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Nathan’s POV So much for that good night’s sleep I was hoping for the night before our court appearance. I thought a nice hot shower after working up a filthy sweat with my little lamb would put me right to sleep like it usually did. But instead, I was wide awake, watching her sleep and wondering how the hell she wormed her way under my skin so deep I'd give her anything she asked me for. Because the thing she asked me for was the last thing in the world I ever would have agreed to in my right mind. Apparently when it came to Charlie, sanity was a thing of the past. I still couldn’t believe I’d let her win our most recent argument. “I want to go with you to the hearing.” She’d mentioned one day over lunch. “No! Charlie, we’ve had this conversation before. It’s too dangerous. I can’t risk your safety by dragging you into the middle of our fight.” I lectured her in the sternest tone I could manage without an outright bark. “I know it’s dangerous! That's why I need to go. I’ll
Nathan’s POV “Get your fucking hands off my mate!” I roared. But the man accosting Charlie just chuckled. “Mate? Charlie-girl is your mate? Oh, that’s fucking hilarious!” He laughed in my direction then turned back to her. “The Hazelwood Whore snagged herself an Alpha for a fated mate. Does he know you already had an Alpha? And how much you loved it when Quade was willing to share?” My blood was boiling in my veins. My wolf was threatening to come out, pushing his claws through my fingertips. My vision was a red haze of fury. It was bad enough he was touching my mate with his foul hands but shaming her for abuse she couldn’t escape just earned him a death sentence. Charlie’s face was a sickly pale color and her eyes were filled with terror. I would do anything to erase that look from her face. And this was all my fucking fault. She would’ve been pissed at me for making her stay home but I’d rather have her angry than hurt. “I’m going to give you one chance to leave here ali
Charlie’s POV Anguish consumed me. I felt the pain of Nathan’s rejection all the way to my bones. Packing was a slow endeavor between the pain in my chest taht left me breathless and my muscles aching against my wolf’s attempts to fight me. The fist squeezing the life out of my heart hadn’t let up since the moment Nathan shoved me into the car, refusing to even look at me. And now I could feel the last dregs of blood ebbing away, leaving nothing but a dry, brittle lump in my chest. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the stabbing pain slicing through it. I actually wished someone would open my chest and tear the damn thing out if it meant the misery went with it. Nathan had been my every dream come true. He’d been everything I imagined every night when I closed my eyes and pictured what my mate would be like . I clung to the promise of my dream guy on those nights when I had no idea how I'd survive another day. But the problem with dreams was you always had to wake up. To have e
Nathan’s POV “How fast can we move all the supplies from Winter Woods to Hazelwood?” I asked Mikhail, my Beta, thinking maybe focusing on work would be the cure I was searching for. . “It’s going to take some time, Alpha. All our trucks are packed to capacity with household goods for our pack members.” He informed me. “That’s not good enough!” I barked. “How am I supposed to feed two packs worth of people with only one pack’s food supply?” I picked up a useless ceramic knick-knack someone had left on my desk and hurled it across the room, watching it shatter against the wall as if all my pent up frustration would be demolished right along with it. Unfortunately, I’d need to launch about a thousand more baubles against that wall to even scratch the surface of the resentment brewing in my chest. “I’m sorry Alpha!” Mikhail jumped to apologize. “I’ll reach out to our allies to find more trucks we can borrow. And I’ll ask our Omegas to pack a few days worth of meals for each fam
Charlie’s POV “Shit, shit, shit! What are we going to do, Charlie? Fuck! This can’t be happening!” We were supposed to be getting ready for the party Brad demanded we attend as his escorts but Allison was too busy freaking out. “We’re going to finish getting ready and go to the party as planned. The rest I’m still working on.” I answered truthfully. Well, mostly truthfully. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking the fuck out too. But saying that out loud wouldn’t help Allison or her parents. We had to play along until I could think of a way out of this mess. I knew coming here would be a risk but I hadn’t expected the shit to hit the fan so soon after I arrived. Then again, Allison had no idea her parents had been taking help from one of Quade’s enforcers, a man almost as depraved as the Alpha himself. We’d walked into a neck deep pile of poo, as my dad used to say. Every cell in my body had screamed at me to run and never look back. But I couldn't do that to Allison or her
Nathan’s POV No one answered the phone at the Blood Claw packhouse. But Darcy had told me a little more of what Charlie shared with her about what life had been like for her there so I wasn’t surprised. It seemed they weren’t conducting business as usual, or any legal business at all. I imagined the only telephone contact was conducted via burner phone. All of which only made me more desperate to get to her. If she had gone to Blood Claw, she was in danger and I’d been the one to put her there. My only option was to drive the few hours to the pack and search the territory for her. A writhing, roiling nausea twisted in my gut at the though of what could be happening to her before I could get to her. Then there was the not so minor issue of convincing her to leave with me, to come back home with me where she belonged. I had no hope of gaining her forgiveness in the few short minutes I planned on spending in that cesspool, but if I could offer her safety, maybe she would trust me
Charlie’s POV “Mine!” Nathan roared, storming over to me and the man who’d essentially paid for my company for the night, and not even with money but promises, because that’s how little I was worth. I had no idea what he was doing here but I knew it was his wolf’s instinct that drove him to claim me, not the man himself. He was done with me. He’d made that perfectly clear. Still, it hurt to see his handsome face so near and not be able to touch him so I turned away. “Do you know this man?” Hugh dug his fingers into my thigh in anger at the interruption and I bit back a wince. As far as he was concerned, he owned me. Anyone claiming otherwise was a threat to his percieved importance and he couldn’t allow that without repurcussions. Not to mention he’d deluded himself into thinking the other men were actually interested in the ridiculous jokes he was telling and he wasn’t the type to easily give up the attention. “No. Not any more.” I answered timidly. “I thought I did but I was w
Nathan’s POV Rage simmered in my veins as I held my lifeless mate in my arms. I clenched my jaw against the roar threatening to escape. I felt ripped in two between the urge to keep Charlie close while battling the need to go back to the party and rip that fucker’s head from his shoulders. “She’s breathing, right? Tell me she’s breathing!” Darcy whimpered next to me. “She is but it’s shallow. Her heartbeat is steady, though.” I assured her. “What’s happening in there, we can’t let that stand, Alpha!” Braden’s growl was a vicious promise of retribution. “I’ve already called the Black Moon Alphas. They’re assembling a team as we speak.” I told him. “My only regret is that I won’t be there to see it when they burn, but getting Charlie to safety is my priority right now.” “Can she make it home or do we need to detour?” He asked, his voice thick with concern. I knew he was struggling to hold it together. Knowing what was done to your mate and seeing the truth of it firsthand w