Healed By The Pack (Broken Ladder Wolf-shifters Book 5) by Dizzy Hooper

Author:Dizzy Hooper [Hooper, Dizzy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

"It's funny," I say, fighting the instinct to curl into myself and hide.

Before this is all done, they're going to see every part of me. Every inch of my body--and before that, every inch of my battered heart.

"When my Uncle Ray took me and my siblings in, I thought it was a miracle. Jessica's father, he had--has--this huge compound. A big house, outbuildings. Woods behind it that go on for miles."

How many days did Jess and Tommy and Nikki and I spend exploring those woods? Even when I was weak and sick, on good days, I would follow them as far as I could, as often as I could. After my surgery, my wolf found her stride there. She learned to run.

When home was fraught, my uncle's compound was a sanctuary.

When my home was destroyed...

Well, then it became even more of one.

"He was so kind," I recount. "Jessica had already moved to the city, and her mom had passed ages ago. He could have sold the place and downsized, but he invited us to live with him instead."

I jumped at the chance. Nikki and Tommy were basically adults at that point. They could have found their own apartments, but they accepted our uncle's offer, too. Our family got to stay together, and it felt like a miracle.

"It was great. Really great."

Right until it all went wrong.

An unconscious shiver worms its way through me. Adrian runs his hand up and down my arm, as if the literal cold is what's bothering me.

God, I wish it were that simple.

"When my uncle started dating again, we were all surprised." Shifters who have lost a mate rarely survive the shock--much less go on to find another. "But we went along with it. In the beginning, it seemed cute. He was happier."

Little did we know that he wasn't dating, so much as he was being seduced by a power-hungry bitch intent on stealing his lands.

"The female he brought home was a little...intense, sure. Their courtship was rushed. Just as we were starting to think they should slow things down, they were making the bond official, and she was moving in. It was too late. We hoped for the best, but..."

But Katarina was a force of nature.

The changes she made were small at first. She asked me to do this for her or for Nikki to see to this.

Before we knew it, we were servants in our own home.

Only it wasn't our home--not exactly, and God if she didn't make that point clear. Repeatedly.

The precariousness of our situation was thrown in our faces at every turn.

I shrug, but the motion is stiff. "We thought about leaving. But we were the only ones there to fight for our family's lands."

Our ancestors had claimed the property generations ago. Jessica had left to pursue her dreams, and I never held that against her. But with her out of the way, it was just me and my siblings looking out for our uncle and our entire family's legacy.

What could we do but stay?

Even when it became completely untenable.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.