Talons

Chapter 94: The Terrified

Colton’s POV

I sat in front of the guestroom where Rhea slept, just watching the door. After Holly told me that it was her scent on Carly everything clicked for me. 

When Dolton first came, he wanted me to introduce him to girls, but I had to send him with Trey because I haven’t had s*x since Mandy gave birth.

I had seen several Doctors about my ‘condition,’ but none of them had any answers for me. They kept telling me that I was suffering from depression, but I now realize that I was longing for my mate, who I had gotten a whiff of.

While beta Luke didn't tell me directly, he once told Carter that he already knew Robin was his. He claimed that he couldn't even look at another woman.

When the twins turned seventeen, it was obvious to everyone that Luke could not keep his eyes off Robin. I used to think that he would challenge me for her if we were fated, but as the goddess would have it, he was her mate and I wasn't.

While I didn't believe it then, I definitely believe it now. From the moment I spotted Rhea I couldn't pull my eyes away.

The only reason I'm not laying beside her right now is because Mandy and Miracle are watching me. It's only deterring me because if I tried to go inside the room, they would likely try to stop me, and I would react.

I don't want to have to sully my relationship with my brother or my beta by hurting either of their mates. Especially since Dolton hasn't been able to mark Miracle yet.

"Are you going to sit out here all night?" Dolton asks. 

I link him back, telling him that I would join my mate if I weren't afraid of his. He chuckles, knowing that I'm joking, but he still lifts Miracle over his shoulder, telling her it's bedtime.

Carter also takes the hint and reminds Mandy that Carly sleeps better in her own bed. He knows his mate’s triggers, so those words make her leave.

I sit outside of the room for a few minutes before I take a deep breath and cautiously open the door. Rhea's scent is overwhelming to me, and I had to reel in Orlin who wanted to take control.

"I want to hold her," he says. I climb into the bed and drape my arm over her. She didn't move, and while she had already been seen by the pack nurse, I was worried.

I started to think of her interaction with her mother, and by default, all the things I had done to her. I shoot out of the bed as something terrible crossed my mind.

General was ready to kill Rhea because he was unwilling to let her go. He could come and challenge me for the right to mate her, and with me being a male with a rank and no title, the ball would fall in his court.

"We have to protect our mate," Orlin says, and we will.

Rhea's POV

I woke in a strange room and bolted toward the door only to find it locked. It's reinforced steel so I cannot break it down. I then turn to the windows and the reflection of my changed clothing almost sends me into a panic.

There are no mirrors in the room, and I cannot see myself in the glass clear enough to check my body for a mark, but I don't feel anything.

"I don't think he touched us," Sylvia says. "We would know if he did." I don't understand how I would know but I trust my wolf and start inspecting the window for a latch to get out.

I cannot leave Iron pack territory without permission, but if Colton tries to force himself on me, I want an escape.

The window is not only made of plexiglass, but it is also fake. It doesn't open, and when I inspect the door again, I realize it needs a key to open from the outside. 

I move away from the door and sit on the bed, feeling absolutely helpless. I can't mind link, my phone has been taken, and all I can do right now is pray that Mandy or Miracle can help me somehow.

Colton's POV

It's early, but I have already gathered six of the more trusted warriors I know and explain the situation to them. They are all around my age, so we are more friendly than my father is with the guards.

"Alpha, are we talking about the same Brain?" I growl menacingly and the guard tosses up his hands, folding his shoulders in surrender. "Sorry, I just remember you hating her." Orlin whines in my mind and I feel terrible again.

"I wasn't kind to her, but she is my mate and there are many males who want her." I see a look of disbelief cross their faces, but soon they will understand how beautiful she’s become. "I want to introduce you to her now."

The men follow me, and when I unlock the guest room door, my mate's face turns ghost white. She picks up a chair and starts trying to smash at the windows, but I dart forward and wrap my arms around her, sitting us both on the ground.

"Please Colton. Don't give me away to your pack. Please!" Horror fills me when I realize what my mate thought, and I quickly send the guards out.

"Shh, Rhea, I would never give you to anyone," I whisper into her ear, and I hate that I'm the reason she thinks that. 

I remember it like it was yesterday, she couldn't have been more than twelve at the time, and I said those disgusting words thinking it would make me look more like a man. I remember the tears escaping her eyes as I spoke, and I can’t help but to wonder if that moment alone wasn’t enough to damage our bond.

Rhea's POV

Seeing Colton and a group of men I recognized as people we went to school with filled me with absolute dread. He was really going to give me away and I can't even shift to protect myself.

I've never fought off six well trained males, but if I can't break the window and jump out, I may have to. 

I feel hot arms wrap around me and pull me down to the ground in the sitting position. It takes a second for me to register that it's Colton because his touch didn't feel violent for the first time in forever.

He claims that he would never give me away, but that was what he said. That was what he told Carter, Trey, and anyone else who was around to listen to him.

I start to feel like my heart is going to burst and I know I'm having a panic attack. My legs start to move uncontrollably as I struggle to breathe under Colton's touch.

He seems to realize that he is the problem right now, and he releases me, leaving me free to scramble away and sink down into a corner.

There is no point in trying to escape, it would only kill those who I love, and I probably wouldn't even make it off the territory. 

Even if Sylvia hadn't retreated, there is a blood oath preventing me from fully shifting. It will expire soon, but until then, I'm defenseless.

"Rhea," I hear. "Please look at me." I didn't mean to, but I started to shudder uncontrollably.  "Okay, okay. I will leave." 

I hear the door open and shut, but relief doesn't wash over me until I peek up and see that Colton is really gone. 

After a few minutes, someone knocks and I stand, afraid that it's one of Colton's friends, but it's Mandy and I run to her.

"I'm scared," I say, and based on how tight she is holding me she is also afraid.

"It'll be okay. Colton has changed." I release my cousin abruptly, backing away from her in fear. "When Carter and I-"

"No," I whisper, cutting my cousin off. "It's not the same," I say. "You chose your mate before the bond did."

"Yes, but he and I-"

"Mandy, please stop talking. Your mate may have hurt you, but he didn't torment you." Mandy goes to speak again but I raise my hand. "Do you know why I don't like celebrating my birthday?" My cousin just shakes her head at me.

I tell her that it's because Colton told me that every birthday was a year closer to my death and he meant by his hands. 

I had even asked my mother, who understood it as me aging, so when she confirmed, I told myself that I would never celebrate my birthday again.

"But B, you know that isn't true." 

"It doesn't matter. Do you know that the last time I saw him he threw mud in my face?" Mandy flinches and I sink back into the corner of the room. "I understand that he is your alpha and friend, but he is nothing more than a nightmare to me."

Colton's POV

Hearing my mate tell her cousin that I was only a nightmare to her made me feel like a thousand nails were digging into my heart. I don't even remember telling her that her birthday marked her a year closer to death, but it sounds like something I would say.

I take a step away from the entrance as I hear Mandy approaching. She shuts the door behind her, and when we make eye contact, she releases a slew of curses that I know I deserve. She didn’t want to talk to B on my behalf, but I begged her, so she agreed.

“Everything that she has gone through in life is your fault.” I feel the words slap me.

“I promise I will make it up to her.” Mandy just rolls her eyes, and Carter escorts her away.

I can hear her complaining to her mate that B doesn’t trust her anymore, and I know it's because I pressured her to vouch for me too soon. 

Mandy may know how much this opportunity means to me, but Rhea does not, and I don't want her to think that I’m only choosing her to get away from Jessica, so I don’t want her to find out just yet.

I enter the room with a knock and find Rhea standing in a corner. She is trembling, so I try to make myself less intimidating, but as soon as I take a step forward, she flinches, and presses herself against the wall hard, so I leave.

It’s obvious that I broke her, and she needs time.