still trapped here—hiding behind numbered doors and silent eyes, waiting for someone to save them.
20
PEACHES
Ican feel Javi getting closer as night falls…and he doesn’t seem happy.
My anxiety peaks and crests like waves lapping against the beams of the Rig, a light rain pattering on the roof. The calm sounds do nothing to cool my nerves, waiting on whatever Javi has learned, knowing it will be something horrible. I hope I can counterbalance his news with mine—that Boyd got a message out to the Austin pack, and that they’re coming to save us.
It isn’t Javi that comes to the room to get me, but Ephraim, looking just as crabby as he did hours ago. He huffs out a breath when I open a door, then tosses me a raggedy old white dress. I cringe at it, knowing what he’s going to ask before the words leave his mouth.
“Put that on,” he says. “It’s time for dinner.”
“I should wait for Javi,” I say.
“Obey,” he snarls.
Then he slams the door shut.
I pull the dress up to look at it, already dreading switching out Javi’s shirt for this thing. I wonder if I could get away with not doing as I’m told, but I feel like I’m already in hot water, andI don’t want to pick any fights while I wait for the pack to come and save us.
I put the damn thing on, tossing Javi’s shirt on the bed.
I miss his scent already.
When I open the door, Ephraim is standing outside with his arms crossed. He averts his eyes like he’s disgusted, gesturing at me to follow him. Voices sound from the direction of the dining room, and I scent Javi on the air as soon as we get close. I see his broad shoulders a second later, clad in a plain white t-shirt.
He stands and looks at me.
