WINTER'S BROKEN MATE

EPISODE 6

Somewhere in the city,

“You have to come! And I won’t take no for an answer.” Whined Allen Winter, “We have just secured you a whole new city, the least you can do is come and enjoy it with us.”

Damien just watched calmly as his younger cousin went on with his rumblings. He, of course, was completely unaffected by it. He’d already made a decision he was going out with his cousins, not to celebrate his new territory, of course that he’d always known he’d acquire; there was no other option, but he needed a distraction. He continued to feel as if someone was always watching him, and his wolf was restless. As a Lycan, he couldn’t get drunk, but he could surely indulge himself senselessly. That was precisely what was on the menu: fine drinks and even finer women. He smiled slightly.

“Allen calm down. Where shall we go first?” Allen’s wicked grin explained why most species find the Winter boys irresistible.

“There’s a club I’ve heard about, Le Chautte. It’s said to be the hottest club in the city. I say we go there. And Drew will meet us there when he lands.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Damien questioned. Allen howled with excitement, Arthur slightly smiled. It was a mystery how they were twins, identical at that. Everything about them was different, Damien presumed, but as soon as the elevator doors closed and they were descending to the ground floor, his wolf’s agitation consumed him and he was left feeling aloof.

****

Casey, Amy and their friends arrived at the club. The line was long, but Shay confidently walked to the front of the line and embraced the man there. Casey assumed he was a bouncer, and she would later find out that he was her mate, as close to a mate as humans could have. The way he looked at Shay, there was adoration there, it enthralled Casey, yet it gave her an antsy feeling that settled at her core. It made her feel all conscious and wrong, but she would try her best to shake it off. Tonight they intended to have fun, and no stupid, queasy feeling would ruin that for her or her friends. Soon they were all in the club and enjoying the best cocktails she’d ever had.

Casey and Amy danced, took shots, and generally enjoyed the night. She was a bit tipsy; she figured the cocktails were stronger than she initially thought; she’d decided to leave the dance floor when this discourteous, grabby son of b***h pulled her to him. She protested and tried to struggle, but he wouldn’t let go. He had foul breath that was on her skin, and she was getting nauseated by the second. She kneed him in the groin and went for the exit. Casey heard the man mutter the word "b***h" under his breath when she hit him, but she paid him no mind, she needed some air.

Outside, she inhaled the fresh air greedily and walked a couple feet away from the club’s entrance, where there were still many young, vibrant people. She did not see Johnny, but she’d figured he may be with Shay.

Casey was at the entrance of a dark alley facing away from the club, trying not to throw up when she felt sweaty palms on her skin and that foul breath on her neck.

“You shouldn’t have done that sweetheart, I was just trying to be friendly.” His voice raked her soft skin, and her stomach churned some more. She pulled away from the man and hit him hard across the face.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” She said in her alpha tone, it seemed to stop the man in his tracks before he quickly recovered and hit her hard across the face.

“You b***h!” he screamed, “You are definitely going to get it now.” He threw her against the concrete wall, and her head hit the wall hard. It left her groggy and in pain. Casey definitely wanted to fight back, but for the life of her, she couldn’t master the strength to do so. She felt like some helpless human. The vile creature of a man had noted how disoriented Casey was and decided to take full advantage. He started groping Casey and trailing wet disgusting kisses on her exposed skin.

“That’s it baby, calm and compliant. I like you better this way.” But Casey wasn’t compliant if she couldn’t fight, she could scream for help, and she would. Someone would hear her, they had to. She wouldn’t let this pathetic excuse of a man take what she treasured to be her mate’s; she wouldn’t let him taint her. So, Casey screamed, kicked, scratched, and refused to be ‘calm and compliant’ at any cost.

The man’s roaming hands became more aggressive, they dug into her skin, and Casey was sure she would have marks in the morning, if she survived, that is. Suddenly, the human creature with the foul breath was ripped away from her. Relief washed through her body, then it was gone. Her earlier antsy feeling came back, the man about to do unthinkable things to her was on the asphalt ground being pounded to a pulp by a bigger, more ruthless man. Was she in greater danger than before? She swatted that thought just as quickly as it came. She was being ridiculous; the angry man was saving her and anything he did to the other man, well it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it. The antsy feeling intensified within her, she just stood there and watched the human man being ripped to shreds, somewhat drawn to the anger that was the other man. His presence felt predatory, yet it calmed her. With every punch he threw, something seemed to click inside Casey’s mind, like building blocks to a puzzle, then finally it hit her.

“Mate.” She whispered slowly, she said it more to herself than to the man, but he seemed to have heard her. He stopped pounding the man’s face, who was now barely alive, and turned his dangerous black eyes to the red head. Casey was rooted to the ground, the fogginess in her mind cleared, she stared at the man with the bloody knuckles. He was her mate. He was beautiful, strong, and angry, so very angry it seemed to light a fire within her. He stood up and started walking towards her. Her breath hitched, he stood at a good 6,5 feet tall, and was much bigger than she’d initially thought. He must be a warrior, she reckoned. Her eyes followed his every movement, and when he was a few inches from her, it hit her, knocking her unsteady, his scent; rain and pine wood. It seemed to seep into her skin and brand her as his. She was intoxicated, rightly so she thought, after all, her mate was a god.

Casey craned her neck to look into his eyes, his dark magnificent eyes which she planned to stare into for the rest of her life, then he kissed her. A slow yet ravenous kiss that drove Casey into quick madness. Then before she’d had enough, he pulled away and she whined from the loss of contact. She looked into his eyes again, ready to protest, but they were cold stormy gray, not any less magnificent, but they demanded she be quiet. He picked her bridal style and carried her to an expensive car, he said nothing to her. He placed her in the car, and before she could even protest, they were driving away.

Casey felt dumbfounded, but still as a rod, she stayed quiet. One time during the drive, she tried to touch her mate, but he wreathed away as if her touch burned, her heart ached.

“Cara? Did we do something wrong? Does he not love us?” Casey asked her wolf, tears threatening to fall.

“No, no, no, never think that. Of course, he loves us. I’m sure he’s just worked up over the man in that alley. Give him time.”

“Okay,” Casey whispered in her head, and she remained silent. They drove for a few hours; Casey was sure they weren’t in New Orleans any more, yet she couldn’t tell where they were. She must have fallen asleep, because she was woken up by the crisp night air and rough hands dragging her from the car.

“I can walk, you know; all this pulling is unnecessary.” She retorted

Her mate just grunted angrily and roughly put her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. His shoulders were digging into her stomach.

“You are hurting me, put me down!” Casey cried, but it was like she was talking to a rock. He entered a big house and quickly scaled the stairs to the top floor, where he found what Casey considered the master bedroom because of how large it was. He threw her to the floor, and Casey was forced to break her fall with her hands. On impact, she was sure she’d broken her wrist. She whimpered, but even that did not seem to register with her mate. He dragged her by the hair to the other side of the room and onto the bed. She felt the earlier pain of being thrown against a concrete wall shoot through her.

What did he think he was doing? Casey thought. Did he not realize she was his mate? Or was she in some upside-down world where right was wrong and wrong was right? Was her mate doing this to her? The questions made her head hurt more. Tears fell down her face.

“Stop,” Casey pleaded, “You’re hurting me.”

But her mate paid her no mind. His teeth elongated and his claws were out, he was calling his wolf. Dread filled her battered body, but his eyes didn’t turn black, it wasn’t his wolf. Cold stormy gray eyes looked down at her with hate, he stalked closer to her, she realized what he was about to do.

“STOP!” Casey said more firmly, “You can’t be serious, you cannot do this!” she protested. He couldn’t mark her without her consent, could he? He must know it would be excruciating for her, he cannot be that cruel. She assured herself, but as he got closer, the hairs on her body rose, and she was sure it was going to be the worst night of her life, and that was saying something. She was out of the frying pan and into the fire. Having a random man be cruel to you was one thing, having your mate hurt you like this… Casey was sure she’d forever feel the pain.

His teeth broke her skin roughly, and his large hands pinned her in place. Her scream echoed through the walls of the empty house, and her body felt as if it were burning. The pain was so dreadful that when his canines left her skin, her body shut down and pulled her into darkness.