Page 15 of Shifters' Fated Summer
“We will do whatever it takes to make this territory safe for the other supernaturals and humans.” I could hear the conviction in Cade’s words, but it was the simmering rage that scared me. “If you answer honestly, it will go better for you, and you can save lives.”
The threat was obvious.
Unable to deal with his words, I looked past him to take in the office space. A hulking wooden desk stood behind him with a natural edge of the tabletop as if the entire slab of wood had been used.
Bookshelves lined the walls, holding not only books but darker, glossy plants, trinket boxes, and a couple of small statues of wolves. How narcissistic.
In my panic over being questioned, I had forgotten they were werewolves. The situation kept getting worse.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and the back of my neck, and I twisted my hair over my shoulder to avoid the sticky feeling.
“How many women lived with you?” Cade asked.
“Um, it varied,” I said. My throat was dry.
“What about most recently?” Luca’s thumb rubbed down my upper arm, sending a shiver through me. From the twitch of his mouth, he noticed.
“I’m not sure,” I answered, trying to focus. I intended to be honest but also practice caution with what I told them. I didn’t know very much outside of my relationshipwith Evrin. “I think there are about twenty?”
“Did anyone arrive recently or leave?” Cade pressed.
“I… I don’t know much. This girl, Hannah, left. Someone must have taken her as their mate. She had a couple of patrons.”
My memories clouded. The two vampires who favored Hannah also liked Grace and Stella. I tried to remember if either of them had come for the other two girls since Hannah disappeared. I didn’t pay much attention.
The girls who were shared among several patrons were not in our dorm as often. And frankly, a good chunk of my waking hours was spent floating on venom.
“We had forty girls on the books,” Luca said quietly. “We only recovered seventeen. We missed a whole dorm.” His jaw tightened.
Cade’s gaze chilled, as if I were to blame for that. I wasn’t the one who invaded and stole the donors! But without sharp anger to spur my tongue, I was too frightened of the werewolf Alpha to fight back.
As I stared at Cade, the room swam around me. There was only Luca’s hands skimming over my arms, and the heated honey stare of the Alpha who clearly didn’t like me. It was a shame. He was painfully gorgeous. I wondered what he looked like when he wasn’t scowling. Those lips were so full and perfectly formed. I’d bet they were soft.
“How many vampires lived in the nest?” Cade asked, his words clipped.
Frustrated, I closed my eyes. “I don’t know most ofthem. Just Evrin and his brothers. A couple of his friends. Honestly, I’m not sure, I was always with Evrin.”
Those days were memories I tucked away far in my mind. From the first terrifying months to the years I was paralyzed and constantly exhausted with multiple vampires feeding from me. I realized later, it must have been weakness from blood loss. Evrin took much better care of me once I became his.
Shaking my head, I cleared away the darkness. If these wolves were going to keep pushing me to remember the hardest time of my life, we were going to have a big problem.
“With Evrin,” Cade muttered darkly, repeating my last few words. “So, he was making you his mate.”
“He hadn’t given her any blood yet, but it was planned,” Luca said. The two men shared a long look, and I had a feeling they were speaking a language I was not privy to.
“Look, I don’t think it’s any of your business who I am mates with,” I grumbled, pulling further from Luca. His arm stayed tight, and I gave up, slouching into him. His comforting heat was soothing, despite the sweat forming under my thin t-shirt.
It didn’t feel overly warm in the room. What was wrong with me?
“Why do you insist on defending them? You were a blood slave,” Luca said, his voice rumbling against my side.
Glowering, I twisted to look up at him. “I’ve told you,don’t use that phrase. I’m a donor. It’s voluntary.”
“You made that choice?” Cade said darkly.
“It’s better than living on my own,” I snapped.
“They held you captive. You were a food source. Like a farm animal, locked in a dark room underground with cold showers. There was nothing human or voluntary about that,” Cade snapped.
