Reclaiming His Abused Mate

The Strength To Begin

My Wolf leaped before real thought entered my mind. the howl she released was deafening, and her claws and teeth sank deeply into Eaton as he stumbled and fell under us. She tore at every piece of him she could reach. He tried to shift, but was too late. We had caught him by surprise and his blood already puddled on the ground underneath us .

his face was unrecognizable, yet he still breathed air. Ava, the red rage of years of abuse and her animal instincts still leading her actions, aimed next for his throat.

I don't think I will ever forget the look in his eyes as Ava went in for the kill. pure terror and utter shock filled them in the seconds before she ripped out his throat.

Blood was everywhere, as we stepped back from our righteous kill. His blood, as he hadn't left a scratch on me. It coated my muzzle and my paws, turning my gray coat a dark red in places. I shook, from the shock, from the adrenaline, perhaps both.

He lay bleeding and gone in front of me, but I felt no remorse. He had deserved his fate. The only good and clean thing that had ever come from him were my pups.

Ava's ended my few moments of stillness as she scented the air and caught wins of our mate. She bolted into the cabin.

There, we were met with a shocking and surprising sight. Leah, Devin's wife, lay spread out on the couch, obviously dead.Ava, being less human and more animal than me, accepted this as necessary, I felt instant sadness. She hasn't been a nice or decent person, but she hadn't been a vicious abuser as Eaton had, and death seemed too severe a punishment. I feared Devin's reaction, and though her death had not come at my hands, I worried he would believe it had, and resent me for taking his pups mother. I only prayed his pups were unharmed.

I followed the scent of him to the tiny trap door in the floor of the cabin. Ava pawed and scratched and

bit at it, but we needed to be human to open this one, so I finally convinced her to shift back.

As I lifted the heavy trap door, I felt Devin returning to consciousness below.

"Devin's Point of View"

I knew something terrible was going to happen the minute Eaton had thrown open the door to the wine cellar at Gunther's dinner party. For far too long, Mia and I had walked that very risky line in order to be together and feed our bond without risking ourselves. I knew he hurt her when he had her alone. My Wolf, Evan, hated him and wished his death a thousand times over, but our choices were few. and we had our pups to think of. Pups. She was in for the beating of her life, and she was carrying our pup. Fear filled me as he pulled he from the cellar, she looked back at me fleetingly, and I knew this time, I couldn't just return home with Leah and hope she'd be alright. She probably wouldn't survive this time, if I didn't do something.

So I followed them.

He shoved her roughly into the passenger seat of their SUV, her bright red hair shaking loose from the elastic as he pushed her head in and slammed the door. Evan fought with me. He hated our choices, and wanted nothing more than to end Eaton and be with our mate. I held him back. We might end Eaton tonight, but we couldn't do it here. Not when nearly everyone in attendance was a wolf and Eaton's cronies. Evan, even if we end him, she cannot be ours. We have a duty to Leah, to our pups. Don't forget that. I spoke to him in our mind. He growled back at me, and we returned our focus to the car.

They were leaving. I waited till they were halfway up the drive before climbing into my truck to follow. I left the headlights off. It wouldn't do to be spotted quite yet.

I followed them into their driveway across town. As I parked just out of sight, I heard her scream, and Evan started whimpering, and I knew he was already hurting Mia.

I climbed out and quickly sprinted toward them, keeping to the shadows and hoping he was too preoccupied to scent me. As they came into view, I saw Mia's head bash off of the top step of the bulkhead leading to their basement. I let out a fierce growl and leaped forward, shifting to my wolf mid air.

Eaton was expecting the attack, and met me full force. He ripped me from the air and we fought. I ripped into his left shoulder, aiming for his neck, and he tore into my front leg.

Mia moaned from the steps, and with that momentary distraction, that fleeting moment where I felt relieved she was alive, Eaton overtook me.

He slammed into me with such a huge force that I lost consciousness.

I woke up hazily, what felt like a long time later.

I was tied up, and back in human form. That was expected, we tended to shift back once unconscious or dead.

I frantically searched for Mia through the bond, and found her, in pain, but alive.

then the sounds and smells from around me started registering. I was in a hole, a cellar or sorts, tied to a support beam. it was mostly dark, but there was light shining through a small square on the floor. I could smell wolves. Eaton, definitely. Several of his cronies too. And . . oh, f**k. my heart dropped. Leah. They had Leah upstairs.

Leah was not my mate. Neither was she a very nice or happy person to spend your life with. But I had promised myself to her, and she was the mother of my pups, and I did my best to be what I could be for her. a dutiful, if not loving spouse. I took my responsibilities toward her very seriously, although when it came to Mia, I had been unable to promise faithfulness. The mate bond was too strong. I felt guilty over that, as I knew Leah had never found her fated mate and our union was all she expected to have in life. It was that, and my pups, that had kept me from tearing Eaton apart and taking Mia as mine all these years.

I heard Leah scream, and started tugging uselessly on my bindings. They burned everywhere they touched me, so they must be soaked in wolfsbane, which would explain why Evan was so quiet. I couldn't feel Leah, we didn't have that bond, but I heard them torturing her and it ate at everything inside me.

suddenly a loud scream was cut abruptly off, and blood began dripping though the floor cracks onto me. They had killed her. she was gone. I howled with grief.

Then, Moments later, the trapdoor opened and the laughing, sadistic face of Eaton Lane could be seen above me.

This man needed to die. But, I feared he would kill me first, weak and trapped as I was.

"Don't you worry Devin. She's just the first. I'm going to hold you here, so you can feel the blood of everyone you love drip over your face, ending with Mia herself." Eaton sneered down at me. " But first, why do t I send someone after your sons? They really should pay their last respects to their mother. " the sound of his laugh rand in my ears, a terribly ominous sound that echoed with the helplessness I now felt.

Not my boys.