Their Scarred Mate (Broken Mates #2)

Prologue

Three years ago

She’d met her demise. She just didn’t know it. Ruthless and power-hungry John Lewis was much more than a normal businessperson.

She’d just finished high school and dreamed of being a nurse. Her parents were a loving, hardworking couple, and she never felt less than loved. She was free, a teenager with her whole life ahead of her.

Until she inadvertently crossed paths with the demon.

A trip to the mall with her high school colleagues. That’s all it took. Granted, the mall wasn’t near a good neighborhood, but it was safe during the day, with families and students wandering about. After dark, it was a completely different story. But after dark, she was safely at home.

That day, however, danger was lurking even during the day. She and her classmates had gone for burgers to celebrate the end of the school year. They had the summer ahead of them and were planning a trip to the river for some days of camping.

Freya’s young mind was churning, wondering if her parents would allow her to go, and if not, what she could say to convince them.

She was so distracted that she only saw the man after she bumped into him.

She looked up at what seemed like a huge man.

He was very tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair and eyes that studied her intently.

His slightly furrowed brow indicated he was deep in thought.

“Sorry...” she stammered, but he kept studying her with his dark gaze. Embarrassed and uncomfortable under his scrutiny, she blushed and walked around him, quickening her pace until she reached the bus stop. Only when she reached home and turned the key in the lock did she feel safe.

The incident was quickly forgotten as her parents arrived home and the more pressing subject of the camping trip came to mind. During dinner, she approached them and, whilst her mother had her doubts, her father was willing to allow it as long as there was an adult present.

That was the last night they dined together as a happy family.

That very same night, she had the strangest dream.

A wolf was howling, and, in her dreams, red eyes were searching for her in the depths of the dark forest. No, not searching for her ...

hunting her. They wanted to devour her. To eat her, to mark her ... to kill her.

She woke up with a start, heart beating wildly in her chest. Sweat was dripping down her back, her mind still reeling from the nightmare.

The window was closed. She jumped out of bed and walked to the window, opening it and breathing in the fresh air with pleasure.

She thought she saw movement among the bushes.

A neatly trimmed hedge separated his house from his neighbor's, which was currently uninhabited.

Rumor had it that it had been sold, but no one knew to whom.

There it was! The flickering of a light, like a lighter.

Someone was smoking near the hedge, but because it was so dark, she couldn’t see the features.

Shivering, feeling her sweat dry in the cool night air, she closed the window again.

There was ... something ... in the air that gave her chills more than the frosty night ... as if evil were on the loose.

Which was true. The man smoking near the hedge had followed her home, his mind churning with possibilities, feeling enraged by what he was feeling toward what was clearly a human. A weak, feeble, human female.

She was feeling secure within those walls, feeling protected by her known environment and the comfort of her parents’ presence, sleeping two doors down.

But that was not true. Nothing would keep him from getting her. He finished his cigar, throwing it into the sewer. A movement from his head had his two cousins at his side, a cruel smile distorting their faces.

The sound of bones cracking filled the night air, followed closely by howls. Wolf howls, never heard in that part of the suburbs.

Death came swiftly that night. The couple was murdered in their own bed, and the daughter taken into the night, screaming and bloodied.

The house was burned to the ground, and three bodies were found, charred beyond any possible recognition.

The police reports stated that it was a gas leak, and that no one had survived the fire.

No dental records were requested, and despite witnesses who swore up and down that they heard screams, the police never investigated, nor gave credence to the reports of wolves howling.

After all, how could wild animals cause a fire?

Two years ago

She was shivering again, a dull throb between her legs. She had long lost her voice, hoarse from screaming, from the abuse, the beatings ... his rage.

She was used to it all, by now. She just needed to flee inside her head in the moments when he used her, safe in her memories.

He had been brutal that night, half transforming into his wolf, his claws causing more scratches on her already torn back, destroying the rag that had once been a dress.

He was never very gentle to start with, but in the beginning, he was at least careful not to leave any lasting damage on her.

She had a room, with a bathroom attached, and a dress for modesty’s sake.

She could not go very far, not with the chains she had around her ankle, but at least she could move around.

In the beginning, there were tears, pleas, and screams. She could hardly comprehend what this man, John what’s-his-name, would want with her. She was nobody. She just wanted to finish high school; she wanted to go to nursing school.

At first, she kept thinking her parents would come for her.

When he told her cruelly that the three of them had died that night, she did not want to believe him.

She wept for her parents, but kept thinking the police would find her and do something, free her from this man’s clutches.

It took her a long time to understand he had said “three”. The police thought she had also died.

On the first full moon night, all hope died. She was taken outside, free from the chains for the first time since her kidnapping. She only saw trees wherever she turned, and hope starting rising again.

But when her captor faced the bright light of the moon and his body started to shiver, she paled.

What she was seeing was beyond any movie she’d seen, and her mind struggled to understand.

His bones were cracking, fur was sprouting everywhere, his teeth were elongating, his face distorted in a ... muzzle?

Where a man was, now stood a giant black wolf. And fear spiked, making her trip and fall.

“I’d run if I were you,” chanted a male voice nearby, cackling with delight. The sound of the voice woke her up and turning, she managed to get on her feet and ran like a bat out of hell.

“There’s no place for you to go, little rabbit,” chanted the same bodiless voice. Taunting. Provoking.

She ran, not knowing where to go, not feeling the pebbles and branches that cut through her feet, despair filling the air.

The hunt was over very quickly. One minute she was catching her breath, the next she was projected to the ground, a massive force weighing on her back.

She was so terrified that she couldn’t move.

He was licking her neck, as if tasting her.

Soft sobs ran through her body, feeling the claws on her back sink in further.

The moon was high in the sky, full and round, casting her glow below, indifferent to her.

She felt more than she heard the wolf recede to the figure of man. The paw in her back turned to a hand, securing her to the ground.

“Tonight, I will breed you, little rabbit. If you do this for me, there might yet be a chance for you to live.”

He took her on the cold, merciless ground of the forest. Unprepared for his invasion, she felt his member tear her apart, making her think she would break in two.

The pain made her scream, and he slapped her hard.

Her screams turned to sobs, and his hand flew to her neck, pressing until she thought she was going to pass out for lack of oxygen.

“Useless,” he muttered, grunting while rutting into her. He finished with a final grunt, but she had already passed out.

One year ago

The woman was a prisoner, like her. But unlike her, she could move freely.

She was bone tired, all hope long gone. The woman, Leda, tried to bring her comfort and some food. She was a prisoner, like herself, being used and abused, like herself, but somehow, she managed to keep on going.

Lewis had stopped coming for her. From what little Leda had told her, it seemed he had his eyes set on another girl, but now Freya could not even think of going home.

Her mind had closed the past, as if it had a door, and now she couldn’t think beyond the next minute.

Breathe in ... breathe out ... live for another second...

Her body was failing her. Lack of proper food, the abuse, the beatings ...

she was a shell of what she had been. Lewis had put her in a cell when she failed to conceive—thank God for that!

—even allowing his cousins to use her at will, except during her fertile days.

Those were his, and her torment was just increasing.

But in the last few days, they had forgotten her.

Forgotten even to feed her, and she had no doubt she would already have died had it not been for Leda sharing her meals with her.

The other woman was also a prisoner and a slave to the retched cousins.

They were as cruel as Lewis, if not more, but at least with her they had retracted their claws.

Lewis was the only one who could hurt her, mark her, make her bleed.

Not with Leda, though. And once again she wondered how could Leda still be alive?

But that night, Lewis came. Excitement emanated from him through every pore. Evil radiated like an aura, accompanied by joy so profound that it could only translate into victory for him and doom for someone else.

“I found her, little rabbit. My real mate. My chosen mate. Not someone as weak and pathetic as you, but someone that will carry my seed, birth my heir, and strengthen my pack.”

He was smiling so cruelly that she shivered. Numb as she was, she could not help but feel pity for his next victim.

But when he decided to take another go—‘before he said goodbye’—she closed her eyes and fled to the inside of her mind, trying to escape her body before the pain came. When claws tore at her skin, she screamed and fainted.

She never felt it when his cousins took their turn on her body.

Nine months ago

She felt as if she was floating. Voices were whispering near her bed, but she could not understand a word. She had died. Finally died and gone to wherever people go when they died. She would see her parents again. She wanted the pain to end.

A dark force was pulling her under and she surrendered willingly.

Next time, she was more aware of her surroundings. She knew now she was at a hospital, the smell of antiseptic heavy in the air. She also did not feel anything, no pain, nothing. She had not died yet.

Was that another cruelty from Lewis? To lure her into thinking she was safe so that he could break her again?

The blipping of the machine attracted attention. There was movement near her bed, and a soft voice asked, “How do you feel? Do you know where you are?”

She managed to open one eye, squinting at the brightness of the room. She did not know it yet, but her other eye was swollen shut.

“Thirsty...” she managed to croak, and a straw was inserted between her chapped lips.

“Easy, sweetie...” said the same soft voice. It was so tender that her eyes filled with tears. Maybe this wasn’t a Lewis prank after all...

“Lewis...”

“Shh, sweetie ... he can’t harm you here...”

Feeling the same blackness surrounding her, she refused to feel relief. Was it a trap? She felt better sleeping.

Next time she awoke, an elderly woman was sitting by her side, knitting. She managed to drink some water before falling asleep again.

Six months ago

She was feeling stronger every day but still closed up to the world. She now knew that Lewis and his cousins were dead, that the woman he thought was his mate had been rescued as well and went on to live in her true mate’s pack. Even Leda had left.

After living with fear for so long, having the ability to walk by herself in the gardens was truly a blessing.

But she was never alone, as guards were seen here and there.

Her mind kept playing tricks on her, seeing Lewis on every corner, in every shadow ...

was this newfound liberty a lie? Was he toying with her? Would he come back to punish her?

Her body was slowly healing, but her back had marks that would remain with her forever.

She did not know what to do with herself. She could not go back. There was nothing in her past awaiting her. Nothing in her future either.

The Lycan king had offered sanctuary, but how could she remain there?

Every full moon her mind betrayed her and brought her back to the hunts Lewis forced her to participate in.

They all ended in pain and blood. The howling of the wolves brought her to her cell, to the rancid odor of unwashed bodies, of despair...

She could not stay there. She had to leave it all behind.