Chapters 16 & 17

Chapter 16: Vie

Wrenley

Time moved slowly as the bond unfurled between them. She could feel how strong and steady he was. His heartbeat was like a steady drum, a rhythm that she knew would be there as a constant assurance. Not just an assurance of his presence, but life. Wrenley didn’t know how she knew this, but there was no doubt in her.

She couldn’t feel his thoughts, making her think that he couldn’t feel hers. The relief that flooded her from that realization was almost enough to make her cry in gratefulness. It had been the overly invading idea of the bond that she had run so hard from.

Well, that and someone insisting that she didn’t have a choice in this.

But she had had a choice. Cain gave her a choice. And she had chosen to accept it.

With him, anyway.

She could feel him everywhere within her and she swore, he was somehow responding to everything. Her unease he nuzzled against, easing it out of her. He stroked her tension as if it were a rabid animal that he was slowly and expertly coaxing into a tame, domestic pupy. Her fear that she was losing control of herself he lavished with affection.

And her anger, that bitter part in her that she’d been harboring since she stepped into the fairy tale, he cooed to. Like she was a pouting child, and he was an indulgent caregiver. Yes, you’re unhappy. Yes, it was unfair and wrong of them to send you here. Yes, be mad. And let me soothe it away from you. He validated her anger. He agreed with it. And wrapped her in his affection so thoroughly that it finally started to melt away.

“I feel like I do all the work and he gets the girl.”

Wrenley opened her eyes. Cain had picked his head up at Jaxon’s voice and she caught him rolling his eyes, even as a smile grew on his lips. They turned their heads towards the door to find both Rawson and Jaxon just inside it.

Jaxon moved forward to kneel on the far end of the bed. He stared at Wrenley, deep in her eyes, and she could see that hurt there. The yearning and longing.

But the only thing Wrenley could think was that she wondered if she could just have Cain. She didn’t want anything to interrupt this feeling of wholeness and belonging. She didn’t want something else to invade and pull it off track. She was still learning it, still feeling it settle within her. And she liked how it wrapped around her. She didn’t want anything to disrupt it.

Rawson came into the room more fully and sat in the chair against the wall facing the bed. Jaxon was still covered in pie, the mess on him made Wrenley smile a little before turning her face back into Cain’s neck.

“Why did you change your mind?” Rawson asked.

She almost bit out that she hadn’t changed her mind. Not about all of them. And out of the three, Cain really was the best of the bunch. Rawson was prone to anger. She would never forget when he’d nearly come out of his skin with fury at her when she’d first told them she didn’t want this. And Jaxon was too overwhelming. He was just there. Wanting and pushing, even if he was nice about it.

Cain had remained further removed. He remained level and tried to talk both men down. He tried to relieve her ache and still give her the option to refuse the bond. His consideration and reliability were what would have made her choose him in the end anyway.

And now she’d made her choice.

“Cady,” Wrenley said, looking at Rawson. “Do you know her? Raider’s sister.”

Rawson tilted his head to the side. “I haven’t actually spoken to her, but I think I know who she is.”

“I helped him with sweet potatoes yesterday. Cady came in and she… it was like she was in my body, telling me what everything felt like. But it wasn’t just that. She explained why she wanted a mate and for some reason, out of everyone who’s talked to me about this, her words just clicked right with me.” She paused while Cain shifted them, turning her to her side and curling against her at her back so that they were facing the other two. He pulled a blanket around them, and she sighed. See, he knew what she needed without saying anything! “And Cain was never pushy. I felt like he did offer me a choice without demanding this was what I had to do. I’ve been so angry since I got here.”

“Because of us?” Rawson asked.

Wrenley shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, but not initially. I’m not supposed to be here. I trained for years for a different fairy tale and then am thrust into this one. And everything since stepping into your bleeding forest has only compounded on that. I’ve been so determined to remain angry that I haven’t let anything dissuade that.”

“Until Cady,” Jaxon said.

“I don’t know why. Maybe because there was something in what she said that I related to, but I don’t know.”

“And you changed your mind about Cain. Not me or Rawson,” Jaxon said.

She could tell that he tried to keep his voice light. There wasn’t any accusation in it. But there was hurt and pining. Wrenley nodded. “Mates are between two people,” she said. “That seems to be a unanimous agreement.”

Jaxon sighed, pressing his lips together. He ran a hand over his face and Wrenley could feel the pull within her gut. The pit that started to form again, heavy like a rock and making her queasy. She swallowed, trying to push the bile away.

She glanced at Rawson, seeing his hands holding tightly to the armrests.

That’s not fair. She had a mate now! She shouldn’t still be feeling like something isn’t fitting right. Especially when she could feel Cain and how exactly right he sat within her.

“How about a shower?” Cain murmured in her ear.

Wrenley nodded and he extricated her from the blankets and bed. She didn’t look at the other two but heard the quiet gasp behind her as she stepped into the bathroom. The door clicked quietly behind her, and Cain urged her gently inside.

She stared at herself within the mirror as Cain turned his attention to the shower. He started the water and she watched him over her shoulder within the reflection of the mirror. But her eyes caught on the angry red mark on her shoulder.

It was no doubt where Cain bit her. There were still the bright red marks of blood within the puncture wounds. Wrenley moved closer to get a better look. She was so focused on it that she nearly jumped when Cain’s hands landed on her upper arms.

Her eyes widened as he bent to kiss the mark. Touching an open wound stung. She tensed for that new bite of burn, but it didn’t come. Just a soothing calm that spread through her. And a bit of arousal as he traced his tongue over it. It was almost as if their new bond flared brighter for a moment.

Cain pulled his mouth off the wound and kissed her neck. “It won’t scar,” he told her. “But you’ll still have a mark there, showing the world that you’re mine.”

Wrenley smiled a little, finding that the idea didn’t horrify her this time. “It’s not going to scar? At all?”

He shook his head, kissing her jaw. “No. I’ll tend to it for a few more days, encouraging it to heal. And when it’s done, just a mark will be left. Kind of a birthmark but one I gave you.”

She sighed, nodding. It was right where it wouldn’t be easily hidden either. Not unless she wore a scarf or something with a high collar. Cain must have known what she was thinking. He grinned in the mirror and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back into the shower.

His fingers dipped into her hair immediately, messaging her scalp in such a way that it was almost too rough. And yet she was nearly melting his arms.

And all the while, the knot in her stomach grew. The lump in her throat made it hard to swallow. Even with the content and peace of her bond with Cain gave her.

“It’s not a choice like that,” Cain said after he’d lathered her hair with shampoo. He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “The sky didn’t give you three options to choose from and you only have to pick one. You can choose them all, Wren.”

“What if I don’t want them all?” she whispered. Her entire body reacted as if someone had shoved a knife into her gut and twisted. She let out a harsh breath.

“Shh,” he whispered, rubbing her back. “Don’t do that. Stop thinking like that.”

But she wasn’t sure how. Her head spun with ache and a blinding pulse behind her eyes. Cain had made it all go away. But now that the other two had come into the room, it brought back the reality of her situation.

“Concentrate on me, Wren,” Cain told her. “Focus on our bond. Find it.”

She nodded, squeezing her eyes tightly. Turning inward, she felt around blindly until she stumbled across the places inside her that screamed of Cain. And they were everywhere. It felt like she dove for those places, and he caught her, wrapping himself around her until she all but disappeared.

“There you go,” he said and everything else faded. “Just stay there, okay? Stop pushing so much?”

Wrenley nodded.

“Let’s figure out your fairy tale fix and then we can talk about Rawson and Jaxon. For now, just hold onto me and our bond. Can you do that?”

His voice was a gentle cooing in her ear, raising goosebumps all over her body. She smiled a little, nodding. It wasn’t such a hard thing to agree to. She was pretty sure she could take her last breath in his embrace and be completely fine with it. Fuck the fairy tale. She wanted to lose herself in Cain.

He shifted her until she was under the spray of the water and rinsed the shampoo out without making her move her head. Then he rubbed her body down and she was grinning, thinking about the things in the shower she’d refused to use, knowing they’d been all over their bodies. And now, he was caressing one all over her.

Cain dried her when they were out of the shower, too. He was very thorough, making sure she wasn’t damp in the least before moving to her hair. He rubbed a towel over her head and then brushed her hair, putting the locks in an elastic. It was a bit lopsided, and he cringed at it in the mirror.

Wrenley laughed but left it. It was cute that he’d tried.

Her piles of clothes in the bathroom were getting low but again, she just pulled whatever was on the top and slipped into them. She glanced in the mirror and found that with her hair up and a snug shirt, Cain’s mark was well on display. There was an interesting giddy feeling in her chest looking at it.

Wrenley gave herself a mental shake. The abrupt change in disposition was a little disorienting.

There weren’t any clothes in there for him so when they walked out, Cain was still naked. And both men were exactly where they’d left them.

And both were looking at her.

“I’m going to go out now,” she said, glancing at Cain.

He nodded and kissed the side of her head. “Be good, hm?”

She grinned at him and then narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to tell me to stay away from Raider?”

His smile was almost arrogant. “Nope. Go hang out with Raider if you want. Come back for dinner. I think we’ll be light on dessert, though.”

Wrenley stared at him for a moment but turned and left the room, not looking at Jaxon or Rawson. She tried not to think about them at all but kept herself focused on just the feeling of Cain inside her.

The door shut quietly behind her, and Wrenley paused in the hall. She knew her way outside at this point, but she’d never been outside of that route. What would she find if she took a right instead of a left?

Except that she didn’t feel like exploring today. She wanted to see the village now that she was in a better frame of mind. Now that her bond with Cain – which she could still feel as if he were still hugging her in the shower – was weaving through her and her anger was dissipating, she wanted to see how she felt about this place.

And maybe examine the trees again with the idea that she will fix the fairy tale. And find herself a happy ending, too.

Wrenley followed the scents of food and the aroma carried her to another café. It wasn’t the same one as she’d met Liander, Maris, and Analise at yesterday. Was it yesterday? Anyway, it was another and just as cute.

She ordered a mug of something hot and spicy, the scent reminding her of cider. And since she’d been a little occupied in bed during lunch, she grabbed something that looked like it might be brunchy. Savory breakfast foods inside a donut?

Sitting at a table by the sidewalk, Wrenley watched the town bustle about her. There was laughter and chatter, kids running around playing, people carrying packages. She could tell who was working and who wasn’t and yet, everyone was friendly. Stopping for a chat or just waving.

Wrenley had heard all the sounds before. She’d seen the happiness of the town. But now that she let herself settle, there was a true fairy tale feel to it. It was a perfect little place.

She jumped a little when a shadow fell over her. And then she frowned, looking up at the lady who had been sitting next to her at the meeting of the clans. And her sickly-sweet smile still put a sour taste into Wrenley’s mouth.

“Hi,” she said. Her gaze caught on the mark at her neck and Wrenley swore there was a glint of something in her eyes. Pleasure or possession, she wasn’t sure.

“Hello,” Wrenley said, not having to try at all not to sound welcoming.

But the girl didn’t take the hint. She pulled out a chair and sat across from Wrenley, keeping that unsettling smile on her face.

“I’m Vie,” she said. “We didn’t properly meet before.”

“Wrenley,” she answered in return.

“You’re Rawson’s mate, aren't you?”

Her question pulled Wrenley’s attention inward, feeling the way the knot in her stomach gnawed at her. But she forced her attention back to the part of her that was Cain and burrowed in deep again, until the feeling of being unsettled in her own skin was pushed so far away, that she could barely feel it.

Pressing her lips together, she said, “I’m Cain’s mate, though I prefer to have an identity that isn’t based on a mate at all.”

Vie laughed. It was that kind of laugh that you’d know from two rooms away was fake. Wrenley didn’t smile.

“I think Rawson wants to take you for himself,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.

It was only then that Wrenley put together who she was. The woman that had been outside Rawson’s door the day she’d been brought to his room. The one who wanted Rawson. What was her name again? And why did such jealous possession rear up inside Wrenley that she gripped the table, as if to hold herself in place?

She let out a harsh breath, and it felt like she was trying to dig her way into Cain even with this distance between them. To get rid of the unwanted reaction that had reared up within her or to get away from this woman, she didn’t know which.

And she also didn’t know how to answer Vie’s comment, so she didn’t.

Vie leaned forward, placing both her hands flat on the table, and giving Wrenley what she thought must have been trying for a conspiratory look. Wrenley didn’t lean forward, even as Vie spoke quietly.

“There’s a way to back out of an unwanted assignment,” Vie said quietly.

Wrenley frowned, tilting her head to the side. “I’m happy with my mate,” she told Vie. “Besides, I’m not from here. I don’t have an assignment of any sort.”

She saw the confusion skitter through Vie’s gaze for a minute before her eyes lowered to the bite on Wrenley’s neck. And Wrenley decided to play that up a little more, saying things that she only presumed to be true.

“Besides, I already took a mate. You can see that plainly. And you know it’s not Rawson. I don’t know what you’re trying to convince me of, but I’m not involved with Rawson so you can just move on from that idea.”

She could tell that all of what she said had been true enough that it was believable. Vie could see that the bite mark wasn’t Rawson’s. Which indicated that she wasn’t actually involved with Rawson. That she did have a mate.

“You’re not,” Vie said, sitting back. A small smile worked at her lips for a minute while she crossed her arms. There was satisfaction in her gaze as she continued to stare at Wrenley’s bite. This pleased Vie a great deal.

Her gaze flicked back to meet Wrenley’s. Wrenley let the woman stare at her while she took several blissfully delicious sips of her drink. It was good enough that she almost forgot that this whole conversation made her uncomfortable.

“Perhaps we can go on a double date,” Vie volunteered, making Wrenley pause with her mug hovering in front of her mouth. “You and your mate with Rawson and I.”

Wrenley frowned. That uncalled for jealousy reared to life like something was ready to jump out of her but when she found Vie staring at her intently, she knew the other woman was trying to gauge her reaction.

“I’d rather not,” Wrenley said. “I don’t know you and I’d rather not be in Rawson’s company.”

She should have chosen her words better. As soon as they left her mouth, an ache bloomed in her chest.

“Wrenley!”

Relief flooded her at Raider’s voice, and she turned to him with a thankful smile. “Hi!” she exclaimed, getting to her feet.

Raider eyed Vie with narrowed eyes before offering his hand, though he paused when his gaze landed on her new bite. Wrenley grabbed his hand and picked up her drink. She glanced at Vie, who was carefully studying them both with a calculating look. Without offering anything in departure, Wrenley let Raider guide her along the fence from the other side until she got to the gate, and he pulled her out.

“You alright?” he asked, his voice low as he pulled her into his side.

Wrenley nodded.

“You looked trapped.”

She sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. “The girl gives me the creeps.” She looked up at Raider as he stopped at the end of the block. “Thanks for the rescue.”

The corner of his lips twitched into a hint of a smile. Then his hand cupped the side of her face, and he gently tilted her head further to the side, exposing her neck and Cain’s bite. “So… you have a good morning?”

Chapter 17: False Accusation

Wrenley

Wrenley sighed as Raider continued to stare at her bite mark. It was very obviously fresh so his assumption that it was this morning couldn’t have been more accurate if he’d been there to witness it.

“It was an interesting morning that ended with that woman,” she said.

“Cain,” Raider said, brows raising as he let go of her. “I thought it would have been Jaxon.”

Wrenley pressed her lips together, choosing to ignore the last words so as not to set off anything new inside her. “Yes, Cain. Do you know him?”

Raider shook his head. “I know who he is as the Deputy’s Enforcer. I’d recognize him on sight. But no, I’ve never spoken to him.”

“I get that impression about you from him, too. He knows who you are but doesn’t actually know you.”

He nodded, gaze still stuck on her bite mark. It made her want to fidget. Instead, she brought her drink to her lips.

“Want to go for a walk?” Raider asked eventually.

Wrenley nodded, smiling at him. “Yes.”

He turned, offering her his hand again. She took it and let him lead her away from the café. When they turned the corner, Wrenley glanced back to the outside dining to find Vie still sitting at the table she left, her hard eyes watching Wrenley walk away.

Wrenley really didn’t like that woman. It took her a minute to remember the first time she heard Vie’s voice. While she was newly nursing the wounds on her back. Before Rawson’s gray eyes had turned an angry brown and his presence took up the entire room in his fury.

Her name was Vienna, but Rawson had called her Vi. And apparently, she’d already had the Primal’s favor to become Rawson’s mate, something Rawson did not want.

It wasn’t hard to figure out why. Vienna was a fucking creep.

“I hear that we won’t all be getting pies this evening,” Raider said, cutting into her thoughts.

Wrenley laughed before quickly covering the sound as she brought the mug of cider-like goodness to her lips. It was almost empty and not nearly as warm as it had been. She wished she’d gotten more before leaving the café.

“Know anything about that?” Raider asked, making her press her lips together.

Though she couldn’t contain the smile. Had chasing the ostriches really only been this morning? She felt like weeks had gone by.

“Yea, so, did you know ostriches are adorable when they try to run away?” she asked.

Raider snorted. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

Wrenley threw her empty mug into a nearby receptacle as Raider pulled her into a park. “Jaxon found me this morning as I wandered around. And he decided we should bond by getting into trouble. Since it served the double purpose of also making Rawson mad, I thought it was a brilliant idea. And then the ostriches got loose and here we are. Short half the pies that had been prepared.”

Raider chuckled, shaking his head as he stopped at a double swing. It was the kind where there was a seat opposite a second. The top was covered but all four sides were open. Wrenley stepped inside and took one of the sides, Raider sitting across from her.

They used their feet to push the swing into gentle motion. She examined the park and the people wandering about. There were couples and families. Children running around, laughing. Birds singing. And a beautiful lack of bloody trees.

Some day she was going to have to figure out the trees!

When she turned back to Raider, he was looking at her neck again and it occurred to her that perhaps she’d led him on a bit. It hadn’t been her intent. Although, accepting a bond with Cain also hadn’t been her intent.

But according to Cady, Raider didn’t even want a mate.

“So, your sister says you’re weird and don’t want an assignment from the sky for a mate. Or a mate at all,” Wrenley said, hopefully to lighten the guilt that was building in her.

Raider’s gaze flicked to her eyes and his gorgeous smile curved on his lips. “I don’t,” he confirmed. “Or, at least, I never did.”

“You’ve changed your mind? It was Vie, huh?”

He chuckled. There was a pause before he answered. His gaze dropped to her neck again before meeting her eyes. “I’m not from here,” he said. “Although, I’m not from the Outside like you, either. And that means my makeup and desires are different.”

“What do you mean? Where are you from?” Maybe he was the break!

“I was very young when Indigo found me, but my memories of that time were filled with abstract fear and death. No one will give me an outright straight answer, but I think I’m from the Shadelands.”

“You left that out when we were talking about stories and what broke this one.”

Raider nodded. “The trees were already bleeding, Wren. I didn’t break the story. I’ve also heard that there have been others found. Others like me, but no one really wants to talk about it.”

“But you kind of look like the Indigo,” Wrenley said.

His smile ticked up a little. “I do and I don’t. There are two extremes within our clan. The dark night skin and stark white hair and then the opposite. But I don’t really fit into the opposite though I closely resemble them. My hair isn’t quite the raven black but more of a charcoal dark. My skin is light but there’s an odd shimmer to it. My eyes are dark but they’re not onyx but navy.”

“What does it mean to come from the Shadelands?” she asked.

Raider shook his head. “I have no idea. But I hear stories. We all have. Of the monsters that roam the land, fill the waters, and hunt from the skies. I’m clearly none of those things so what I am is still a question.”

“You’re not a bear,” Wrenley said. “So, your view on things is different.”

He nodded, sitting back and draping his arms across the back. “Correct. I have no desire to tie myself to someone quite so thoroughly. Sounds fun and all, but I think I’ll pass.” His smirk was a bit smug, and his tone was more of a drawl now.

Wrenley laughed quietly, bringing her hand to cover her neck. “It’s not so bad,” she said quietly. She could still feel Cain everywhere and it filled her with some corny form of giddiness.

And then something else flared inside her, making her gasp. Another presence that started out as arousal and then filled her with bitter anger, deep-rooted depression, and sour betrayal. And then surprise coursed through her quickly following it. It was both from Cain and wherever this outside presence was.

“What’s wrong? Wrenley?”

It took her several minutes to reorient herself around the new presence, but it didn’t take her long to figure out it was Jaxon. It felt like him. It… tasted like him?

It took Raider several more minutes until she finally registered him saying her name. “Sorry,” she muttered, rubbing at Cain’s bite mark.

He took her face in his fingers and forced her attention to him. There was concern in his gaze as he stared at her, searching her eyes. “What happened?”

“I think I was just invaded,” she said, frowning. A shudder raced through her as the feel of Jaxon, frenzied and irritated, started to settle. The confusion was fading, replaced with annoyance and frustration. There was also a spark of hope that was growing, budding like a flower. But under it all was still the deep void of betrayal, hurt, and anger.

“Invaded?” Raider asked.

“Yea?” she answered, though it was more of a question. “I don’t- I don’t know what’s going on but it feels a little weird. Like someone just dropped into the middle of my new bond. Is that possible?”

Raider raised a brow. “No?” He frowned, shaking his head. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. Mate bonds are between mates. No one else can wiggle their way in. At least, I’ve never heard of it happening. And I ask enough questions that most of the elder’s cringe when they see me coming.”

Wrenley laughed.

He released her face and sat back into his seat. “You’re okay?”

She nodded though she wasn’t at all sure what had just happened. How Jaxon had gotten there and why he was staying. She didn’t feel it in the same way she did Cain. It was as if he were an echo. Or… far away, maybe?

“Yea, I’m fine. Just a little startled.”

“You’ve just confirmed that I don’t want a mate,” he said, once more draping his arms across the back of the swing seat.

They got the swing back to rocking as she looked at him.

“Hm,” she answered noncommittally.

His grin returned before it shifted into a frown. “I actually thought I was immune to this since I’m not a bear. But you fell under this bullshit mate thing, so I feel like I’m no longer safe.”

She laughed again, shaking her head.

“I’d never met anyone I’d even considered making a mate with until I saw you.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her guilt resurfacing and drowning out some of the residual echo of Jaxon.

Raider shifted seats so he was with her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t be. I knew you were already being chased. And I’m pretty confident that I wouldn’t be able to make a bond like that, Wren.”

She sighed. “I don’t care about the bond. Well, I mean, now that it’s there, I can’t fathom how I’ve lived without it. It’s like he’s soothing every wrinkle and hiccup inside me, replacing it all with something warm and- and- I don’t know. I think Cady said ‘home’. I didn’t understand but I get that it feels like that though I can’t describe it in any other way.”

“Cady’s going to be thrilled and jealous to know you got her dream,” Raider said, shaking his head.

“She’s really a bear, isn’t she?”

He nodded. “Her parents took me in before she was born. She doesn’t know I’m not her actual brother.”

“I’m sure you’re her brother in every way that matters.”

“If you mean that when her assignment comes through and some asshole bear decides he doesn’t want her, I’m going to tear him into a hundred little bear pieces, yes, I am.”

Wrenley grinned hugely. The quiet stretched between them for a while as Wrenley watched a family playing with a frisbee. “Is it common? Being rejected?”

Raider shook his head. “No. But the mating ceremony isn’t the only time assignments come through which is why there’s a whole bunch of crazies out there who are rejected.”

“Did Rawson’s rejection start that movement?”

“No. Not entirely. His was a public rejection. During one of the ceremonies. Before then, there had been assignments refused that didn’t pique at the ceremony. I suppose he kind of made it acceptable to reject the assignments at the ceremonies, too.”

“He sounds like an asshole,” Wrenley said.

Raider chuckled. “I don’t think he is. I’ve never had reason to speak to him, but I hear he’s actually well liked. He has a lot of favor in Aspen. A lot of respect. From all the clans.”

“Well, I think he’s an asshole.”

He laughed again.

She wasn’t sure what she felt but tension crept into her shoulders. Wrenley looked towards the park to see the family that had been playing had stopped as they watched something. Another couple paused to watch as well.

Wrenley shifted so she could look. It shouldn’t have been anything to make her uneasy. They were unmistakably guards. Like those men who’d put her into the cell. And the men who had taken her out of the cell and whipped her.

Her shoulders tensed and Raider shifted next to her.

They were walking towards Raider and Wrenley though their gait wasn’t particularly concerning. It was almost like they were taking a stroll. Something in her gut told her that wasn’t the case.

“I think we should go,” Raider said into her ear. “Come on.”

Nodding, Wrenley accepted his gentle pull on her arm. But they’d only climbed out of the swing on the opposite side to come face to face with two more guards. There was a third a dozen feet to the right, behind where they’d been sitting.

“That’s the one,” one of the men said.

Raider’s hand tightened on her as he pushed her behind him.

“The non-bear. Move aside, Raider.”

Raider shook his head, his grip on her harsh. Her heart raced as she dug her fingers into his back. Where was her crossbow when she needed it? She couldn’t take on five grown ass men the size of… well… bears.

Fuck.

Even with Raider, even if he managed to distract three of them, there were two more.

How did this bond work? Could she send, like, an SOS to Cain? Could he feel her panic start to grow? How could she make sure he did?

“What do you want with her?” Raider asked, pushing her back until she was pressed between him and the swing.

“She’s been charged with destruction of private property.”

“I’ve been with her for the last hour,” Raider said. “We’ve been sitting right here.”

“Unfortunately, this happened approximately an hour and a half ago. Move aside, son.”

Her breaths became harsh as a phantom pain stung her back. She was going to get beaten again, wasn’t she? Raider pressed her harder into the swing, the harsh piece of wood digging into her back.

He wasn’t going to let her go. The hand that wasn’t holding onto her arm dropped to her leg as he shifted to take in the other two men so that all five of them were in front of him.

“You realize this isn’t going to end well for you, right?” Raider asked.

“This doesn’t concern you, Raider,” one of the men said. His voice was low and threatening. “Move aside and hand her over. Before we haul you in for obstruction.”

She could almost feel a thread of violence pulse on Raider’s skin as she gripped his wrist. He turned, keeping her pressed against the swing. He pulled her hair out of the elastic and dropped it, arranging it to cover her neck. He pressed a kiss to her skin, and she shivered when his lips landed against Cain’s bite mark.

“Ten minutes,” he whispered, his voice so low she could barely make out the words. “Ten minutes tops. I promise.”

This time when his mouth touched her skin, his teeth dug into her. Once again, right over Cain’s bite. Something in her rolled over, making her head spin.

And then she was filled with dread as Raider backed away, pulling her hair over her shoulder, covering her neck. His gaze remained on hers. As he took several steps back, dropping his hands to his sides, Wrenley found that he looked incredibly different than he did a few minutes ago.

His hair wasn’t the same darkness but streaking with a different dark shade. Maybe blue or purple. And his navy eyes were a weird and freaky shift of colors. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, and he hissed when one of the men took her by her elbow and started pulling her away.

And then he turned, walking away purposefully. His stride was quick. Just short of becoming a jog.

“What did I break?” Wrenley asked.

“A chair,” one of the men answered. “At the café on the corner. There was a witness.”

She could only guess who that witness was. She didn’t fight when they led her out of the park, even as fear settled into her. Not because she was afraid of their cells. But because there were five of them and she didn’t have to guess what they were going to do to her.

Her back ached just thinking about it. Tears stung her eyes as she remembered the bite of pain as the whip pierced her skin. She remembered waking up screaming before Cain had covered the wounds in some magic goop.

Wrenley tried to keep her pace slow. They weren’t in a hurry. She’d kept watch of Raider for as long as she could until he disappeared around a corner. She didn’t know where he was going.

She looked towards the big house where she’d left Cain. She could see the roof looming over the tops of the buildings in the distance.

Wrenley searched within her, reaching for the Cain bond and tugging on it as hard as she could. Could she scream down the length of it? Could she strangle it so tightly that he didn’t have a choice but to come find her to make her ease up?

At least finding her wouldn’t be difficult. There was only one place they could possibly look. But Wrenley broke out into a cold sweat as they passed the jail and headed towards the north gate of the town.

There were eyes on her, watching her and whispering. Kids would run by and then pause, staring at her with big eyes.

She wasn’t sure she could get more anxious, even as they stepped outside of the gates. Completely exiting the town of Bear Tower Heights.

And then they stopped at the edge of a very deep pit. They paused long enough for Wrenley to look into it, hear breathing to become harsh as her fear picked up for real this time.

They were going to drop her into a pit. How was she going to get out of that?

But instead of shoving her into it, they pulled her backwards and pushed her into a chair a few feet away. Wrenley looked up at the five big men, all holding different tools of their trade. And she was sure their trade was torture.

“Are you ready to talk about that chair?” one of them asked as he tapped his palm with the flat edge of a hunting knife.

She watched it before looking up at him. At all five of them. There would be no mercy from these men. But they were big and cumbersome. She was small and lithe. Now that she was free of their hold, maybe she could run. They were all lined in front of her, after all.

All she had to do was run into the bloody trees behind her and lose them as she ran. Wrenley swallowed and tensed. And then she was out of time as someone came up behind her and pressed heavy hands onto her shoulders, as if to pin her there.

The man with the hunting knife gave her a wide, nasty grin.