Wildling

Chapter 36

~~~Jaxson's POV~~~

Raped.

Raped. My mate was raped. The word repeated in my mind, running rampant. I feel like such an ass.

When Ember said she was impure, I just assumed she didn't wait. I didn't blame her or hold it against her. Now to find out that she had her virginity ripped away from her by a lunatic, her own cousin.

I had followed Sean and Ember down to the cells. I watched and listened behind the two-way mirror. I'm worried about Ember. I know she's strong, but she also is about to torture someone who had tortured her. Has she ever tortured someone before? It can change a person. That's not something I want my mate to experience.

She acted so cold and callous. But I could see her breaking. I was proved right when she got lost in a trance, whipping Trent until the point of him passing out. I watched Sean clutch her closely, wishing that it were me comforting her.

My heart twisted in my chest when I heard her speak of her past. I couldn't hold Ares back once we heard that she was raped.

He roared punching the wall, concrete crumbling from the impact. He lifted the table and threw it over his head making it smash into pieces against the wall. He forced a shift. Claws scraping into the concrete as he paced the room. His canines aching to rip into the supple flesh of the traitorous bastard in the other room. Aching to feel his blood dripping from them, filling his mouth as he tore into the asshole's jugular.

He snarled, his large head snapping towards the door as it opened. Sean hesitantly poked his head in. He opened the door wider and stood aside.

"Go run it off before you talk to her." Ares walked towards him; teeth bared. Growling viciously, he snarled in Sean's face before ripping out of the room.

The guards quickly opened the doors and pressed the elevator button while Ares bolted for an exit.

He sprinted through the forest, tearing up the earth in desperation to outrun his feelings. He spent hours tearing up the woods and uprooting trees, trying to eliminate his anger. Finally, once he was exhausted, he relinquished control, allowing me to shift back to my weary body.

I trudged back home in the darkness just now realizing how late it had become. I reached the pack house and pulled on some shorts from the bin outside. I entered the apartment and found Ember waiting on the couch, clothed in one of my shirts. Her tear-streaked face turned away from me as I approached, her eyes cast down.

"Do you hate me now? Are you disgusted by me?" Ember's distraught voice shattered me.

I failed her. We got so angry that we indirectly made Ember suffer too. What is wrong with me?

Us. I started it. Ares whimpered, hating himself for making our mate doubt herself.

"Em, look at me." She kept her head down refusing to meet my gaze.

"Baby girl, please. Let me see those beautiful eyes." I cupped her chin and lifted her head. I suppressed the gasp threatening to leave my throat at the look in her eyes. Her eyes looked dead, like she had given up on everything, leaving behind an empty shell.

"Oh, Em." I wrapped her in my arms, and she clutched desperately at my shirt. "Baby I don't hate you. Why would I? And why would I ever be disgusted with you?"

"Because I'm used. I'm so used, and I didn't do anything to stop it. I let those men touch me. I let Dimitri take what I would have given to only you!" She cried into my chest. A growl slipped from my lips. We don't like hearing our mate talk about herself like that.

"Don't you ever...say that to me again. You didn't let those men do anything. You were fucking chained! How were you supposed to stop them! Baby you went through hell but you're still here. I would never hate you, especially for something that was out of your control. You didn't ask to be raped. You didn't ask to be bound in chains and tortured for a year. I know you well enough to know that you tried everything you could to escape. You didn't let anything happen." I tightened my arms around her, pleading with her to hear my words. To absorb them and understand. It is never the victim's fault. Unless you're talking about Trent, in that case he fucking deserves it.

"Baby, I love you no matter what, regardless of your past. I can never apologize enough for running away after what I heard. Ares was so angry, we would have stormed right in and snapped Trent's neck. But you deserve to be the one to deal his pain." I pulled back and tilted her head up so I could see her eyes. "I will teach you that it's not painful to love. It's amazing and wonderful and can be extraordinary. Once we get this all sorted, I will make sure you are happy for the rest of your life and never cry another tear of pain, or sadness ever again." She tilts her head, looking at me with a sad smile on her face.

"You can't promise that. Sadness and pain are a part of life. You can try but you can't get rid of it entirely. But you can promise to stand by my side, whether any storm, fight beside me as we make a life together." Pride swarms through my body at her words. She doesn't even realize how amazing she is.

"I promise. How about we go take a bath and go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day." I kiss the top of her head and swiftly pick her up into my arms, loving the little shriek she let loose.

Carrying her up the stairs, my hand cupped her thigh, sliding under the shirt up leg a bit. I felt an abnormal smoothness to her skin, followed by rough edges.

I sat her on the edge of the bed and knelt in front of her. She looked confused at first until my hands brushed the bare skin of her legs. Grabbing the hem of the shirt, her hands stop me before I can slide it up.

"Don't." She whispered, barely audible. Brushing her cheek with my thumb I tried to calm her nerves.

While my thumb was grazing her cheek, distracting her slightly, my other hand slid the shirt up her thigh, letting it rest by her hip. I glanced to see her creamy skin, marred with angry pink lines.

I clenched my jaw, willing myself to stay calm as I see his name carved into her skin. I leaned down and gently placed a kiss to the first scar. Ember let out a choked sob at my gesture.

I continued until I had kissed every single line in her skin. Her tremors turning into squirms and soft moans as I changed the situation into something more pleasurable for her. She shuddered as I traced the last scar with my lips. Growling softly as I smelled the sweet aroma of her core near my mouth. I pulled away before I could do something stupid, grasping her face in my hands as I leaned in to place a gentle kiss to her lips. She sighed and melted into me.

I picked her up and tucked her in, slipping in beside her and tugging her against my chest.

"I love you, Ember."

"I love you too, Jax."