"Why did you stay?" Emmy asked. "Why didn't you go to a neighbor or a teacher, someone who could help you?"
Before Kenzie could answer, Pixie began to speak. "Because before the beatings started he wore her self-confidence down by telling her how useless she was."
Kenzie was shocked that the other woman had figured out what had happened. Pixie gave her a sad smile when their gazes met. "My step-brother did the same thing."
She clasped Pixie's hand in hers and clung to a kindred spirit. "That's exactly what he did. I was able to finish high school and got my degree, but there was no way I could afford to go to college and my grades were nowhere good enough for a scholarship. I barely passed. I couldn't afford to find my own place. There was never any money left over for me to save for the bond or buy myself things I'd need to set up my own home."
"You should be damn proud that you got your diploma." Emmy smiled at her. "With all you had on your shoulders, you never gave up. A lot of people would have dropped out."
"Emmy's right," Dusty said. "Be proud that you got your high school diploma."
"I was too tired to be proud." Kenzie cleared her throat. "I was working two to three jobs and keeping house, cooking meals, washing, ironing, everything, while he sat on his ass and drank." Another sob escaped before she could stop it. "Turns out I was busting my gut for nothing. The asshole wasn't even my father.
"I heard the pimp he'd sold me to talking to one of his friends. The bastard married my mom when my real father took off on her when she found out she was pregnant. He was hoping she was going to have a boy, for what reason, I don't know, nor do I care anymore."
"Were you raped, Kenzie?" Pixie asked. "Did that fucker make you-"
"No!" Kenzie answered emphatically. "I was so scared. The pimp and his friend had plans to sell me to someone else who wanted a blonde woman to complete his collection of women. He had every hair-colored woman he wanted except for blonde."
"What?" Emmy shoved to her feet.
"Are you shitting me?" Pixie asked angrily.
"What the fuck?" Dusty snapped.
"Did you see their faces?" Emmy asked as she turned back toward her.
"No. I didn't want them knowing I was awake, so I kept my eyes closed and tried to regulate my breathing. When one guy asked what they were going to do with me, I was sure they were going to realize I was playing possum. My heart was beating so fast it hurt and I was sweating and shaking, but they either weren't looking too closely or were too intent on their conversation.
"They talked about handing me over to the leader of a Triad. They mentioned a name. Lei. I don't know if that's a first or last name. I don't know who he is or what the Triad is, but I knew I had to get away. Unfortunately, they had a shipment of women arriving and had to deal with unloading them. I felt bad for leaving those women behind, but there was nothing I could do at the time. I was going to go to the authorities, but I never got the chance."
"How did you escape, Kenzie?" Dusty asked in a hoarse voice.
"When they left the warehouse, I left by a side door. There were a few cars in the parking lot. I tried all the doors until I found a car that had been left unlocked and the keys were still in the ignition. I don't know if the owner thought his car was safe since it was the early hours of the morning, or if they'd just forgotten to remove the keys and lock the vehicle, but I didn't care. I got into the car, started it, and drove away without turning the headlights on. Once I got to the main road, I turned the lights on and I drove as far as I could. I was feeling sick to my stomach from the pain, but pushed the nausea aside. I had to stop when I started getting light headed. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up here.
"So now you know why I was worried about the car. If the owner's reported it stolen, or the pimp and his guys are looking for me and they see it … "
"You don't need to worry about the car being found, baby. We've already hidden it," Jordan said as he and his brothers entered the room.
Kenzie's heart slammed against her sternum and she gasped with panic. She rolled from the bed ignoring the agony ripping into her ribs and slid to her feet. Wooziness caused her to sway and she tried to breathe through it, but the darkness wouldn't be held back.
Just before she lost consciousness, betrayal surged through her heart and soul. The men had been listening the whole time. The other women had to be aware they were still in the other room.
She'd been set up.
Chapter Three
"Catch her," Jordan shouted when Kenzie's eyes rolled back in her head and she started to go down. He would have leaped across the distance separating him from his mate and caught her himself, but Emmy and Pixie were in the way and he didn't want to hurt them.
Emmy moved fast and lifted Kenzie into her arms before gently placing her on the bed.
"Damn it, Jordan. Why the hell did you all come in now? You should have given us more time to talk with her and explain some things." Pixie scowled at him and his brothers, her hands on her hips.
Tatum shoved Jenson aside and stalked toward his mate. "Settle down, baby. They held out as long as they could. The scent of Kenzie's terror was too much for any of us to ignore."
Pixie poked her huge mate in the stomach and blinked back the tears welling in her eyes. "You didn't see her face just before she passed out. She thinks we've betrayed her."
"How?" Tatum asked.
Broden entered the room and hurried to the bed to examine Kenzie. Jordan's hackles rose and he hissed at the Kodiak bear for being too close to his mate.
Emmy walked into Jett's arms when he held them open and hugged him. She gazed over her shoulder as she answered, "She thought you'd all left the clinic. Kenzie thought there was just us here when she was telling her story."
"That's on them, love," Jett said. "None of you lied to her."
"It doesn't matter, mate," Emmy said. "She might not forgive us even though we didn't lie."
"Is she all right?" Jenson asked as he, Jordan and Jayson moved closer to the bed.
"She'll be fine. She's hurting and exhausted," Broden answered. "Her heart rate is strong and regular. Her blood pressure's a bit low, but that's not a surprise after everything she's been through. Her hydration is good, but none of us have any idea how long it's been since she's eaten."
"How long does she have to stay here?" Jayson asked.
"Can we take her back to our place?" Jenson stared at Broden.
Broden sighed and was about to answer, but Dusty beat him to it. "You need to wait until Kenzie wakes up and ask what she wants."
"But-"
"No buts." Pixie slashed her hand through the air. "That woman has been through enough. If she wakes up in a strange room, strange house, with men she doesn't know watching over her, she's going to freak out."
"Pixie's right," Jordan admitted. He hated agreeing with the other women because he wanted their mate in their house as much as his brothers did, but they needed to find out what Kenzie wanted. They didn't even know her last name yet. He wanted to know everything about her. What food she liked to eat, what her favorite color was. What her dreams were. Absolutely everything.
He'd been pleasantly surprised when she'd put Jayson in his place, and he was happy their scars didn't seem to bother her.
Jordan clenched his jaw as fury heated his blood and tensed his muscles. After the abuse she suffered constantly for ten years and having been whipped by a belt buckle hard enough to tear her skin open, she had to have scars of her own. No wonder the markings, the damage to their bodies, didn't bother her.
When she regained consciousness, Jordan was going to have a hard time restraining himself from demanding to know who the fucker playing at being a father had been. He wanted to find that bastard and give him some of his own medicine. He couldn't understand how a grown man could beat on someone half his size, let alone a woman or female child. That prick needed to be taught a lesson he'd never forget. Better yet, he didn't deserve to breathe the same air as their mate.
That was something else that was worrying him. How the hell were they going to tell her that they could shift into panthers and she was their mate?
Jordan wanted to lay all their cards on the table, but thought it best to give Kenzie time to get to know them and become comfortable around them before revealing such a legendary phenomenon. If they told her too early, she was likely to think they had a screw loose, or were on drugs.