Page 24 of Cold Foot Revenge (Wreck’s Mountains #7)

Just up the road, Grave slowed as he passed another truck that pulled over on the shoulder of the road.

The window was rolled down in this one too, and the bright-eyed shifter tracked their progress past him without blinking.

The speed limit changed to sixty-five miles an hour here, and there was a bear crossing sign directly behind it.

Was this the territory line marker? In the woods, she could see movement—fur and glowing eyes.

What was happening between these two Crews and this tentative alliance?

Clearly there was communication. Clearly, they knew each other.

Her world had been very small since she’d been Turned, and she hadn’t paid enough attention to the outside world.

She’d been too emersed in survival, but now she had so many questions.

Did this new Crew do Turn doses too? Did they deal them for money like Grave was starting to do?

Were they Turning people without their knowledge too? How far did this awful culture extend?

For everything she learned, a dozen more questions arose.

The Alpha’s name was Grit. That word was in her Crew’s name. Was it coincidence?

Noon. He had until noon. She didn’t have Dylan’s number memorized, but maybe if she could get her phone back, she could find a way to warn him.

“Where’s my stuff?” she asked.

“The money is mine.”

“We’ve established that. Where’s my clothes.”

“Tired of wearing his shit?”

She had to be careful here and make sure to only tell the truth. “It’s a reminder. I need my shoes.”

“Your bag is back at the Rabbit Hole. Here is how this will work. You will dance every shift I’m there. When I sleep, you sleep right beside me. When I run errands, guess what you will be doing?”

“Running errands,” she guessed miserably.

“Running errands right beside me. You will give up your duplex—”

“I can’t afford to break the lease—”

“You will give up your apartment,” he yelled louder, “And you will be living with me from here until the day you draw your last breath. When that day is, that’s totally up to you.

If you displease me, I will kill you. If you disobey me, I will kill you.

If you so much as look at another man in a way I don’t like?

I’ll kill you. When I want to fuck you, you will enjoy it, or I will kill you.

We’ll call this training, Rox. I will train you to be the perfect mate. ”

“You mean sex toy.”

“Call yourself whatever you want. You will learn to be perfect.”

“That’s an impossible life,” she whispered. “Why don’t you just kill me now.”

“Because I want you to live in fear,” he gritted out, sliding his hand to her bare thigh.

He slid Dylan’s T-shirt up higher and gripped her leg so hard, it hurt.

She gritted her teeth against the pain because flinching would only encourage him.

Grave was cruel. She’d always known he was, but not to what extent.

Now it was apparent, he had no heart at all.

“I want you to wake up every day wondering what you can do to make me happier. What you can do to live. Each day it will get easier for you. You will learn what I need and serve me before I even ask. You will be quiet, and the defiance will fade from your eyes. You will spread your fucking legs for me,” he said, leveling her with a glare before he dragged his attention back to the road.

Roxy turned to look at the others in the back, but Donnie was the only one who looked even remotely disturbed. “You want a woman who doesn’t want you back,” she said softly. “Just making sure I’m getting this right.”

“I played it your way for a while, but I’m done, Rox.

You going and throwing yourself at another man?

At a human? That got me for a minute, but then I realized something.

Do you know what that is? I like that you’re a hard little coyote to catch.

I can have anyone I want, but you have made the chase so fun.

I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop watching you.

I remember how it feels to fuck your little pussy—”

“That was a long time ago—”

“The reasons you broke up with me—”

“Are valid!” she snapped. “You Turned me into this…this…thing I didn’t sign up for. And for what? So I could match you better? I trusted you, and you hurt me. You didn’t ask me if I wanted this. You just did it like some scumbag with a roofie drug.”

“Stop!” he roared as long and as loud as he could, and she could hear the order in the demand now. She couldn’t speak anymore even if she wanted to. “I am your Alpha and you will do everything I say!”

Her coyote couldn’t even utter the word run anymore.

They were both rendered mute, and helpless.

The air in here was so heavy, and it stank of fur and dominance. The growl in Grave’s chest was constant, as if he was on the verge of a Change. If he shifted in here, they would all die.

“Roxy, shut the fuck up,” Leech said from the back. “This is simple. You want to live, mind the rules. Make Grave happy. That’s why you exist.”

That’s why she existed? To make this asshole happy?

To be his servant? To say yes to everything he wanted, even if it wasn’t what she wanted?

He’d tricked her into a relationship years ago, and trusting him had been the worst decision she’d ever made.

He wasn’t a good man, or a caring partner.

He wasn’t protective. He was narcissistic and diabolical and didn’t care.

He didn’t care! Roxy knew what good men looked like, and felt like now.

She’d been around one. They lifted their partner up, and reveled in their growth, and were patient with rocky moments, and understanding, and protective.

They opened doors for the woman they cared about, not grab them by the back of the neck and shove them in a car like they were nothing.

They didn’t force their partner to dance naked for money they would steal from them!

They didn’t expect a woman to spread her legs anytime he asked just to make him happy!

And they certainly didn’t find comfort in their partner losing their voice and saying yes sir to every wish and every whim.

She was a woman. She’d been human once. She had a heart and emotions and good and bad days, and she mattered. She existed.

Roxy missed Dylan. Oh, that thought hit her in the chest like a flood. She missed him and she wanted to go back to the hotel and settle into bed with him and have him wrap her up and hug her close, and she wanted to feel safe again, like she had last night.

Her bite mark was throbbing again, and she felt completely and utterly alone.

This life felt unbearable now.

She looked at the buildings that blurred by and wished she was back on the other side of that territory line.

All she could do now was track down her phone and find a way to warn Dylan.

He had until noon before his life became unbearable too.