Thrown to the Wolves (Black River Pack Book 3) Read Free Page A

sons he’d raised on his own. Triplets who had come from one of the humans he had taken as a lover. It was a strange quirk that a man who was so vocal about bears sticking with other bears had tended to stick with human women over the years. Nobody knew why he hadn’t taken a she-bear to mate, and he wasn’t volunteering the information. Unfortunately, he wasn’t shy about his animosity towards wolves, so I wasn’t looking forward to asking him for help.

Chapter 2
    Annora
     
    “She’s not staying here. This way, she gets a new home and she will have managed to pay me back for all the years I’ve raised her lazy ass.”
    My father’s voice carried through my bedroom door. It was locked from the outside—a new measure he had taken the day after my mom had dropped her bombshell about my conception. If I’d thought I’d had no freedom before that day, I’d learned very quickly how wrong I’d been.
    I had been ordered to keep my mouth shut and my head down while he figured out what to do with me. The rage in his eyes whenever he looked at me convinced me to take his warning seriously because I didn’t want to give him any reason to punish me. I didn’t think it would take much to send him over the edge.
    My mom wasn’t much better. I’d tried talking with her a couple of times, but she could barely look me in the eye. She wouldn’t answer any of my questions, and I was afraid to push too hard because I knew my father would be livid if he found out I was asking her anything about my conception.
    What I found the most confusing about this crazy situation was the apology I saw flash through her eyes each time her gaze did lock with mine when I had been expecting to see sadness or anger or fear. I couldn’t understand why she would feel the need to gain my forgiveness. Then I figured that maybe it was because she knew things were heading towards disaster for me with the man she had mated.
    “A new home?” my mother hissed her response. “You can’t call living with those heathens a home. What you’re suggesting is a forced mating with a man who is known for his brutality. How would we even know she would be safe with them?”
    “It wouldn’t be forced if she accepts my decision, which she’ll do if she knows what’s good for her!” he roared.
    It sounded like he didn’t have any doubt that he’d be able to get me to do what he wanted. He’d trained me to obey his commands over the years, so I could understand why he’d think I’d go along with his plan—whatever it was. However, after I’d spent the last few weeks knowing he wasn’t my real father, my eyes had been opened to how wrong our relationship had always been. He didn’t really care about my happiness before, and now, he cared even less. I was just a pawn for him to use to his advantage without a care about my well-being.
    “But the rumors about him are horrible. He sounds like a monster,” she halfheartedly protested on my behalf as I heard them move downstairs.
    Their voices didn’t carry as well from down there, so I had to place my ear against the door in order to hear them.
    “We’re lucky he wants her,” my father replied. “Do you want him to come after me for what I owe him? I’m your mate.”
    “And she’s my child,” my mom reminded him.
    “Your bastard child from the man who raped you,” he argued.
    I couldn’t hear the rest of their conversation after the front door opened and closed. So I ran to my window, hoping their voices would drift up from the porch, but I must have missed the end of their argument, because my mom was walking towards her car. When she glanced up at my window, I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.
    Staring up at me, she mouthed, “I’m sorry,” before climbing into the car and driving away.
    My mom wasn’t going to go against her mate to try to protect me, and even though I’d been taught to obey my father, I couldn’t walk blindly to whatever fate awaited me. Besides, he