Bee's Enraged Beast - Lacey Thorn
Chapter One
~ Belinda ~
It was going to be bad. The vision came over me with the subtlety of a Mack truck. From what others had said, I knew that if anyone looked at me now, my pupils would appear blown out. If anyone I trusted was near, I’d grab them and speak quickly, conveying everything I saw before it was gone.
I’m Belinda James. The crazy sister of alpha Bastion James. Many warned him to leave me somewhere, anywhere, but my brother would never discard me. He’s stayed with me every step of the way. Kept me close when our parents found me to be more of a freak than they wanted to handle. I’ve learned the hard way that my brother is the exception when it comes to our society. He loves me, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him, too. But I can’t save him from what he’ll go through. I can’t save either of us.
Right now, I know two things. In the next few minutes, I’ll be taken by my brother’s enemies. They’ll take me, hurt me, and use me in an attempt to bring him to his knees. Use me to try to destroy him and the pack he’s created. What they don’t expect, and my brother won’t know, is someone else will come for me, too. My mate. I’ve felt him drawing closer. I’ve been patient, but if he doesn’t show up in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll never get the chance to know his touch.
Actually, there’s one more thing I know. Betrayal from within your pack is the hardest thing to see. Even with my visions, I didn’t know it was coming until seconds ago.
It came far too late for me to do anything about it. Still, I scan for the closest exit and push my way through the crowd to reach it. I should have known better than to go out without letting my brother or his mate or even Simon know where I was going. But when I’d been offered friendship, I’d grasped at it with both hands. Plus telling Simon would be tantamount to encouraging his crush. And I won’t. I’m not his. We both belong with others. Then again, what do I know?
Foolish. Naïve. Far too trusting.
Raina had warned me some in the former Rigton Pack didn’t want my brother to take over. They didn’t believe the Rigton elders had the pack’s best interests at heart when they’d courted an outside alpha. But I hadn’t felt a moment of unease when Cammy had approached, offering friendship.
I’d taken the fact that she wasn’t originally part of the James Pack as a good sign. Surely, she hadn’t heard all about the alpha’s freaky sister who had visions. She couldn’t hate or fear me as some did. Yet, she’d betrayed me. Betrayed our alpha and our pack. No matter the reason, the die had been cast.
“Bee, where ya going?” Cammy caught my arm and tried to slow me down.
I turned with a growl, shoving her off me.
“Hey, are you okay? What’s going on?” she asked.
“What did you do?” I growled and watched her eyes widen.
“I…” She shook her head frantically back and forth. “They just want to talk, Bee. Your brother won’t even listen to them. They thought if they could talk to you, you’d put in a good word and get the alpha to meet with them.”
“They’re going to kill me.”
Her head began that frantic shaking again. Maybe, that was why I hadn’t picked up on her betrayal. Even she wasn’t aware of what she was doing.
“Call Bastion or Raina. Now, Cammy. Before it’s too late for both of us.”
But it was already too late. I knew it the moment they surrounded us—the four men the pack had looked for since Benji Makers had disappeared months ago. Benji had been a member of the former Rigton Pack. He’d made the mistake of thinking Rebel Cameron was his for the taking. Since her mother played whore for his father and his cronies, Benji believed Rebel should fill the same roll for him and his friends. Rebel disagreed, and since it turned out she was the mate of Taylor, one of the inner circle of the James Pack, she had the muscle to back her up. Not that our pack wouldn’t have backed her up either way, but with Taylor there, it prevented her from trying to handle it all on her own.
It galled me that any woman would ever be forced to deal with