Chapter 18
Tessa’s POV
“Look Tessa… I hope you don’t mind… but he only lets me drink water in here… he locks away all of the good stuff over in the pantry.” I follow Erin in to the neat kitchen, taking note of the fresh cleaning
smell and glisten of the worktops as we enter.
He locks everything away from her?
“But why?!” I gasp at her update, shock filling my features as I take note of the heavy padlock displayed upon the door in which she
motioned to as being Leo’s ‘holy pantry‘.
“He says sugar isn’t good for us humans… claims that we all get fat too easily!” Erin huffs, as I watch her retrieve two bottles of water from the fridge before coming to join me at the wood table – slumping
down in to the chair.
That bastard!
“He’s not the slimmest of males himself! Maybe he should lock that
stuff away from himself and give you the key for safe keeping? But I
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suppose you can’t exactly lock him away from the pub though can
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Chapter 18
you? That beer belly is here to stay folks!” I instantly scoff and begin
to rant on in distaste at the cheek of him, having seen him at the
dinner and being reminded of some type of ogre when he had first
walked in facial features and all!
“Right? I didn’t realise how much I would miss sugar and it’s not even
been a week!” Erin shakes her head, her eyes falling low in defeat.
In this moment, I take the time to study my friend fully – taking
mental note of how much she had changed in demeanour in such a
short period of time being with Leo.
Erin was like a shell of her former self, the once happy and bright girl
who could cheer up the mood in any room was now broken and
almost destroyed… almost!
I won’t let her go down without a fight! She’s worth more than being
destined to a life of eternal hell with Leo!
“So how did you manage to come visit me today, did your Alpha let
you?” Erin seems to enjoy our moment together, although I can’t help but notice the slight quiver in her hands every couple of minutes.
She was evidently on edge…
“Well uh… not exactly…” I laugh nervously, suddenly being reminded
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of my sneaky outing with Seth – having not mentioned to Kane where
we were actually headed.
Though I will say, Seth didn’t exactly lie did he? He was doing a home
visit… we just failed to mention that it was the home in which my
best friend was currently trapped in!
“You snuck down here?! Erin’s eyes widen, as she looks somewhat
alarmed at first.
“Tessa he will come looking for you! You don’t have long!” She
continues to ramble, as I hush her instantly – understanding how all
of this sounds.
“Hey… look calm down… he knows that I went out… with Seth… just
not to here!” I explain, as Erin slowly nods and blinks profusely to
digest my words
We certainly don’t need to cause her anymore stress right now…
time here with Leo was enough to cope with let alone thinking that I
had run off with the pack Beta to pay her a visit!
her
“Tell me Erin, what’s it like here? I know that he’s awful… but how
bad are we talking?” I lean closer to her, fearing that we might begin
to run out of time together and needing more information on her
current situation.
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“Horrendous would be a word to describe it Tess… I’m so upset that
I’ve landed in this mess… I have the beautiful home, decent pack, live
down the hill from you… just all with the wrong damn male wolf! I would take anybody else but him!” Erin’s eyes fill with tears as she
recounts her feelings towards her judgement day luck.
I watch her sniffle to contain her tears, before she begins to roll up
her jumper sleeve – the scratchy material seeming irritating just from
first glance…
Unsure of where this was headed, I perk up a little and watch as more skin comes in to view – before she rotates her arm to display many
small red blistering circles all over her skin…
My jaw drops in horror, watching as she swallows hard before repeating the action with her other sleeve – revealing similar marks to
the first.
“W–What… h–how?!” I splutter, reaching out to grab her hand –
pulling her arm closer to my eyes for further inspection as her eyes
fall numb at the memory.
“At first I thought he hated me, and was perhaps irritated for making
a bad choice at the judgement day…” Erin trails off, as I shake my
head in defence.
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“You are not the mistake here Erin! That monster is!” I argue, glancing between her abused arms and back to her hurt face.
“I just thought that… maybe he will keep me around for the two weeks… and then just take me back, you know?” Erin shrugs a little,
her brows pulling together in confusion.
I nod, giving her the space to speak out, as she wets her dry lips
momentarily before sighing. “But that was just too good to be true!
He claims that I’m just the ‘perfect breeder‘ that he could find and
that I will ‘have to do‘ for now.” Erin squeezes her eyes shut,
recounting the horrific words he had once spoke as my anger
instantly bubbles from deep within my chest.
I hate this man… he’s destroying her soul and it’s not even been a
week yet! He’s going to ruin her!
“He’s an ass!” I retort angrily, having never felt my temper rise quite
like this…
This has to stop!
“He uh… after the dinner… he was so pissed off that I had went to the
bathroom with you… and that’s when he began to give me these
marks. Although they are little, they hurt like hell!” Erin confirms,
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sniffling as she glances down at them once more before looking away
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– pained by the sight.
“I… I’m so sorry! I should have known he wouldn’t like that…” I feel
the need to apologise, having felt that I could have at least helped to
prevent this from happening to her.
“H–How did he do this?” My question comes quietly, unsure of
whether I was prepared to listen to the details or not – but knowing I
had to.
I keep my grip of her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze to show my
unwavering support, as she breathes in and out slowly to contain her
emotions.
“It was a cigar… and he uh… he strapped me to a chair upstairs where
there is a coal fire in one of the bedrooms… before he… he put the tip
in to the flames over and over again – placing the end on to my skin
each time to burn me.” Erin closes her eyes, her hand quivering in
mine as I take note of her sudden tension.
“He put a cloth in my mouth so that I couldn’t even scream out in
pain or beg for him to stop… I just had to sit there and endure it…
over and over and over again!” Erin’s first tear finally falls, as her
brave facade finally falters for the first time.
This is awful… I felt guiltier now more than ever before… I didn’t
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deserve the lavish lifestyle with the Alpha of the pack – the amazing
day out, the amazing room and home to stay in – not when my friend
was down the hill suffering in this way!
It was only right that I push Kane one more time – have him see reason with all of this! He may be terrifying at times, but I believe he
has a heart in there somewhere and at this point – may be the only
one to help save her.
“After he was finished burning me… he just left me there in the chair
the whole night to replay the nightmare over and over again in my
head… I would rather die than live like this Tessa!” Erin’s eyes stream
with water now, her desperation flooding out from within.
“HE DID WHAT?!” We both shoot up to our feet in fright, hearing a
thunderous tone enter the kitchen without warning – as my heart
begins to race within my chest.
Erin instantly pulls her sleeves down – covering the evidence as I
shuffle from foot to foot like a blundering fool.
“DON’T HIDE IT SHOW ME!” He demands, as I blink between the
pair of them – having never seen Seth this angry until now.
From the short time I had known him, he had always been
approachable and lighthearted, but not now! Right now he looked as
Chapter 18
though he could tare through full villages on his own – destroying
everything in his path.
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He looked hellbent!
“P–Please… I… I didn’t mean to show them… he will kill me for this!”
Erin begs, taking steps back as Seth only takes the invite to move
closer.
He wastes no time on approaching Erin, taking her hand in his before curiously tugging back her sleeve – observing the damage for himself.
Erin’s breaths come out in short pants – her face looking more flushed
than ever before as a heavy silence falls amongst the room.
What’s he going to do now?
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
