“As to his ask... Where is she? Saa-age, come out, come out, wherever you are!” Roland made a show of bringing his hand to shield his eyes from the rays of a nonexistent sun and peeking around the others. “There she is! My wayward daughter!”
Lindley stepped forward with a fierce growl. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
Their father slashed him a sly look, then pointed a finger directly at her. “You’ve been remiss in your duties, sweets.”
Sage flinched. None of the other words mattered. They were finally to the real reason for the visit.
“I’ll be taking my daughter back to her rightful mate.”
The words were a reminder of how little she actually mattered. Jasper didn’t come to fetch her. He sent his goons to do it instead. She wasn’t even worth the direct confrontation with his enemies.
Roland showing up was a risk. Jasper would have set the prides into immediate battle. And over a female? No, he’d let the peons do the recon and dirty work while he hung back and waited for his moment to strike.
The air thickened around her. Darkness clawed at the edges of her vision. Her lioness crouched low under the weight of surging hopelessness.
No escape. There was no escape in this life.
Lindley growled on one side of her. A second rumble picked up on her other side. She didn’t need to look to know Rhys had wedged his way next to her. A chill ran down her spine at the twin noises vibrating loud enough to make even a jumbo jet feel inadequate.
“Like fuck you will,” Rhys snarled. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“You had your chance to play father of the year.” Lindley turned his head and spat on the ground. Pure disgust put a scowl on his face. “You lost any shot at redemption when you killed our mother. I won’t let you do the same to Sage.”
“Our laws—”
“Won’t matter with your throat ripped out,” Rhys rasped in a voice thick with his inner animal.
Holy hell. Sage snapped her attention to the man. The hair on her arms lifted at the intensity of his words. He felt huge. Powerful. On par with Trent, even, and the Crowley alpha wasn’t a lion to be trifled with. No wonder all the males in the pride were needed to bring him down.
Roland’s jaw clenched with his snarl. “There will be consequences.”
“Like the ones you already faced?” Trent asked in a low voice. He slid a look to his left, then to his right. Every single person on the porch tensed up. Shoulders straightened, hands curled into fists. Even Hailey, without an inner animal of her own, lifted her chin in defiance. “Tell me, how many did you bring with you today? You better hope you’re packed in like a clown car. These fuckers behind me have been looking for a fight.”
Sage struggled to breathe through the aggression weighing down the air. Death waited behind the chorus of growls. The noisy threats weren’t to blow off steam between friends. They meant every last dangerous note.
How many times had she watched the same scene play out? How many deaths had she witnessed? The destruction didn’t ever stay with just the fallen. The pain rippled outward, taking down the mates and children and extended families. No one stood solely alone that their death didn’t matter, and she was so tired of seeing lives ripped apart.
Behind Roland, the doors of the SUVs kicked open. He threw out a hand without looking to hold back his troops, and she could see the calculations running in his head. His monsters against Trent’s. Her father had numbers on his side, but the Crowleys had the home field advantage and allies they could call. There would be losses on both sides and no guarantee of a win.
Face contorting with his fury, her father backed away. “Consequences,” he snarled again. “You’ll feel them when we come back.”
Sage stayed locked in place until the caravan disappeared from sight. Her shoulders slumped with her exhale, but her relief was short lived. Her stomach twisted and turned, bile soured the back of her tongue, and a wave of despair crashed over her.
World wobbling, she pushed away from the others and staggered down the steps. The ground rushed up at her, but she caught herself before she fell face first into the mud. She couldn’t pick apart the voices calling after her over the screams of her inner lioness.
She stumbled through her front door and leaned heavily against the wood. The silence enveloped her, made it easier to breathe and order her scattered thoughts.
She had to get away. Not just for a handful of days like she’d done with Lilah. Disappearing wasn’t about clarity this time. She had all the clarity in the fucking world when it came to her supposed mate and her father.
What had she told the woman? She wished she could be strong like her and the others? They’d stumbled and gone to their knees, but those low points in their lives were just temporary stops. They’d pushed back to their feet and dusted themselves off, feet planted against the next curveball thrown their way.
Not her. She couldn’t claw her way out of the pit she’d been thrown into. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t brave. And she certainly didn’t want to see any of the people she’d grown to care about fall trying to keep her safe.
If only she could gag on the words and ask Trent for a final release. If only she could be brave enough. Death was a better option than returning to the man who bought her just to break her.
Chapter 14
Rhys glared after the retreating line of SUVs. He wanted nothing more than to chase after those bastards, rip their doors from the hinges, and dig a paw inside like a cat clawing for some fish in a
