The rest of the week went by pretty quietly. Zach managed to bring breakfast over every morning and I made lunch and dinner. I have learned more about Zach and we talked and laughed together. I never realized I hadn’t taken the time to get to know him on more of a personal level, since I was always focused on Damian. He always wanted to run a museum. His knowledge of old artifacts and events was astonishing. Apparently, the ring I was wearing was worth more than 1 million dollars. The Emerald was one that was smuggled into the U.S. and was lost in transit from unknown causes. I was more than a little skeptical. My parents said they saw it from an old lady in a small store and thought it would bring out my eyes. Surely, I was not wearing a million-dollar ring on my finger. Zach said after he saw it for the first time, he didn’t think anything of it but he was reading a book that described the ring and it was a pretty good description of my ring. Shaking my head, I laid down in bed.
Tomorrow, we leave first thing in the morning. I have been hearing whispers that there will be a Luna ceremony in a month or two. I knew they had already marked and mated, so I was eager to leave this old life behind me. Zach was sleeping on the couch. My house was all packed and boxes off the ground in case it flooded. The electric company was supposed to come out tomorrow and turn everything off. We left the water on so Zach’s parents could come by to keep the house from smelling like old rusted pipes that something died in.
“Wake up sleeping beauty! It’s time!!” Zach yelled happily.
“Why are you a morning person? What did sleep ever do to you?” I questioned.
“Well, Damian mind-linked me last night since you still have a concrete wall up, that him and Holly will be stopping by at 9am to talk to us before we leave, so we need to leave in 30 minutes if you want to avoid seeing him.”
That got me awake fast. I flew from my bed and went straight to the shower. I had a light bag packed since we were taking my car (my mom’s old one). I was bring a few personal things but it was already packed and ready to go. I had clothes laid out so there was no reason to worry about that. Since I will be driving, I opted for leggings and a t-shirt with my signature side braid and no makeup.
“Boy let’s go!” I yelled from the drivers’ seat of my 1969 Dodge Charger. It was all black with a black interior. I left the white fuzzy dice my mom had hanging from the rear-view mirror. I would always make fun of her for it, but now I can’t seem to part with it.
“I’m sorry! Jeez, I was getting the bag of snacks for you!”
Once we were outside of our territory, I instantly felt lighter. Like there was a huge weight on my shoulders and I was trying to get away fast, so when they realized we had left already, Damian couldn’t command Zach to bring us back. For some reason, his commands never affected me. We assumed it was because I was his mate, his equal.
Zach got a pained look on his face. “Drive faster” he growled out. I immediately slammed on the gas and floored it. After a few minutes, he sighed and relaxed.
“Sorry, I felt Damian mind-linking me asking me where we were. I stalled and said we were grabbing breakfast. He should realize we are gone now….” Right on queue his phone rang and it was Damian.
“Here let me, he can’t command me to do anything.” I said firmly. Hitting the accept button, I said “What do you want Damian? We are busy living our lives away from you”, I said calmly.
“Why didn’t you guys wait! We wanted to speak with you.” Damian sounded angry and he was spitting the words out. I saw Zach flinch. He was still affected by Damian.
“Oh, quit the drama, you cannot command me and Zach isn’t in ear shot for you to command him (I bluffed in hopes he wouldn’t try) and I honestly don’t want to speak with you two.” I finished holding my breath. I have never spoken to him or anyone like this and it was unnerving and exciting at the same time.
“I will send warriors out to get you two and bring you back! Mark my words, you will not leave me, Nina, even if you are not my mate, no one else will have you. Be careful with what you do darling. I am always watching you. I will not hesitate to lock you in the cells, so let me make myself clear. You have one month to mourn your parents and get this little trip out of your system and I expect you back here. You will be my beta and serve me. If you even think of touching another male, I will come down and get you myself and will him whoever he is. Do you hear me?” Damian finished with a little smirk at his threat. I can hear Holly in the background yelling at Damian to let me go that I am not needed or wanted here and she is all he will ever need. I can hear the venom in her voice.
“Excuse me? Who do you…”?
“One month darling, then you are mine and I bought another red dress like the prom one for you to wear”, Damian said, leaving me speechless. Before he can hang up, I hear him threaten Holly. ‘She is my first love and will be my last, you might be beside me because of appearance but she is.. will be my mistress and nothing you can do to stop me. I am commanding you to never tell a soul about this to anyone. Know your place’. The phone cut off there and I was left stunned.
The fuck did I just hear? I had to pull over and process what I had just heard. Zach came around and pulled me from the vehicle and placed me in the passenger seat and got back into the drivers’ seat and started to floor it. I knew we needed to get as much space between us and the pack territory but my mind was stuck on the threat. Make me his mistress? Keep me locked up? If I ever came back, I would be locked in a cellar or another bedroom and the only other face I would ever see would be Damian as he came in to rape me. Suddenly I felt stronger. The fuck he was going to keep me as a sex slave, the fuck he was going to scare me into anything, the fuck he was going to put a time frame on my grieving! I knew I was never going back there.
“Are you okay” Zach asked softly.
Pulling me from my thoughts, “yeah, I am fine. The fuck if I am going to sit back and let him use me and expect me to obey him like that. I am never going back to that pack and I will die fighting before I let anything like that happen to me” I said firmly. My dad did not raise a daughter like a warrior, for her to end up like that. He raised me to be strong and independent with my own head. He can’t even force me to be Beta, he can’t command me to do anything, so fuck off Damian, I said smugly in my head.
“Girl, I will die before I let that dickhead touch us. I will rip off his dick and feed it to himself and watch him bleed out”, Raven said firmly.
I lifted my eyebrows and just chuckled at Raven. That’s my wolf.