Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Fox

Hunter was running faster than I had ever pushed him before. Trees and rocks were a blur as we sped through the forest. We ran and ran and ran until I couldn’t see anything but red and black dots, my vision strained against our rage and exertion. Hunter slowed by a creek, growling as he shook his head in fury.

“He touched our mate!” Hunter howled at the full moon,

“He hurt her. He took her choice. He violated her.” Hunter was barking obscenities in my head.

“It was bad enough when we thought Alphas were beating and controlling her, but this? Sexual assult ascends a new level,” Hunter continued,

“She tried to kill herself.” He finally whimpered, his rant coming to a heartbroken end.

“She’s with us now. She’ll never be harmed or forced or controlled again in her entire life.” I was trying to calm us both down.

“We need revenge for our mate.” Hunter demanded.

“We need to put our mate’s needs first. We shouldn’t have left her, she was upset. We can’t take our revenge if it will hurt her.” I argued.

“We had to leave, we were too angry. I was afraid that I wasn’t in control,” Hunter whined in my head,

“Why would she not want revenge?”

“Don’t you think she would have asked us for it?” I said.

“She could barely tell us what happened, she’s ashamed.” Hunter said.

“She had the time and the means to enact her own revenge when she wasn’t with us. What if she just wants to forget about it?” Hunter started to growl at me,

“Why are you defending them!?”

“Woah, buddy, I’m not defending anybody. If she tells us to go, then we go. I’m just saying, we’re not doing anything without her permission.” I clarified.

“Fine.” Hunter snarled.

“We need to get back our mate.” I said. Hunter agreed and relinquished control.

I shifted back into my human form and grabbed a backpack that was stashed in a nearby tree. We had clothes hidden all over the woods to preserve our dignity. We might be body confident, but no one really wanted to see naked bodies all of the time. I quickly pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt as I jogged back towards the packhouse.

I ran up the steps, ignoring everyone I saw and declaring the elevator to be too slow. I burst into my bedroom, out of breath and emotional, searching for my mate. I heard her cries coming from the bathroom. I tried the door and found it locked.

“Marigold, baby, it’s me.” I laid my forehead against the door and whispered soothingly to my mate,

“I’m so sorry I left you, I wasn’t in control of Hunter. I’m here now, please let me in.” Marigold didn’t respond but her sobbing was breaking my heart. She was crying so hard that her breathing was heavy and I could hear tiny hiccups as she sucked in air.

“I’m going to break down this door.” I warned her. After a second I heard the door lock click.

I pushed open the door and saw my mate trembling on the bathroom floor. I didn’t question how she unlocked the door from a ball on the ground. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her and carried her over to the bed. I sat us both on the bed and held her in my lap, my arms forming a protective shield around my tiny mate’s body. She buried her face in my chest and sobbed.

“Shhh, baby, it’s all over now.” I cooed, rubbing her back and petting her hair. I swayed her softly on the bed for what seemed like hours before she was finally calmed down enough to pull herself away from my shirt. I used my hands to dry her face,

“I’m so sorry I left,” I apologized,

“Hunter wasn’t in control of himself and we were afraid of what we would do. We were overcome with anger. That’s no excuse, though, to leave you behind. I’m sorry, love.” I held my mate’s face in my hands, rubbing my thumb along her cheek bone.

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered, sniffing quietly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” I assured her.

“I should have told you sooner. I shouldn’t be punishing you for what they did to me. I know it’s been hard on you.” She said. I stared blankly at Marigold, not believing what I was hearing. Was she really apologizing for not giving me sex after telling me a story of her being sexually assulted?

“Marigold, listen to me closely, you have nothing to be sorry for. What would be hard for me is not having you in my life, I can survive and live with absolutely anything else. I was never upset or frustrated with you for not having sex, I knew that part would come with time. You have been through unspeakable horrors and the fact that you are as alive and as strong as you are today is incredible. I would say it’s a miracle, but I know you worked hard to become the woman you are. And I love the woman you are.” I wouldn’t let her look away from my eyes, I needed her to hear me and see my sincerity.

“I just feel so ashamed.” She cried.

“You have nothing to be ashamed about. You are a warrior. A survivor.” I told her.

“I thought maybe you left because you were ashamed of me.” She confessed in her small voice. I felt my shoulders drop in defeat,

“No, my love, that could never happen. I left because I was ashamed of myself for not being able to control my own anger.”

“You want to kill him?” She asked, rubbing her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. I reached across the bed and grabbed a box of tissues for her,

“I want to do more than that.” I replied honestly. She accepted the tissue and wiped her nose,

“Marigold, I want to do what your brothers and your father should have done. I want to do what anybody with common decency would have done. I want to rip him apart, I want to destroy him, I want to end him.”

“I don’t need that,” She said,

“I just need you.”

“You have me, baby.”

“But, if you need that, I would understand.” She said softly.

“This is all about you, love, not me.” I tucked her wet hair behind her ears and kept her close to me.

“It is about you, too. I’m letting them win. Everytime I pull away from you, I’m letting Alpha Julian win,” I growled at the sound of his name leaving my precious mate’s lips,

“I’m denying both of us happiness, I’m denying us both what we want, and I’m denying our deepest, truest connection because of what they did to me. It’s not fair to you or to me.” I could tell that my little mate was broken and scared. She was also lost and confused, unsure of herself.

“When the time is right, everything will align and you’ll know that you’re ready. There’s no rush, I’ll wait for you for forever, baby.” I assured her, pressing my forehead against hers.

“I love you.” She whispered as her nose brushed against mine.

“I love you.” I brushed her lips with mine lightly.