Forest Pack: Tristan Ch. 05

He was furious that the couple weren't here and kept asking me where they had gone. I played dumb and acted as though they had never been here. Then one of the men brought him the blanket stained with the woman's blood and all hell broke loose. The last thing I remember from that day is him knocking something hard over my head and I passed out."

Tristan could hardly believe where the story was going. He knew without a doubt that Rhea was telling him the truth but it was difficult to wrap his head around the story despite his centuries on earth. Could it even be possible? He heard her begin speaking again and focussed once more as she took in a shaky breath and began the difficult part of the story.

"I woke up two days later in a cabin in the middle of the forest with a pounding headache. Before I could even think about going anywhere this guy walked in with a video in his hand. His eyes looked dead and I have never been as scared as I was then. He kind of smirked when I moved as far away from him as I could and started playing this tape for me. It was security footage from the hospital showing me helping the couple escape. I had no idea what he wanted from them but after the way that pup had stared into my eyes there was no way I was going to help this guy find them.

For the next few days he tried everything he could think of to get me to talk. All I told him was that I knew nothing. I observed everything going on around me and realized this was a wolf pack and he was the Alpha. After about a week he started getting more inventive and moved on from verbal threats to starving me. When that didn't work he tried to scare me by transforming into his wolf and barking viciously in the middle of beating me. I think it went on for about a month from when I first woke up in the cabin. None of it worked. To be honest, after a while I forgot why I was even protecting the couple. I lost all sense of time and all feeling in my body. He realized it wasn't working so for a few days he let me recover and treated me like royalty before he revealed his next great plan to get information out of me. He was going to rape me."

Tristan clenched his jaw as Rhea spoke and felt the fury taking over him once again. His mate was beaten and tortured for months. His wolf howled his rage and denial until Rhea let out a little sob and he was immediately drawn to comforting her. He would find the bastards that did this and he would take great pleasure in ripping them apart inch by inch but right now his mate needed him.

Rhea knew that Tristan was enraged and she was starting to believe that she may indeed be his mate but she didn't dare turn around for fear that she would just start crying again if she saw his expression.

"Everything else I could handle Tristan but this idea was so revolting that I knew I had to find a way to escape. The next day he locked me in the cellar. He was sloppy and only secured one of my hands. I knew he would be gone a while because I had overheard two of his betas say something about a council meeting in a few days. I waited until they all left and tried breaking free of the manacles but nothing worked. I had lost a lot of weight and thought my wrists would squeeze through the cuffs but it didn't work. Eventually I got so desperate that I broke my hand to get free. It was excruciating but it worked.

I couldn't believe I was free. I was really careful getting out of the cabin but it seemed as if the area was deserted. I didn't want to risk taking one of his vehicles so I walked and walked until I got to a highway. From there I was able to hitchhike until I got to a clinic. I passed out but when I woke up my hand was securely bandaged and I was on a drip. It still hurt like hell but I had to get out of there so I stole some clothes and moved on until I got here. I contacted a friend from college to organise fake documentation that changed my last name and got her to withdraw all the money I had. That's when I started my life here as Rhea Blake. It's been my haven ever since. Well, until now that is."

Rhea whimpered in fear as her fears crept up on her once again and she felt Tristan's arms tighten around her.

"I was so certain I had escaped him Tristan. My biggest worry was what had happened to that couple and their baby because I figured that if he hadn't found me in the past few years then I was safe. But he's back. Logan. He's going to make sure he kills me this time, I'm sure of it. You have to let me leave Tristan. He doesn't care who he hurts to get what he wants. Please, just let me go..." she begged, fighting Tristan's hold.

"Rhea, just stop sweetheart. You aren't going anywhere. You are my mate. I will protect you for eternity. And I swear that the next time you see that bastard, he'll be in bits and pieces. Nobody will EVER hurt you again..." Tristan promised.