Page 15 of Delivered to My Beasts
“No problem. I was setting up some extra cameras. Just in case.”
“I hate to put you through all this trouble.”
“Want to help?” I asked.
“Sure.” For the rest of the morning, we put cameras up around the perimeter of the land and more by the house.
“Tell me about your fiancé,” I said with a chuckle. We both knew that was over for more reasons than one.
“Stop that. He’s not my fiancé anymore.”
“I know. Did he…did he hurt you?” I didn’t want to think about anyone hurting my mate but if he had, it would make it that much easier to end him if he dared come around her again.
“Not physically. He made threats and sleazy promises. He was going to cheat on me, and I even heard he wanted to share me with his betas. He doesn’t believe in fated mates.”
“And do you?” I asked. She paused, and I regretted the question. I didn’t want to put any pressure on her. She was stressed enough. The emotion carried in her scent and through every move she made. Her fear was palpable like another being or person always in the room with us, shadowing her every move.
“I didn’t before.”
I nodded. That was enough for now. Once we finished putting up the cameras and syncing them all to the system Ialready had on the computer in the house, I turned to her. “How about some lunch?” I asked.
“Lunch sounds great. What about Jax and Duke?”
“Duke is out running. He’ll come in once he’s done, but there’s no telling how long he’ll be out and Jax is in his shop. He rarely comes in for lunch. He keeps some snacks and drinks out there in his fridge. When Jax is focused, there’s no dragging him away from his projects.”
“Hmm, not even for me?”
I laughed out loud. “Well, yes for you. But me? I’d be ignored or shooed away. How about some sandwiches?”
“Sounds great.”
We worked side by side making roast-beef-and-Swiss-cheese sandwiches, and I was taking all the mental notes. Minimal mayo. Lots of mustard. More vegetables than meat and double cheese. And when she was done, she crossed her hands, one over the other and smashed the whole thing down almost completely flat. “There.”
“That was something else,” I said, shaking my head.
She sobered and a frown took over. “Mateo used to corner me where there was no one else around. The way his eyes roamed my body, it was like he was physically assaulting me. It made me feel gross, and I would always have to shower after an encounter with him even though he hadn’t touched me. His females, which was practically every female in the pack, would say awful things to me. Call me names. Taunt me. I thought he would stop catting around when we mated, but I learned that was not his plan.”
Her talking about Mateo came out of nowhere, but I was glad she trusted me enough to tell me what he had done. It only fueled the fire for my bear but her trust meant everything.
“Did they ever do anything to you?” We sat at the island, since it was just the two of us. I grabbed some bags of chips and pretzels and made us each a glass of iced tea.
“They teased me. I was never invited to girl things. I spent a lot of time alone. I figured it was because my father was the alpha and maybe they thought I was stuck up but turned out, it was because Mateo told them all to stay away from me.”
I huffed. My bear roared inside me. “Isolation. It’s abuse. Either they make sure you don’t want to be around anyone else, or they make sure to bad-mouth you so much that no one wants to be around you. Or they simply tell everyone to stay away. I can’t imagine what he would do once you two were mated.”
“I don’t want to think about it.”
“Me either. And you don’t have to. Ever again.”
She nodded. “Thank you. Thanks to all of you.”
“You don’t have to thank us. We would do anything for you, you know that, I hope.”
She sighed. “I do. I’m trying. I’ve never known any males like you three. You’re not like any of the wolves or bears I know.”
“How many bears do you know?” I pushed a playful growl into my voice.
“Only three!” She put her palms up in surrender. “Only three!”
