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fingers almost reaching out for her. I don t want to go for too long, just long enough to make sure my
wolf is happy.
Well, as happy as she could be.
I m with you on that, he said, and he abruptly turned away from her. Plus, I don t know that I
like leaving North alone here.
He ll be with Lexi, Ellie added, wanting to know what Maddox thought of that.
Yes, that. He smiled slightly, and Ellie held back a sigh. She really needed to stop acting like a
teenager. Or, at least how she assumed a normal teenager acted.
Back when she d been a teen, she d been different from everyone else.
Then she d met Maddox, and everything had changed.
She hadn t known she was his mate yet. No, that wouldn t come until she reached adulthood, but
she remembered the way he d been chained to her brother s table. She remembered the way he d
screamed when Corbin had scarred him. She remembered how she d done her best to help him, only
to find herself on the receiving end of Corbin s pure rage for the first time.
Corbin had enjoyed toying with her since she d been a toddler, but it had been her betrayal that
had led him to his new fascination.
She swallowed hard as she stripped down so she could change to her wolf, doing her best to not
look at Maddox as he did the same. They both had scars, most of his from Corbin the same as her.
She didn t want to invade his privacy, and as wolves, they might be okay with nudity, but they
wouldn t cross the line and comment on things better left hidden& at least for now.
The moon danced across her skin as she knelt on all fours, letting her wolf wash over her. Her
bones broke and reformed, the muscles and tendons tearing then tying together. Her face elongated,
and fur sprouted over her body. She wasn t as fast at transforming as North not by far but she was
faster than she d been when she d been with the Centrals.
Apparently, even a fragile form of acceptance made her wolf stronger, calmer.
Finally, she stood on four paws by Maddox s side. She threw her head back and howled,
relishing in the wolf, in the freedom, and in the future she could have.
It had to be better than what she d had before.
It had to.
Over Sixty Years Ago.
Ellie watched the broken man make his way across the Central s border. She hoped he made it
home, but she wasn t sure he d do so. Corbin had hurt him badly, yet there was nothing she could do
about it, other than try to get him free. She couldn t cross the wards, not when her own life was in
danger.
She d done the best she could. It would be up to the broken wolf to find his way home and heal.
She just prayed to the goddess he would be all right.
She looked over her shoulder as she suppressed a shudder. There wasn t any more time for
woolgathering and praying. She needed to make it back to her chamber before Corbin found out she d
escaped.
He hadn t chained her in her room not like he d done with her twin and cousin but Ellie
knew it would be only a matter of time.
And if he found out she d helped his prisoner&
She swallowed hard.
Best not to think about that.
Ellie crept along the edge of the woods and held her breath. She just needed to pass through the
closest door, and she d be okay.
She heard the growl before someone slammed her into the ground.
You bitch! Corbin yelled as he smashed his fist into her side.
She struggled beneath him, holding her tongue and trying not to scream& He loved it when they
screamed. Her side ached, and she feared he d broken something.
Goddess, don t let me die. Not yet.
The goddess didn t answer her, as usual, but still she prayed that she wouldn t die at her
brother s hands.
You let him go, you whore! Did you fuck him? Is that why you let him go? You re mine, Ellie,
mine. He sneered the last word, and she swallowed hard, fear filling her as bile rose in her throat.
He growled at her silence and slapped her hard, her cheekbone shattering under his brute
strength.
I ve been patient with you, waiting for you to grow enough to understand the way things work,
but you ve disappointed me, Ellie. An odd gleam entered his eyes, and Ellie wanted to take back her
prayer to the goddess.
Maybe some things were worse than death.
He hit her broken cheek once more. Blinding pain assaulted her before she screamed out, and
then she succumbed to the darkness.
Ellie woke much later, or at least it felt that way. She blinked away the darkness and tried not to
cry. Her arms were chained above her head, her body hanging from the ceiling. Her toes barely
brushed the floor not enough for her to relieve the ache on her shoulders, just enough so she could
hope for relief but never find it.
Her brother was always an expert in finding ways to torture those he wanted to feel the full pain
of his wrath.
Ellie had never been on the receiving end though.
She d been stripped to her undershirt and panties, so at least she wasn t naked like most of those
who had been in this room. Her cheek ached, but she knew it was healing due to her wolf meaning
she d been out of it for at least a day.
The side where Corbin had hit her before only hurt a little, so she d healed a bit at least. The
room was lit with only a bare bulb. The walls were dirty and sprayed with dried blood. Corbin liked
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