Resisting the Moon (Royal Shifters #2)(44)

“Let’s just see about that. How about we give your mate something to really be mad about?” He grabbed my shirt and yanked it up. The door burst open.

“Really?” Laila snapped. “Everyone’s waiting for you. There’ll be plenty of time to do whatever it is you want to do later. For now, you have to get ready.”

Huffing, Jaret released my neck. “Fine. Let’s go.” He jerked me to my feet and dragged me out of the door. Laila didn’t acknowledge me, keeping her face a stony mask. If she was trying to help, she wasn’t showing it.

“Sebastian! Talk to me.” Again I was met with silence.

Laila followed us outside, where two of Jaret’s men awaited us. “Amelie’s tied up and ready to go,” one of them said.

“What?” I gasped. Visions of Josef tied up in the barn flashed through my mind. They’d ripped him apart. I couldn’t let them do that to Amelie.

Jaret’s eyes twinkled. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’re about to join her.”

All I wanted to do was fight, but I couldn’t do it on my own. We edged closer to the barn and I was so afraid of what I’d see when I got in there. Sebastian had to be okay. I couldn’t afford to think otherwise. My cousin, however, was a different story. Jaret’s men snickered behind me and it pissed me off. When we turned the corner, I froze mid-step. Amelie stood on the opposite side of the room, naked with her arms and hands bound in ropes, just like Josef had been.

“Amelie!” I shouted.

Her head snapped up. “Tyla.”

“What kind of a sadistic f*ck are you?” I growled at Jaret. “She’s your mate.”

He shrugged. “Not after tonight. By the next full moon, you will be. First though, I need your help.”

“I’m not helping you do shit.”

He chuckled and waved at his men. “I beg to differ. If you don’t, you’ll condemn your poor cousin to a fate worse than death.” Leaning close, he wrapped his arms around my waist, his voice just a whisper. “My sweet Amelie . . . just look at her up there. She’s so na?ve and vulnerable, not the alpha you are. If you don’t do as I say, I’ll have every wolf in this room take a bite out of her as they f*ck her until she breaks. Do you want that?”

My stomach clenched. I knew he’d do it. “No,” I whispered.

“Then shut your f*cking mouth.”

His men grabbed my wrists and hauled me up to the front, where a set of ropes hung from the ceiling. They tied me up and left me dangling beside Amelie. Jaret’s pack congregated in the barn, like it was just a normal party, drinking beer and gawking at us with their heated gazes. Some of the guys came up close. As one reached out to touch me, Jaret barked out an order.

“No one will touch the alpha but me. The other one is for you.”

Amelie let out a whimper when the shortest guy of the group stepped up and sniffed her.

“You’re lookin’ real nice, all strung up and waiting for me.” His buddies chuckled and swayed, leaning on each other as they continued to drink. “I’ll bet you’re already wet just thinking about my cock.” He shoved his hand between her legs and she spit on his face. “You f*cking bitch.” He reared back and slapped her across the face. “Save it for later, you’re gonna need something for that dry ass cunt, or it’s really gonna hurt.” The disgusting man and his groupies roamed over to the rest of their pack to take a round of shots.

I turned to Amelie. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’ll be fine. You?”

“No. I can’t hear Sebastian. Where is he?”

Amelie’s face fell and she turned her head, her gaze meeting something across the room. She sucked in a breath. It was Sebastian, I could smell him. I quickly turned to find him and wished I hadn’t. He was slung over Stefan’s shoulder. Walking up to us, he threw him on the floor in front of me, and I screamed.

“Sebastian!”

The others laughed as I stood there, screaming for him to wake up. He wasn’t dead, but by the looks of him he could very well be soon. No wonder why I couldn’t hear him. His face was burnt, like he’d been soaked in liquid wolfsbane.

I turned to Amelie, my voice unrecognizable to my own ears. “What did they do to him?”

“It wasn’t them, it was her,” she said, nodding toward Laila. “I heard some of the others talking. They knew that if Sebastian could see you up here, it’d ruin everything. Jaret doesn’t want him dead yet.” I could only imagine what his plans were for Sebastian.

Jaret turned our way and he grinned, his strides slow and confident. “You’re right, I don’t want him dead,” he said as he walked up to her. “I want him alive long enough to watch me f*ck his mate on the next full moon. That way, when we kill him, it’ll be the exact moment she becomes mine. There’s no sweeter revenge.”

The thought made me sick.

“What happens to me?” Amelie asked.

Stefan walked up behind him and whispered something in his ear. His eyes went wide and he smiled. “Excellent. I guess it’s time to get the party started.” Ignoring Amelie, he turned around and lifted his hands in the air, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Looks like we’re about to have some company. Want to make his welcome worthwhile?”