Page 21 of Tethered to the World
Annora cursed her lack of knowledge, feeling like she was missing something important. “Pack is family.”
He coughed into his fist, choking on a sudden breath of air he sucked in. “Pack does mean family, but pack grá is closer than family.” He began pacing, running a nervous hand over his head again. “Shit, you really don’t know.”
“Just spit it out.” She didn’t like the way he was beating around the bush.
He whirled and came to a stop in front of her, exasperation etched on his face. “Are you as innocent as you seem?”
She blinked at him, then her mouth dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Wait!” But the two ferrets ran out in front of him, tripping him up, allowing her time to escape. The bottle he held slipped and thunked to the floor.
She quickly dodged back when he reached for her, then her shoe slipped on the top step, and she began to teeter and fall backwards. Logan lunged forward, horror etched on his face, but it was much too late to catch her. Instead of letting her drop, he dove after her and wrapped his arms around her, twisting them midair to protect her.
“Son of a bitch!” Xander dropped the sheets he was carrying and charged up the stairs to catch them.
Not in time.
Shifters were tough, but they weren’t indestructible. Without conscious thought, the darkness exploded out of her. And they fell through the wooden stairs, then landed with a heavy thump on a stack of boxes as she took form again.
Under her, Logan grunted, his grip tightening around her. The place was completely dark, the air thin, and she realized they were in a tiny room somewhere. Trapped. Just when she was about to lose her shit, a door behind her was thrown open, allowing a slash of light to fall across the cramped space.
As she struggled to wrestle herself free, arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and she was wrenched backwards.
Before she had time to panic at being restrained, she was hauled to her feet and released, large hands frantically running over her, searching for injuries. She stood in shock as Xander slowly straightened, then rubbed a hand along his jaw. “What the hell happened?”
Then he whirled away from her, reached back into the closet beneath the stairs, and hauled out Logan, slamming the redhead against the wall, his feet dangling a foot off the floor. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“She needs to be told the truth!” Logan threw up his arms, knocking away Xander’s grip on his throat. He stumbled as he landed on his feet, then flicked a glance at her. “She should have a choice.”
“She does have a choice.” Camden stormed down the hall toward them. “That’s why she’s here as a trial.”
Logan gave a bitter laugh. “I don’t give a fuck about the trial. She’s our perfect match.” He glanced at her then, his face tightening in worry. “If you get too close to us, you can bind us to you. You’d become our pack grá—our mate. You’d be stuck with us forever.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she turned to stare at them, sputtering, “What?”
For a second a thrill of excitement sent her spirits soaring—the chance to belong, the possibility of finding love—then horror slammed into her as reality settled over her…when her uncle discovered them, they would be forced to endure the torture with her.
They would be used as a weapon against her.
Or worse, they would discover the truth about her and either cast her aside or use her the same way as her uncle, nothing more than a slave to do their bidding. Her mother warned her about love, said her kind fell in love hard and fast, but Annora thought that shit was just fairytale nonsense.
But what if it wasn’t?
She stepped away from them, her back slamming against the wall behind her. “Look, I—”
Camden snorted at her reaction. “Don’t look so panicked. You’re the only one who does the binding. You’re the only one with a choice.”
Annora recoiled, her head smacking the wall smartly. “I would never force you to do anything. Even if I knew how, I would never bind anyone to me.”
She would never put anyone through the hell of her life.
Mason lumbered toward them, edging in front of her slightly, stepping between her and his team, and addressed them. “She was brought here to learn from us. We have an assignment for the first time in weeks, and we also have patrols tonight. Give her time to process what she’s learning.”
Camden pinched the bridge of his nose, releasing a heavy sigh. “You’re right. Gather your gear and head out.” He glanced at her, his expression shuttered. “You’ll come with me and explain what happened here.”
Chapter Seven
Annora stood outside the house, watching Mason and Logan walk away with a pang of regret. She’d much rather be with them then heading out with Camden and Xander. The guys were dressed in formfitting black uniforms. While they were intimidating as hell, she couldn’t help but admit they were also in phenomenal shape.
