Had she entered an alternative universe where the men didn’t have a filter between their mouth and brain?
“I’ve been with slender women, and I feel like I’m going to break them. Jane, she’s all woman, and with her being a wolf, I know she can take the kind of f**king I want to give her.”
If her cheeks got any hotter she’d be able to set a fire with them.
“Erm, I think you’re giving me a compliment.”
“Jane would have my hide if she knew I was talking to you about it.”
“I do know, Max. I think you’re scaring the woman half to death,” Jane said, wiping her hands on a towel.
Mary chuckled as she saw one of her eyebrows raised and a smile lifting her lips.
“Go and get your breakfast,” Jane said. “I’ll handle this.”
Max looked happy to disappear.
Looking up at the sunlight, Mary basked in the warm glow on her face.
Jane cleared her throat, chuckling. “Max is not the best man to talk to if you’re hoping for tact.”
“I wasn’t hoping for anything. We were talking about Jessica, and it sort of moved into something else entirely.” Mary smiled, kicking some of the stones as she stared down at the ground.
“I know what you mean about men not liking us for our fuller shape. I gave up on men until I met Max. I saw him across a bar. I was drinking a cocktail, and he just wouldn’t look away.” Jane smiled, immersed in the memory. “He approached me and started talking. I remember being enthralled as he didn’t check out the other slender women in the bar. His eyes were on me and me alone. I felt hot, sexy, desirable.”
Mary saw the love shining in her eyes. She envied the feeling, wishing she could feel something similar.
“After he bit me, he was there guiding me through the transition. He was my mate, Mary. The man I was destined to be with.” Jane looked back at the house. “Every time I’m with him, it feels like the first time all over again.”
Jane turned her gaze back to Mary. “I hope one day you can know that kind of feeling.”
“I hope so, too.”
Jane reached out, touching her skin. “Come in when you’re ready for breakfast.”
Mary was shocked when she was left outside alone. Staring up at the sun, Mary basked in the feelings erupting inside her. Her body was her own, and she never wanted to lose this feeling surrounding her with warmth.
When Zeke wrapped his arms around her waist, she sank against him, smiling.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Nothing important.” They snuggled together, and the heat sizzling between them had nothing to do with the sunlight cascading down on them.
His fingers worked underneath her shirt, stroking her stomach. “I wish you were naked. I’d bend you over right now and slide inside you.”
“Your pack can see us.”
“I don’t care. They know who you belong to.”
The land, his skin all felt like home. Mary felt safe and protected, which was strange considering she was only supposed to be his toy.
“Jane and Max are right. If I was to walk away and not claim you, there would be men in my pack who would want a taste of you. They all know you were a virgin and can’t believe men haven’t tried to get into your pu**y,” he said, kissing her neck.
She gasped. Heat flooded her pu**y, soaking her panties. How could he get such a quick response from her? All he ever needed to do was give her a few quick responses and she was ready for him. The heat flooding through her should embarrass her, and yet she was burning for him. His c**k was the only thing she wanted between her thighs.
“I won’t be with anyone from your pack.” She couldn’t think of being with another man, not after her time with Zeke.
“There’s something I need to show you,” Zeke said, taking her hand.
He led her away from the house. His fingers tightened around hers as they walked the distance to the other pack house. Staring at the place she’d considered her home for a few days a month, Mary was overcome by a shocking wave of cold. The building looked large, gloomy, and unwelcoming. She remembered the whispers as she used to pass the other members going to her room.
“Why are we here?” she asked.
“There’s something I want to know from you.”
The seriousness on his face let her know he wasn’t trying to scare her. “Okay.”
Through the front door they went all the way to the kitchen. The house smelled awful and disgusting. Pressing a hand to her nose, she felt a wave of sickness roll over her. “Does it smell like this because of them dying?”
“No, this is the smell that clung to your pack. They’re a dirty pack with dirty deeds, Mary. Their souls were dead long before their bodies.”
Mary couldn’t ever remember scenting something so bad before in her life. It took every ounce of control not to vomit from the acrid burn. She would need to take a shower to rid her body of this.
Zeke opened the door leading down to the basement. For some reason Mary tensed, feeling something bad had happened down there.
“No, I can’t go down there,” she said, overcome with sweat.
“I need you to follow me down.”
Seeing the somber look on his face didn’t help. Trying not to breathe she followed him downstairs to where something bad awaited.
The light illuminated everything. Images flashed through her mind. Pain and death consumed her. She glanced in the far corner, and memories suddenly swamped her. No, she couldn’t stay in the house.
Moving closer, she wrapped her fingers around the pole feeling the sizzle of the silver. Something bad happened here, and what was worse, Roger and Dani had somehow wiped her memory of everything.
****
Zeke fisted his hands as Mary held onto the bar. He’d never seen a cage made out of silver before. The look on her face let him know it wasn’t the worst thing to have happened. His father hadn’t found anything out about experiments, but he knew Mary was the only one close enough to have any information.
His father had asked for him to try to get some information out of Mary. He hated the pain he was causing her. The disgust she felt was rolling off her in waves. She despised this place and feared it with equal measure.
“How can they have affected my memories?” Mary asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I remember being here, but I also remember sweating, panicking as I watch something happening over there.” Mary released the bar and walked over to the science table. She reached out as if to touch it then pulled her hand away. “I need to get out of here.”