| KALEB

I looked to Josh for reassurance but he was glaring at Jared who didn't respond too kindly. A snarl spread across his face as he walked over to Josh kicking him brutally in the side repeatedly.

"Don't act tough just because Kaleb's here, you mutt." he growled. "Do I need to remind you who you belong to, slut?" Josh squeezed his eyes shut, his jaw clamped tight as he fought against making any sounds as Jared kept kicking him.

A horrified sob escaped my parted lips causing Jared's attention to turn to me. I was shaking uncontrollably as he neared, stopping just three feet away from me. From the corner of my eye I saw Josh panting as he spit out a mouth full of blood.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that, baby." Jared cooed, his voice sickly sweet. "Don't worry I'll punish him real good later." he said as if I was actually supposed to be reassured by that. I couldn't say anything, my voice was frozen in my throat, I was petrified. "I'm so glad you're here! Now I have two playthings to fuck. Oh the possibilities!" he exclaimed "I can just imagine it, I'll take turns fucking both of your tight little holes til they're sloppy and messy with my cum. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll let Joshy here fuck you. Mmm, just thinking about the faces you'll make makes me hard!" to prove his point he unzipped his pants and pulled out his stiff length.

"It was hell setting this all up, but it was worth it in the end." he said stroking himself slowly. I wanted to throw up but it was like my whole body had gone numb. "Now I have you here all to my self and soon you'll be my little Luna. You'll make lots and lots of babies for me won't you, Kaleb?" I shook my head no as tears blurred my eyes. I belonged to Zev, no one else. I only wanted to carry his children. My shaking increased as Jared frowned, taking a step closer to me. "What do you mean no?" he asked, his voice turning deadly. "You think that fucking tiger can take care of you better than I can?!" I shrunk further into myself and was wise enough not to respond like I had the first time. Jared took a deep breath, calming himself down.

"This'll be a lot easier once you've forgotten about that bastard, okay?" He said as if he was trying to comfort me. Again, I didn't respond and he took that as acceptance as a smile spread across his face. "How about we get started, yeah? I can't wait to sink my cock into your tight little ass." his stroking picked up pace as he licked his lips hungrily. A shiver of revultion ran through me. Tears began to run freely now.

He smiled down at me with sadistic pleasure before crouching in front of me. He arm shot out and his hand gripped my jaw painfully as he jerked my face closer to his.

"You'll soon learn that crying only turns me on more, " he said his smile widening. Keeping my face still he licked the salty tear trail from my cheek before letting my face go and standing up. He wasn't sadistic, he was sick.

"Nmph," Josh groaned as he lifted his bloody face, you could see the desperation in his bright blue eyes. "A-Alpha" he called, almost like it was physically difficult to get out. "Play with me instead, I-I wa-want it." His voice was hoarse and full of poorly concealed pain and broke towards the end. Jared looked at Josh, his smile widening as he releasedy chin. He moaned low in his throat.

"You want Alpha's cock, baby?" He stood, turning away from me and began walking towards Josh.

No! I wanted to scream but the sound was stuck in my throat. I could only cry uselessly. Jared shoved his crotch against Josh's abused face rubbing against roughly. Josh didn't make a sound as he tried to hold perfectly still.

A sick smile spread across his face and he released pleasured grunts. I did not want to look but I couldn't take my eyes away.

Just as Jared backed away, preparing to open Josh's mouth forcibly, a wolf appeared in the same hall as he had. The man had light brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"Jared," he called, effectively gaining his attention. Stopping his movements, Jared turned away from Josh with a snarl.

"I told you to call me Alpha, you dumbass!" Jared cursed snarling at the intruder. My eyes flew back to Josh who looked at me at the same moment. He gave me another reassuring smile except this one was half hearted and shaky. I gave him a weak smile in return, my eyes brimmed with tears. The man coughed nervously.

"Ah, sorry, Alpha," he corrected himself. "We have a problem." Jared grumbled to himself agitatedly as he shoved himself back into his pants, zipping them up.

"What is it?" he asked walking over to the man who seemed to cower the closer that he got.

"I-It's Larken, Alpha," the brown haired wolf stuttered. "The men say that he is missing, they picked up his scent and discovered that it was laced heavy with his blood, as if he was badly injured. They think he is dead." Jared cursed and the man flinched.

"Damn it! Another perfectly good toy gone to waste!" I tried not to think too hard about what that sentence implicated. "Gah! This sets us back another week! Without him we won't be able to gather the rogues to the west of us!" He pulled at his hair, frustrated. A stream of snarls flowed from his mouth as he began to pace.

I tried not to let my interest in the conversation show too much, hoping that would keep Jared's attention off of me. Josh remained quiet as well, for which I was thankful. I didn't want to ever see him go through something like that again. It broke my heart to think that worse things may have happened before I showed up. I can't say that I was torn up about Larken, especially if his death or disappearance threw a wrench in Jared's plans. Without giving Josh and I a second glance, Jared disappeared down the hall with the man following close behind.

"Are you alright?" I asked softly, just incase Jared was still nearby. Josh nodded a little stiffly, wincing. "He's done worse, don't worry about me." I frowned at him.

"When Zev gets here, I'm going to make sure he kills him slowly." I promised, my tone completely serious. Josh guffawed.

"That would have been scary coming from anyone but you." he laughed, a little of the sadness leaving his eyes. I couldn't help but smile at that. "But thank you, oh frightening omega, for sicking your tiger on him for me." he said a little somber.

"That's if Darren doesn't get his hands on him first," I said teasingly. It worked, Josh's cheeks turned a deep cherry and it took everything in me not to 'aw'.

"You... you really think he'll still..." he trailed off. The look in his eyes was so vulnerable. I'd never seen Josh anything but confident and cocky. Perhaps that was why he and Darren were mates. Darren was so down to earth, maybe that tempered Josh's outspoken personality. I held his gaze, hoping the sincerity in my voice would convince him.

"Yes, he will."

Josh swallowed thickly. I could tell he didn't completely believe it. He wasn't allowing himself to believe it. We fell into silence after that. The light that streamed in from the cracks in the front door faded as day turned to night. Jared didn't return which left me with enough peace of mind to close my eyes for a little bit. Soon, I was asleep with one thought running through my mind.

Zev, please hurry.

| AUTHOR'S NOTE

There you have it for chapter 23. Don't worry my loves, this forced separation between our two protagonists is coming to a close. We have about five more chapters - epilogue included - until this journey is over and I would like to thank all of you for sticking with me through all of it.

Please leave your thoughts on the chapter in the comments. I love reading them. 😍

With lots of love,

J.T.

| FUN FACT

In the universe I wrote this story in, you can't tell if someone is your mate until both parties are eighteen or older. Hence why Darren couldn't tell Josh was his mate even though he turned eighteen before him.