Forever Rowan Read Free

up, and pain knifed from the base of his skull through his brain.
    He must have made some sort of noise, because Rowan’s gaze snapped back to him and, with a look of defeat in her honeyed eyes, she moved slowly to the door.
    “Awww,” the soldier grinned nastily at him. “You’re already taming the beast.” He chuckled. “And you’re not even a beauty.”
    Her shoulders hunched a little and her head hung lower. The soldier’s eyes flickered uneasily and Aidan realized he was growling. Loudly. He might not have decided whether or not to trust Jenna’s little sister, but he didn’t like way the guard seemed to be going out of his way to embarrass her. He smiled at the man, baring his teeth. The guard stiffened, went red with embarrassment and anger and, as soon as Rowan moved from between them, raised a gun and pointed it in Aidan’s direction.
    “Nighty night time, monster,” the man taunted before he took aim and shot. The dart wedged in his upper arm, and he cursed foully as the world went dark.

    Chapter Two

    Rowan was tied to the pole again. The cold steel object was father’s favorite place to punish her. She could feel the greedy eyes of the guard on her bare back. The man had looked downright gleeful as he’d ripped her t-shirt from collar to hem, baring her scarred, mottled flesh to his sickening gaze.
    The door opened and she heard her father’s murmured conversation with the guard. She wondered what excuse he had for this beating. There was always a reason, some infraction to justify the violence to his human guards. Of course, there were fewer human guards every day as her father replaced them with his genetically manipulated hybrids. William Stone didn’t bother to give them excuses.
    Rowan vividly remembered her first “punishment”. She hadn’t done anything to deserve that one, either.
    Erin had been about six, full of energy and sass. Unfortunately, she’d directed that sass in her father’s direction, and he hadn’t appreciated it. Rowan knew she’d never forget the sight of her little sister, dangling from their father’s fist. He’d wound his fingers through her short, strawberry blonde hair and was shaking her like a puppy as Erin whimpered in terror.
    Rowan, only ten herself, hadn’t thought, she’d just acted, throwing herself on her father’s arm, trying to pry Erin free. “Rowan Pamela,” he’d snapped, “you know very well that disrespect and disobedience will not be tolerated in this house.” She knew what that meant. Her father was a firm believer in not sparing the rod, and had “spanked” both Rowan and Jenna black and blue for the most minor infractions. But Erin was so small, so tender. Rowan knew she could stand the punishment much better than her innocent baby sister. Little had she known.
    In a trembling voice she’d begged her father to let Erin go, had lied and sworn she’d set Erin up to be rude, had dared her to be sassy. Stone had looked at her for a long time, speculation in his cold blue eyes. In retrospect, Rowan knew he’d seen through her lie. He’d seen a way, even then, to use the three girls against each other.
    He’d spanked Erin, but lightly, with his hand. He’d looked into her glowing sapphire eyes and explained very seriously that she must never allow someone else, even her sister, to cause her to be bad. Bad girls had to be punished. And to make sure she understood he’d had her watch as he punished Rowan.
    That had been the first time he’d had someone else hold the strap. The first time he’d drawn blood.
    Afterwards as she’d lain on her stomach on her bed, Erin had come to sit beside her and pet her hair.
    “Why’d you do that?” her baby sister had asked, and Rowan thought she meant why Rowan had taken her punishment.
    “I didn’t want him to hurt you,” she’d answered, her voice a little raw from screaming.
    “Then you shouldn’t have told me to sass Daddy,” Erin had replied, stunning Rowan into silence.
    “I