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  Next, Cassie removed the woman’s jeans. Her white lacy underwear seemed to be fine so Cassie left them alone. The jeans had protected her legs from getting cut, but some bruises were already forming on her thighs and calves. Her ankles had the same rope marks as her wrists; leading Cassie to believe the poor woman had been bound. Just the thought of what she had been through was enough to make Cassie sick.

  Cassie wiped her legs off to make sure she was clean and slipped the boxers on her. She drew the covers up over the woman and went to let the guys back in the room. Cassie knew that she should report the rope burns, but she wasn’t sure how the guys would take it.

  “She’s cleaned up, bandaged and dressed. You can come back in now,” Cassie said as she opened the door.

  The black t-shirt made their guest look even paler than before. Gabriel was going to make sure whoever had done this to her paid, heavily. It infuriated him to think that someone could harm her on purpose. He knew it was mostly the werewolf responding; as a mate for one of the brothers, it made her part of the pack. Since Gabriel was the alpha, it was his job to defend the pack, which meant defending the poor waif-like creature in the bed as well.

  “How bad is she?” Gabriel asked.

  Cassie looked at the unconscious woman. “She had quite a few cuts on her chest and stomach and some superficial ones on her back. The head wound has me the most worried, but she should wake up in a day or two. If she doesn’t, she’ll need a hospital regardless of her wishes.”

  Gabriel could tell Cassie was hiding something. “What else?”

  Cassie took a deep breath. “She’s been abused and if I had to guess I’d say she was probably abducted. There are rope burns on her wrists and ankles. It also looks like she was whipped repeatedly within the past week.”

  Gabriel clenched his fists. “I figured she was running from someone. They probably left her for dead, hoping she wouldn’t be found until it was too late. Whoever did this to her should be shot.”

  Cassie looked shocked. “You think someone ran her off the road on purpose?”

  “When I took the truck to pick her up, I noticed some skid marks on the highway where she went off the road. It looked like she’d been forced off the highway.” Cole said, in a very calm, low voice. He could barely conceal the rage he was feeling.

  Cassie shook her head. “Poor thing. What are you going to do?”

  Cole looked at Gabriel. As their alpha, it was ultimately Gabriel’s decision. He honestly couldn’t see his brother tossing an injured woman out of the house.

  “She’ll stay here until she’s well. If she wants to leave after that, we can’t stop her. I’d like for her to stay until I know the danger has passed, but if she’s been abused, she will probably be terrified when she realizes she’s in a house with three men,” Gabriel responded.

  Cassie patted Gabriel on the arm. “I’m sure that everything will work out. If y’all will excuse me, I’m starting to get tired. I think I’m going to head home now.”

  “Thanks for coming, Cassie.” Gabriel gave her a tired smile.

  Cole walked Matt and Cassie out, locking the door behind them. He went back upstairs to talk to his brother. Gabriel was right. If the unconscious woman had been abused, she would likely be scared to death once she saw there were only men in the house. However, she knew Cole’s wolf form and might feel comfortable around the animal. If he called in sick to work for a day or two, he wouldn’t have to shift into human form unless he just wanted to… it would also allow him to watch over her. The thought of being near her made his heart speed up.

  Cole was the only one of the three brothers who had attended college. He had a bachelor’s degree in biology and worked for one of the bio-med companies outside of their hometown of Ashton Grove, Georgia. He had originally planned to go to medical school to become a doctor, but he was getting old enough now that he just needed to concentrate on the career he currently had. Cole made a good salary, enough that he was able to put a thousand dollars a month in a savings account and still have plenty left over. Their house was paid for so they only had to pay for insurance and property tax, which they split three ways. He had paid his truck off the previous year as well, leaving him plenty of money to spare.

  He stepped into the guest room and stopped. His brother was sitting on the edge of her bed, holding her hand. Cole couldn’t remember ever seeing Gabriel act this way around a woman. He had to reel in his inner beast; seeing her with someone else, even if it was his brother, made him want to growl in frustration and outrage. He knew it was ridiculous to feel this way, but he wanted to snap at Gabriel and claim the woman as his.

  Cole cleared his throat to make his presence known. Gabriel turned his head in the direction of the door. Part of him was embarrassed to be caught staring at the waif in the bed, but another part of him just didn’t care… the part that wanted to protect her and keep her safe at all costs. Gabriel had never felt this way about a woman before and wasn’t sure he liked the sensation. As the pack’s alpha, he couldn’t allow his emotions to rule him. It could be dangerous for all of them. The sooner he could get her mated to one of his brothers the better.

  “Cassie and Matt on their way home?” Gabriel asked.

  “Yeah. I locked the door so hopefully Michael has his key.”

  Gabriel nodded. He looked back down at the woman. She looked so fragile and helpless. If the rope burns were anything to go by, he knew she was a fighter; otherwise the marks wouldn’t have been as severe. You only get those kinds of marks when you fight against the ropes. That was a good sign. A werewolf’s mate needed to be strong.

  “She’s part of our pack,” Gabriel said.

  “Do you know whose mate she is?” Cole asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

  “No. I just know that she belongs to one of us. When she wakes up, assuming she decides to stick around, it will be up to her to decide which of us she chooses to be with.” Gabriel was determined that she wouldn’t be choosing him. He wasn’t ready to settle down just yet.

  “I had always thought that you would know exactly who was supposed to be with each of us. I never thought about you just receiving a general vibe or message,” Cole said.

  “I wish it was more specific. All I know is that she’s part of our pack, which means that I’ll defend her to the death if it comes down to it,” Gabriel replied.

  “So will I. Any man who treats a woman like this doesn’t deserve to live.”

  Their mother had been abused by their alcoholic father. The werewolf gene had passed from their mother’s side, but the women in the family didn’t inherit the gene themselves. All of the men on their mother’s side of the family had been werewolves, as would any of their future sons. The change hadn’t taken place until they were eighteen, but thankfully they had been very tall and well muscled by the time they were fifteen and had been able to defend their mother. In the end, their dad had drunk himself to death and their mother had passed away shortly after. The one thing the brothers couldn’t and wouldn’t tolerate was a man being abusive towards a woman.

  The brothers left the bedroom and pulled the door partially closed behind them. They didn’t close it all the way because they were worried that she might feel imprisoned in a closed, unfamiliar room. Once they were outside, Cole decided to run his idea by Gabriel.

  “She saw me in my wolf form and I didn’t see fear in her eyes.”

  “That’s a good sign.” Gabriel figured there was more, so he waited patiently for his brother to explain.

  “Since she’s been abused and is in an unfamiliar room, I was thinking of taking a sick day or two. If I change to my wolf form and stay with her, she might recognize me and feel a little calmer when she wakes up,” Cole said, hoping his brother would like the idea.

  “As odd as it may seem that a wild wolf would make her feel more secure, I think you might be right. If that’s what you wish to do, I don’t have a problem with it,” Gabriel told his brother. He wondered if Cole’s idea had blosso
med out of feelings he had for the woman, or if he was just feeling protective because she was a damsel in distress. Cole had always had a soft spot for needy women.

  Cole pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called his employer on the way to his room. He left a voicemail for his boss telling him that there was a family emergency and he would miss work for a few days. It was a good thing that today was Sunday; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been out in the woods and wouldn’t have found their mystery guest. He typically ran through the woods on the weekends and stayed human during the week.

  Contrary to popular myth, werewolves did not need to change at the full moon. Cole and Michael had only been strong enough to change at night until recently, but a full moon had never been necessary… or any moon at all for that matter. Gabriel, as pack leader, had always had the ability to change at any time of day. While Cole was now able to shift during the day, he hadn’t tried it yet.

  After leaving the voicemail, Cole took off his clothes and changed into a wolf for the second time that night. He loped down the stairs and nudged open the guest room door with his nose. Hopping up on the bed, he settled down next to her. At first, he just watched her sleep… looking for signs that she might regain consciousness. When that didn’t seem likely, he propped his head on his paws and went to sleep.

  Chapter Two

  Daylight streamed through the bedroom windows. Marin was drifting somewhere between consciousness and her dreams. Her whole body was aching, but her head was the worst. She tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t cooperate. Before she had time to panic, she slipped into the blackness again.

  It was several more days before Marin regained consciousness. The brothers had taken turns caring for her, but Cole had stayed by her side as a wolf the entire time. He only shifted long enough to eat and even then he barely touched his food. It was like he was afraid to leave her side.

  Since Gabriel was certain that she was part of their pack, he talked to Cole about giving her werewolf blood. It had been known to have healing properties if used to heal a werewolf’s mate. Cole kept a box of syringes in the house for emergencies, courtesy of his stint as a pre-med student. During his first shift back into human form, he had drawn some of his own blood and injected it into Marin. Her cuts had started to heal within hours and her bruises had immediately begun to fade.

  As Marin opened her eyes fully, she took in her surroundings. She was in a bedroom with pale floral wallpaper, large mahogany furniture and pretty sheer curtains at the window. She tried to sit up, but couldn’t move. Shifting her arm, she realized the blanket was weighed down.

  Looking to her left, she saw a large dog on the bed with her. Upon closer inspection, Marin realized it wasn’t a dog but a wolf. Flashes of her accident came back to her. A large black and silver wolf with grey eyes had found her in the woods. Was this the same wolf? Did it belong to the owner of the house? The events after the accident were still shadowy, but she thought she remembered seeing a dark haired man kneeling beside her.

  Marin tried once more to sit up, groaning with the effort. The wolf popped his head up and looked at her. She froze, not sure what to do next. It seemed friendly enough, but she couldn’t be certain. Tentatively, she reached out her hand to him.

  “Hi there. Did you help bring me here?” Marin asked the large beast.

  The wolf nuzzled her hand. She couldn’t be sure, but she could have sworn he nodded yes to her question. She must have hit her head harder than she thought. Imagine, wolves answering questions! What would be next? Dancing cats?

  “Is your master here?” Marin asked, feeling a little silly talking to the wolf as if he was a person, but she got the impression that he could understand her.

  The wolf jumped from the bed and took off out of the room. Cole ran down the stairs, managed to get the front door open and loped across the yard. When he got to the street, he made sure there weren’t any cars coming and crossed to the garage. Gabriel was inside working on a Chevy Camaro. Cole nudged his brother’s leg to get his attention.

  “What are you doing here? Is our mystery guest awake?” Gabriel asked his brother, as he slid out from under the car.

  Cole nodded. The down side of being a wolf was the lack of communication skills. At least he could still reason like a human even if he couldn’t speak. All in all, the lack of speech was a small price to pay for the gift of his special heritage.

  “Let me wash my hands and I’ll be over in a minute.”

  Cole turned and went back to the house. He didn’t want to leave Marin alone for very long. When he reached her bedroom, she was still in the bed. She was sitting up and was propped against the pillows, taking in her surroundings. Cole carefully got back on the bed and lay down beside her again. He had heard of pet therapy, but he wasn’t sure if the same held true for werewolves. Hopefully his presence in wolf form would be comforting to her.

  Marin cautiously reached over to pet his head. No one had ever petted him before and he found that he liked it. He heard the front door open and went on alert. Even though Gabriel had said he was coming over, it didn’t mean that Gabriel was the one in the house. As his brother came into the room, Cole relaxed.

  Marin looked up and saw a very tall dark haired man in her room. He looked vaguely familiar so she figured he must have been the one that rescued her. He was broad shouldered and very muscular. If he wanted to hurt her, it wouldn’t be difficult. She was a little nervous, but if he had rescued her then maybe she could trust him. After all, not all men were like Stefan and his friends… at least, she hoped they weren’t. Her experience with men was very limited, and most of it wasn’t pleasant.

  “Hi. You must be the one who found me in the woods.” Marin spoke in hushed tones.

  “I’m Gabriel. My brother and I brought you here.” Gabriel paused, not sure what to say to her. “When I asked you about a hospital, you said you didn’t want to go.”

  “I don’t remember speaking to you. Thank you for taking care of me,” Marin replied quietly, ignoring the comment about the hospital. She wasn’t sure how much she should tell this stranger. While he didn’t appear to mean her any harm, she was still wary.

  Gabriel smiled. “It’s no problem. How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Pretty good. I must be fairly resilient. I don’t seem to have any bruises or anything even though I remember going off the road,” Marin said.

  Looking down at her clothes for the first time, Marin realized that she no longer wore her own clothing and blushed. “Did you… did you undress me?”

  “No. We called a friend of ours. A female friend. She changed your clothes and dressed your wounds,” Gabriel told her, stammering through his explanation. He’d never been uncomfortable around a woman before, but Marin was making him feel a little uneasy… or maybe that was just the dirty looks he kept getting from his brother, who was still curled up on the bed by their guest.

  Marin nodded. She was embarrassed for having even asked the question, but she was very shy about her body. Besides, she still wasn’t sure this man could be trusted. While he had saved her life, it was probably best to err on the side of caution.

  Gabriel decided to bite the bullet and get some answers about her scars and wounds. “Cassie mentioned you had a lot of marks on your back.”

  Marin stiffened. Of course the woman would have seen the marks from the lashing she had received last week, at least she assumed it had been last week. Marin wasn’t sure how long she had been out of it. If only she could have escaped without Stefan’s notice! Then she wouldn’t have been run off the road, landing herself in yet another mess.

  Marin looked at her lap, not quite sure how to proceed. This man was a stranger, even if he had saved her life. How much should she tell him? If he knew the truth, would he help her? Or would he toss her out, not wanting to deal with her abductor? Stefan was surely looking for her, which made her a liability to anyone offering her safety and shelter.

  Gabriel sensed her uncertainty. He w
alked toward her slowly. Hunkering down beside the bed, he took her chin in his hand and turned her head so he could look into her troubled hazel-green eyes.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to help,” Gabriel told her.

  Marin smiled. “I guess I’m just not used to people being nice to me.”

  “Will you tell me about the marks on your back?” Gabriel asked gently. He was afraid to push her, but he and his brothers needed to know what happened so they could protect her. If they knew what they were up against, it would make things easier.

  She hesitantly nodded. Still not certain how to proceed with her tale, Marin showed Gabriel the marks on her wrists. He gently took them in his large hands and softly ran his thumbs over the rope burns. Beside him, he heard his brother rumble at him. Gabriel chose to ignore his younger brother. They obviously needed to talk later if the pup was going to growl at the alpha of their pack.

  “How did you get these?” Gabriel asked in a soft voice.

  “Ropes. I’ve been tied up for a few days,” she said flippantly, trying to lighten the mood.

  Gabriel looked at her questioningly.

  “It’s kind of a long story,” Marin replied with a sigh.

  “The car I’m working on can wait. I have as much time as you need.” Gabriel watched her patiently.

  Marin looked at him. He was being very kind to her and seemed genuinely interested. Maybe she could trust him. She was ashamed of what had happened to her and even more ashamed of how scared she had been, how defenseless she had felt. Normally Marin was a very strong and independent woman, but being tied up by someone twice your size and not being able to stop them from hurting you was enough to frighten anyone. The worst part was that her time with Stefan had made her doubt herself. She now doubted both her strength and her ability to take care of herself.

  “My name is Marin and I’m twenty-five years old. I’m from East Tennessee, where I live with my younger brother… or rather, did live with my younger brother.” She took a breath and paused a moment. “He developed a drug problem after our parents died and I never noticed. When he couldn’t pay his drug dealer, he made arrangements to swap me for payment.”