ISLA’S POV~
My legs started to dangle at the edge of the exam table.
My brain was beginning to spin so fast I felt dizzy.
Option one: Leave.
Walk out the door, and go back to my world.
Wait.
Go back to where?
My father’s house?
The thought made my stomach cramp.
I pictured the hallway.
The smell of whiskey and cigar smoke.
The sound of his belt unbuckling.
If I went back there, he’d beat me for disappearing.
And if he found out I’d shifted?
That I was a wolf now?
He’d lock me in the basement.
Or worse, he’d sell me.
He’d invite his friends over and make me “entertain” them just to show off his prize.
School?
I let out a dry, humorless laugh.
Bella and her crew would be waiting.
And even if they weren’t, the rumors Maddox and his brothers started would have done the job.
“Whore.”
“Slut.”
Those words were already etched into my skin.
I couldn’t walk those halls without hearing them.
As for money.
I checked my mental bank account.
Twelve dollars and forty cents.
That was it.
I couldn’t buy a bus ticket.
I couldn’t buy food.
I was wearing a hospital gown that opened in the back.
I had nothing.
Literally nothing.
And my wolf.
She was quiet now, but I could feel her.
She was still weak and fragile.
Dr.
Reeves was right.
If I went out there alone, the first rogue would finish me off.
I couldn’t protect us.
Not yet.
Option two: I had to stay.
That thought made bile rise in my throat.
Stay with them.
Eat their food.
Sleep under their roof.
Let them touch me.
Three years.
They had hurt me for three years.
Every day.
Systematically.
Could I really look at Slade across the breakfast table?
Could I let Maddox bandage a cut on my arm without flinching?
I had no choice.
This was the safest place.
No one could touch me here.
My body needed time.
The healing saliva was still working under my skin, itching and burning.
I needed rest.
I needed a pack, even if it was a pack of monsters.
I hated that they were right.
And I hated that the bond was already working.
I closed my eyes.
Then I realized the headache that had been splitting my skull since the shift was gone.
The constant, low-level nausea had settled.
The blockage in my chest, the one that kept my wolf caged, had loosened.
Just being in the same room as them, breathing their air, had fixed me.
It was humiliating.
My body was betraying me, choosing them over my own pride.
Two weeks, I decided.
I’ll stay for two weeks.
Get strong.
Get my head on straight.
Then I leave.
I’ll run so far they’ll never find me.
I’d survived worse.
I’d survived hell.
I could survive this.
“Are we staying?” My wolf asked.
“Yes,” I thought back to her.
“We are staying.
But don’t get comfortable.
We are using them.
We eat their food, we heal our body, and then we leave.
Understand?”
“I understand,” she replied.
“Survival first.”
For once, we were on the same page without bickering.
“So about what we were saying…”
Maddox’s voice cut through the silence.
His hands were clasped in front of him, looking at me with those big, sad eyes.
“Isla—”
Suddenly, the air in the room changed.
I looked up.
They had all gone still.
It was eerie.
Like someone had hit the pause button on a movie.
Their eyes glazed over slightly.
The pupils dilated, then contracted.
They weren’t looking at me anymore.
They were looking at something inside their own heads.
Mind linking.
I’d seen it before.
The pack communicating telepathically.
A private conversation I was never invited to.
It made me feel sick.
Physically sick.
I was sitting right here, the subject of their discussion, and I was completely locked out.
This was the ultimate isolation.
I watched their faces, trying to read their micro-expressions.
Brock’s jaw set.
His lips pressed into a thin line.
Slade’s eyes darkened.
He looked annoyed.
His jaw clenched.
He didn’t like what was being said.
Colt…
Colt grinned.
Just a slight quirk of the lips.
He looked amused.
Like this was a game he was winning.
And Maddox.
He looked nervous.
His forehead creased.
He was glancing at me, then looking away, guilt written all over his posture.
They were deciding my fate.
Right now.
In a split second.
Silence stretched.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
It felt like an hour.
My heart started to hammer against my ribs.
“Hello?”
My voice was loud.
It cracked in the quiet room.
“Anyone?
I’m still here!”
I stood up and glared at them, my hands balling into fists at my sides.
“I can’t hear you, you know!” I shouted, my anger bubbling up, hot and fast.
“You think I don’t know you’re talking about me?
Stop doing that!
Look at me!”
One second they were statues, ther eyes glazed over.
The next, they were back.
Air rushed back into the room.
Maddox blinked, shaking his head like he was clearing water from his ears.
He looked at me.
“Our Father…” he started, his voice was careful.
“He wants to meet you.”
My heart stopped.
“Your what?” I whispered.
Brock stepped forward.
He looked grim.
“Our Father wants to meet you, Isla.”
I shook my head.
I took a step back, my heels hitting the paper-covered exam table.
“Absolutely fucking not!”
The words came out as a shout.
I didn’t mean to scream, but the panic was clawing up my throat.
“Isla—” Brock started, his tone shifting to that patronizing Alpha growl.
“No!” I shook my head frantically.
“No, no, no, no!
I only agreed to stay here.
In this house.
With you.
I didn’t sign up for a royal audience!”
Colt leaned against the wall, picking at a piece of lint on his shirt.
“Technically, he’s the Alpha, It’s protocol when we find our mate.
We have to present you.”
“I’m not your mate!” I snapped at him, my nails digging into my palms.
“We’ve been over this.”
Slade rolled his eyes.
He unfolded his arms and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“The bond says otherwise, sweetheart. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Biology doesn’t care about your feelings.”
“I don’t even care what the bond says!” I yelled back.
Maddox stepped forward, his hands raised in surrender.
“Isla… please.
We’re not asking you to meet him today.
Just…
eventually.
While you’re here.
We need to tell him we found you.”
I stared at him, my breath coming in short gasps.
“Why?
So he can judge me?
So he can look at the scars on my back and the rumors in the school hallway and decide I’m not good enough for their precious Alpha heirs?”
The room went quiet.
The four of them exchanged glances.
Brock shook his head, his jaw tight.
“Our parents aren’t like that.
They aren’t…
cruel.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“Sure they’re not.
Because Alpha families are SO welcoming to the daughter of a low-ranking wolf who everyone thinks is a—”
I cut myself off.
I couldn’t say it.
The word whore stuck in my throat like a fishhook.
I swallowed it down.
Maddox’s face crumpled.
“They don’t know about the rumours.
We didn’t tell them.”
“Yet…” I whispered, looking at the floor.
“But they’ll find out.
Everyone always finds out.
And when they do, I’ll be the one locked in the tower while you four get to walk free.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Brock said firmly.
“Oh please!” I grunted.
They all started talking at once then.
Brock was arguing about protocol, Maddox pleading for calm, Colt was making a joke that fell flat, Slade growling about tradition.
Then, silence again.
Slade went rigid.
It happened so fast.
One second he was arguing with Brock, the next his spine locked straight.
His eyes glazed over, that same look from before.
Then his eyes darkened instantly.
“Fuck!” he cursed.
Brock spun on him.
“What?”
Slade didn’t look at Brock.
He was looking through him.
“Border patrol.
Dad’s orders.
There are rogue activities on the north boundary.
He wants us there.
Now.”
He didn’t wait for a response.
He turned and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair.
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
Brock cursed under his breath and grabbed his own gear.
Colt’s smirk vanished.
Maddox looked torn-he looked at me, then at the door, then back at me.
Slade stopped right in front of me.
Then he grabbed my shoulders, not too tightly.
“I’ll be back,” he said, staring intensely into my eyes.
“Don’t— just stay back.
Please.
Don’t try to run.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line, pulling away from his touch.
I said nothing.
I just stared at him.
He held my gaze for one more second, then released me and turned, storming out of the room.
The other three followed.
Brock gave me a sharp nod.
Colt winked.
Maddox looked back once, his eyes pleading, before the door clicked shut.
I stood there in the silence.
The room felt empty.
My wolf reared up her head inside my mind.
“Did you hear that?* she asked.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Isla.”
I rolled my eyes.
I turned my head.
Dr.
Reeves was standing in the corner, her tablet clutched to her chest.
I looked at the door.
They were gone.
This was my chance.
I moved away from the exam table, my bare feet silent on the floor.
I headed for the window.
“Isla,” my wolf warned, pacing in my mind.
“Wait.”
“Shut up,” I told her.
Then I reached for the window latch.