Chapter 4

 Clara’s POV

My arms flung up as I fell backwards. I closed my eyes tight.

Something warm wrapped around me. His scent surrounded me before I opened my eyes.

I knew that scent.

My heart began to ache.

Peter.

I lifted my head.

He looked different. His dark hair was shorter, his face harder, and a silver Beta pin sat against his chest where my hand was gripping him.

My heart stuttered as the memory of the last time I had seen him ripped through me.

Younger Peter stood in front of me.

His eyes were filled with so much hate that my wolf began to whine inside me.

“Peter,” I whispered.

“Shut up!” he yelled.

I flinched. Peter had never yelled at me before.

He moved closer, his jaw shaking as he looked me over.

“I, Peter, future Beta of the River Moon Pack, reject you, Clara, as my mate.” His voice was cold and distant.

Pain tore through my chest. My knees gave, my wolf begging me to tell him the truth, fighting with everything she had to keep the bond from breaking.

“Peter.”

It was all I could get out before the bond snapped inside my chest.

A scream ripped from my wolf as everything inside me felt like it was being torn open. I couldn’t breathe.

He stepped back.

“I never want to see you again.” His eyes moved over my face with hatred. “And if I do…”

He stopped.

His hands curled into fists at his sides, but he never finished the threat.

He hated me too much to.

Peter walked away as the memory faded around me.

“Are you…” He stopped, his eyebrows pulling together as his eyes moved over my face. “Clara?” he growled.

My heart hit painfully against my ribs.

I couldn’t speak.

Peter looked down at my hand clutching his shirt. Whatever shock had been on his face disappeared.

He threw me off him.

I hit the ground hard, pain forcing a whimper from my mouth.

Peter stepped away like touching me had disgusted him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I scrambled to my feet, forcing my legs beneath me as I bowed my head and kept my eyes on the ground.

“I asked you a question,” he demanded.

I couldn’t think.

Peter’s face twisted. “Answer me!” His wolf pushed forward, rage burning through his eyes as he stepped closer. “What the hell are you doing back in River Moon?”

My body shook so hard my teeth chattered, but I bit down on my lip to stop it.

I didn’t answer.

I already knew what he saw when he looked at me.

The female who had killed his sister.

The mate he had rejected.

“Five years,” he growled. “That’s all you got for taking Lisa away from me.”

My hands hung at my sides.

Lisa’s face pushed into my mind, but I forced it back.

I hadn’t killed her.

But Peter or anyone else would never believe that.

“You should still be in Hellwolf Prison,” he said. “Jacob should have left you there.”

He grabbed my arm, painfully ripping me towards him.

I didn’t pull away.

“Come with me.”

He dragged me from the garden.

My feet moved with him.

One step after another. My body knew what happened when someone stronger pulled and I tried to resist.

Pack members moved out of Peter’s way as he took me across the grounds, but no one tried to stop him.

I kept my eyes on the ground.

Peter’s anger came from him in waves, his wolf growling beneath his skin.

“You don’t belong here.”

He pulled me past the stables and towards the old animal sheds at the back of the pack grounds.

Wet, rotting straw and animal waste filled the air.

Peter stopped.

I didn’t lift my head, but I could see the bottom of a wooden door in front of me.

Peter dragged the rusted latch free and shoved the door open.

I looked up.

There was barely enough room inside to sit. No windows or light except for the thin gaps between the boards.

My heart pounded faster inside my chest.

Peter yanked my arm. “Get inside.”

I stared into the darkness.

The walls disappeared.

The wooden building became metal. Heat pressed against my skin, stealing the air from my lungs. My nails scraped against the hot-box door while Garrick laughed from the other side.

He used to leave me inside for days.

No water or food. Barely enough room to bend my knees.

Sometimes I woke believing I had died, only to realise the heat was still there.

“No.”

The word tore out of me before I could stop it.

“What did you say?” His grip bit deeper into my arm.

I pulled against his hand. “No. Please.”

My body fought him. My heels dug into the ground as panic ripped through me.

Peter’s grip tightened as he pushed me forward.

“I’m sorry.” The words fell over each other. “I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t put me in there.”

He shoved me inside.

I hit the floor on my hands and knees.

The door slammed shut behind me.

Darkness swallowed me.

The latch dropped into place.

I threw myself at the door.

“Peter!”

I hit the wood harder.

“Please!”

I slammed both fists against the door.

“Please, let me out!”

My voice broke, but I kept screaming. I hit the wood again and again until pain shot through my wrists.

“Peter!”

No footsteps came back. I had no hope in Peter, but the panic overtook me completely.

I clawed at the gaps between the boards, trying to pull them apart, but the wood tore beneath my nails instead.

Splinters drove into my skin.

I didn’t stop.

My fists struck the door until the wood was smeared red. Blood ran over my fingers and down my wrists, but I barely felt it through the panic.

“Please!”

The word came out as a harsh sob.

I kept pounding until my arms shook too badly to lift them.

Then I pressed my bleeding hands against the door, my nails scraping down the wood.

“Peter, please.”