Page 52 of Brutally Mated
Krall pauses for a moment, then lets out a breath I don’t think any of us knew he was holding.
“I want you to be happy,” he says to me.
“Bad news,” I say.
“Yes. I’ve gathered you’re not thrilled. Is it me? Which of us do you not want?”
With the question posed so boldly and bluntly, I can’t pretend not to know the answer. I fumble for a second, my face blushing as the answer immediately leaps to mind, and I know that saying it won’t make any sense.
“I want all of you,” I mumble. “Just not like this…”
“Not like this how?”
“Not with all the rules and the…”
“Oh, you are joking!?” Krall lets out a laugh that doesn’t sound all that amused. “This is a temper tantrum because you don’t want to do as you’re told? Don’t want to follow rules like, hm, I don’t know, don’t turn us in to human authorities telling them we’re trafficking you?”
“When you put it that way…” I can’t bring myself to look at him. I stare at the floor and wish I could fall through it.
Krall reaches out, grips my chin, and lifts my head so I am forced to look at him.
“You understand you are in trouble,” he says. “Skor may have mated you, may have used some magical means to bind you, but you can be sure both Thorn and I will be punishing you too. What you did on the train is enough to be very sore for a very long time.”
I look over his shoulder and make eye contact with Thorn. He looks serious and a little grim.
“Are you mad at me?” I address the question to him.
“I know why you’re doing this,” he says. “But you can’t do it. Krall’s right. Humans can’t be involved with us. It’s dangerous. There are so many forces hostile to wolves in this world. That’s why we’re trying to get to Eclipse City. That’s where we will definitely be safe.”
“Okay. Well. I am new to this,” I say. “I never had mates before, and I never really had anyone tell me what to do before either. Back in the mountains, I looked after myself.”
“You don’t look after yourself anymore,” Krall growls. “We do. If you let us.”
“Skor…”
“Yes, I know, he used magic on you. Doesn’t change the fundamental issue, which is you did something very bad back in the train. You betrayed us, and you’re going to be punished for it once we reach Larchford. That’s for us, and for you.”
“Fine,” I say.
“And you won’t have that attitude,” Krall says.
I think I hate them. All they really care about is dominating me and making me submit to them. They’re not listening to how dangerous Skor is, and their need to punish me for the train incident is greater than anything else.
“We’re going to get some rest,” Krall says. “You better not go anywhere, or I swear to every god there is, you will regret it.”
Krall and Thorn get some sleep. Krall sleeps up against the door, and Thorn sleeps under the window. I’m not going to be able toget past either one of them. Instead, I get to sit around and think about what is going to happen to me, and how much trouble I am in.
The sound of an engine rouses them sometime late in the afternoon. I guess I must have fallen asleep too, only because I have the sense of waking up. I have had a very hard few days, and am exhausted.
“Stay here,” Krall says, going outside.
I watch through the door as he approaches Skor, who is getting out of the car. He’s changed clothes since I last saw him. He’s no longer dressed like a warrior. Instead he is wearing a white shirt and dark pants. He’s dressing human. It looks weird. His hair is slicked back from his forehead. He’s transformed in some way. Like he’s put on an even more fake mask.
The car is interesting to look at. It’s bright red. Not a color I’d pick to be inconspicuous in the middle of a field. I saw a few cars in Broken Belly, low-slung wheeled things sort of like trains. The car is of less attention to me than the fact that as Skor gets out of it, Krall grabs him by the front of his shirt and punches him in the face. Hard.
“Oh, my!” I gasp in delight.
“What?” Thorn asks.
