***CONTENT WARNING: SA+***
-Ember-
I wake to the sensation of fingers grazing my cheek. My mind is foggy with sleep, but something feels wrong—like when you know you've forgotten to lock your door at night. Then there's a sharp pinch in my arm that jolts me from my half-conscious state. A familiar scent hits my nostrils, masculine and woodsy but with an undertone that makes my stomach clench.
My eyes fly open in alarm.
Tanner.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
After we returned from the City, I'd been dreading the inevitable confrontation with him. Stella and Oaklynn had been on high alert, taking shifts to make sure I wasn't alone. But Tanner and his warriors had been out scouting, giving me two blissful Tanner-free days where I could replay every delicious moment with A in my mind without interruption.
I've also noticed that since Friday, I haven't felt any bond betrayal pains. Not a single twinge.
That's because the bond is broken, Ivy had said smugly. We're free. We found our true mate.
Now Tanner places a syringe on my nightstand with deliberate care, like he's setting down a chess piece in a game where he's already calculated his victory. "Just a little wolfsbane," he says, his voice eerily calm. "Can't have Ivy interrupting us, now, can we?"
I feel Ivy's presence fading like reception in a dead zone. One minute she's there, fierce and protective, the next she's a whisper I can barely hear.
Panic surges through me as I scramble up against my headboard, putting as much distance between us as possible. My heart hammers against my ribs like it's trying to punch its way out of my chest.
"What are you doing here, Tanner?" I demand, trying for bravado but hearing the tremor in my voice.
He sits on my bed with his back to me, shoulders rigid beneath his black t-shirt. Even in the dim light, I can see the tension coiled in his muscles. He's like a snake ready to strike.
"You disobeyed me, baby." His voice is dangerously soft, a whisper that promises violence.
I swallow hard. "What do you mean?"
"You left the territory when explicitly told not to." He doesn't raise his voice, which somehow makes it worse. I'd rather have him yelling than this controlled menace.
I close my eyes for a second and exhale, trying to steady myself. "I told you, Tanner, the girls and I had plans for a girls weekend trip."
He rests his elbows on his knees and drops his head into his hands. The position makes him look almost vulnerable, but I know better. "I thought I was dying."
"What?" Confusion clouds my thoughts as the wolfsbane begins to take effect, making everything slightly hazy around the edges.
Tanner straightens and lets out a sharp exhale. "For two nights, I thought I was dying." His voice cracks on the last word, and for a split second, I almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
The realization hits me like a sucker punch. "Tanner..."
He spins to face me so fast I flinch back. His handsome face—the face that had made half the girls in our pack swoon—is contorted with rage, his blue eyes turned to ice. "You fucked someone." It's not a question.
My heart rate spikes, and I can feel sweat beading at my hairline. "Tanner...I-I rejected you, remember?" I try to defuse the situation before it gets ugly. "You don't want me. You want freedom to be with whoever you want." I gesture wildly with my hands. "You've been exercising that freedom for three years!"
His face is a mask of calm rage, but I can see the storm just below the surface. Like looking at a frozen lake and knowing the current is raging beneath. "Who was it? I'm going to kill him."
I shake my head, A flashing in my mind. No way in hell am I giving Tanner his name. "No one."
"Was it a member of our pack?" His jaw ticks with tension.
"No." At least that's not a lie.
"Was it some human scum?" He spits the word 'human' like it's a disease.
"No. And it doesn't matter who it was," I say, finding a spark of courage from somewhere deep inside. "I have every right to be with whoever I want now."
"YOU. ARE. MINE." Each word is punctuated with such venom that I flinch. His eyes flash amber, his wolf pushing forward.
"Tan..." I try again, desperate to reason with him. "You never wanted me. We've been mate-bonded for three years, and you never marked me or anything. Everything was platonic." I emphasize the last word, hoping to remind him of his own choices.
He moves so fast I can't react—werewolf speed that I can't match in my wolfsbane-weakened state. One second he's sitting at the edge of my bed, the next he's on top of me, trapping me under him. His weight pins me to the mattress, and the scent of his rage fills my nostrils.
"If you wanted to be fucked, you should have come to me." His breath is hot against my face, his eyes wild.
Panic rises in my chest, sharp and suffocating. I struggle to push him off, my palms against his chest. "Tanner! Get off me!"
He ignores my protests and starts tearing at my clothes, the sound of fabric ripping filling the room. "I want what I am owed."
I kick my legs as much as I can, but he has me effectively pinned down. "I owe you nothing," I spit. "Go get fucked by someone else! God knows you have a roster!"
His hand tangles in my hair, yanking my head back painfully. "You were my perfect little virgin, Ember," he snarls. "And you went and ruined it for some strange dick."
I notice that wherever Tanner's hands touch my skin, it starts to sting, like I've been splashed with acid. "Tanner, get off me!" The pain intensifies, burning like fire.
He rips open my shirt, buttons flying across the room, exposing my naked breasts to the cool night air. "Not until I get what I want." His eyes darken as they roam over my body.
I'm about to hyperventilate, my chest rising and falling rapidly. In a broken whisper, I choke out, "Please don't."
"So fucking beautiful," he says, staring at my body as if he didn't even hear my plea. As if I'm not even a person, just a possession he's claiming.
"STELLA! STELLA! HELP!" I scream at the top of my lungs, praying my friend can hear me.
Tanner chuckles, the sound sending ice down my spine. He grazes his finger over my nipple. A stinging pain follows the touch, like a branding iron. "Now, now, baby...don't you think I would have dealt with your new little roommate situation?" He takes his thumb and strokes my other nipple, this also leaving a stinging pain. "I made sure she would be on patrol."
With Ivy suppressed by the wolfsbane, I struggle to reach out through our pack bond. It's like trying to scream underwater.
Stella! Help! Tanner is here! I mind-link desperately, pushing through the haze.
Fuck! I'm on my way, comes her immediate response, clear as a bell despite the wolfsbane.
H-h-hurry, I plead, relief and terror warring inside me.
"Please don't do this," I beg Tanner, tears streaming down my face. "I-I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry!" I hate myself for apologizing, but I'll say anything to make him stop.
"It's a little late, don't you think?" His hands travel all over my body, leaving burning trails in their wake. Each touch is agony, like he's painting me with fire.
Tanner leans down and takes a nipple into his mouth. The moment his mouth touches my skin, it burns like a hot poker is being pressed into me. I let out a blood-curdling scream that tears at my throat, but this doesn't deter him. He keeps licking and sucking while twisting my other nipple between his fingers. The pain intensifies, feeling like acid eating through my skin.
He moves his mouth to my other nipple and starts removing my pajama shorts and panties. I'm screaming and bucking under him, trying desperately to get him off me. My nails rake down his arms, drawing blood, but he doesn't even seem to notice.
He gets my clothes removed and starts licking up my chest to my neck, sucking on my skin as I feel him start to remove his jeans. I clamp my legs closed with all my strength, using every ounce of power I have left.
"T-T-Tanner, stop! P-p-please!" I'm fully crying now, not only from the situation but from the burning pain on my skin everywhere Tanner has touched. It feels like I'm being burned alive from the outside in.
He ignores me and switches to the side of my neck where my marking spot is. I close my eyes tightly, hoping this is all just some nightmare I'll wake up from. I feel his teeth skim over the spot, and my heart drops to my stomach. He's going to force his mark on me.
Oh god. No. No. No.
I scream louder and try to fight back harder, adrenaline giving me a burst of strength. I scratch at his face, his arms, anywhere I can reach, but nothing seems to budge him.
I feel my legs being pried open and him settle between them. He rubs the tip of his cock through my lips, which starts burning with such intense pain that my vision blackens at the edges. I feel his canines elongate, barely piercing my skin, his cock circling my entrance.
I'm screaming, the pain becoming blinding. I feel him start to push into me. I can't believe this is happening. After everything, this is how it ends? With Tanner forcing himself on me?
Then I hear it—a metallic click—and Tanner freezes.
"GET. THE. FUCK. OFF. HER!"
At the sound of Stella's voice, my eyes fly open. She's standing in my bedroom doorway, pointing a gun at Tanner. Her face is a mask of cold fury, her hand steady as a rock.
Tanner's canines retract, and he pulls away from me slightly. "You wouldn't," he says to Stella, but there's a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
"Try me, asshole." Her voice is ice cold, and I know she means it. Stella doesn't make threats; she makes promises.
"My father will kill you." Tanner's voice is less confident now.
"He'd never know. You're unreliable. He'd think you're on another sex binge before realizing you're never coming back." Stella's hand is steady on the gun, her finger hovering over the trigger. "And even if he did figure it out, it would be worth it to rid the world of a piece of shit like you."
"Wolfsbane won't kill me," Tanner scoffs, but he's already shifting his weight off me.
Stella moves closer and presses the gun to his temple, the metal making a soft sound against his skin. "It would if shot into your brain...but these aren't wolfsbane bullets." She gets an evil grin that would make anyone's blood run cold. "They're silver, fucker."
Tanner pales visibly, all color draining from his face. "Fine." He gets off me and gathers his clothes, his movements jerky with rage. "I'm gone."
I don't dare move or make a sound. I want to scream due to the agonizing pain I'm in. My skin feels like I've been dipped in molten metal.
"If I ever catch you near her again," Stella says, her gun trained on his every move, "I don't care what the consequences are...I'll fucking kill you. And I'll make it slow."
Tanner gives her a stubborn, rage-filled look and then leaves. We hear the front door slam with enough force to rattle the pictures on my wall. Stella lets out a relieved breath and rushes over to me. I've started screaming in pain again, tears running down my face.
"I'm mind-linking Oaklynn," she says, gently placing a blanket over my body. There's a worried look in her eyes. "What did he do to you?"
I lift the blanket and look at my skin where he touched me. I'm covered in angry red burns and blisters, like I've been splashed with acid. My marking spot is throbbing with burning pain.
"I d-don't know," I manage to choke out.
Stella's face contorts with horror. "That fucking monster—"
But I don't hear the rest of her words as darkness claims me, pulling me under into blessed unconsciousness where the pain can't follow.