“No matter how much they tried to starve me and work me, I never lost a pound.” Her body had stayed the same. Her wolf had lost weight though, which was just fucking weird, but she didn’t say that.
Once again, he watched her, and this time, he came away from the wall.
She stood perfectly still, not wanting to move an inch in case he pounced, or her wolf came out, and then bad things happened.
I’m okay.
I’m not afraid.
Everything is cool.
She tried to make herself as small as possible, which was kind of funny considering one of the reasons she was here.
“I can feel her,” Abel said. “Your pack liked to abuse. I bet they got off on prodding you, waiting for you to snap. Believing that your weight made you weak.”
He stroked a finger down her arm, and her wolf didn’t respond to that in the way Cassie thought she might.
Her wolf liked it.
If she was a cat, she was sure she’d purr, but she wasn’t feline in any way.
“I’m guessing they got rid of you, Cassie, because you’re strong and they didn’t like that. The way you grabbed my hand, anyone else in the pack you would have shattered their wrist. I felt the power that’s inside you.” He stood behind her, so close, too close.
His hands went to her hips, and she closed her eyes.
“I feel your fear. I bet you avoid touch a lot, don’t you?”
“I hurt most of my pack, and I didn’t even try. They all collapsed around me as if they were nothing.”
“That’s because they are nothing, Cassie. They couldn’t handle you. You scared them, and that’s why they forced you out. They’d been poking and hurting you for years. Then you showed them what true darkness is all about.”
His lips were against her ear.
“I don’t want to die,” she said. “I don’t want to go feral, and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Then I will teach you how to handle your strength. I will help you get in control of your wolf, and I will prove to you that they had no right to do those things to you.”
His warmth surrounded her, and she didn’t want him to leave.
Of course, the moment she didn’t want him to, he was gone.
“I like my steak rare, and I love everything correctly seasoned,” he said.
“What?”
“My food. During your stay, you will be cooking for me, and don’t even think about spitting in my coffee. I will know about it.”
****
Abel stood in his office with the file that had been left for him. Whenever a new wolf joined his pack, he paid for a detailed dossier on each person. This helped him to keep in control, and to also learn every single secret that someone was hiding.
He was aware that he made people want to come and kill him. The rumors and myths about his strength and threat had sent men to his pack to try to infiltrate it and kill him. They were always sent back to their packs missing a body part or two. He didn’t take kindly to fakers or posers. Most of his pack were made homeless for being different.
From the beginning, Abel had been different, even as a young boy, so when he’d forged a new path by himself, he’d vowed to take those that no one wanted. He always found value in things no one else liked.
Opening the folder, he saw Cassie’s picture. This was taken from her high school yearbook several years ago, and he saw a little note stating that she didn’t like her picture taken.
At eighteen years old, she looked … sad, almost empty inside.
She had weight then, but clearly, she’d been hurt.
He didn’t like packs that inflicted pain on others.
There of course was a line that he accepted. If the pain caused was something the person wanted, then he didn’t mind.
Running a hand down his face, he thought about Cassie.
She was broken inside, scared. Her wolf was desperate to come free, and to also be cared for.
There was so much about Cassie that he found her to be one of the most intriguing females he ever recalled taking in.
Flicking through the notes, he saw she’d been a keen student, but there was no actual detail with regards to job descriptions.
All of the pack worked in some form or another. He himself dealt in stocks, shares, and investments. It’s how he was able to spend most of his time away from the city. He hated the city life, and money, and the way it made people. He was happier with the simple things in life, but he also knew how important money was.
His life was made so much easier by having it.
Also, this helped his pack.
When people were expelled or rejected by their packs, they needed a place to stay. His home helped them make the change from one pack to the other, and if there was a risk of one going feral, he had dungeons in the basement with reinforced chains that helped with that.