His Perfect Mate [Nehalem Pack 6] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) by AJ Jarrett (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📕

He took one more deep breath then pulled away. “Tobias had always been kind to me. I thought he was like that with all the wolves. After we went to live with him he started spending more and more time with me. I loved the attention and the next thing I knew I had fallen for him.” He could still remember the first time Tobias had kissed him. His strong fingers caressing his cheeks. The softness of his lips as Tobias kissed along his jawline. It seemed like forever ago.

“I was only sixteen when we got together. Casper tried to warn me that what Tobias was doing with me wasn’t right but I ignored him. I so desperately wanted to feel loved and taken care of that I would have done anything he asked and I did. We’d been sleeping together for over a year when things started to change. I couldn’t leave the house and he even limited the amount of time I spent with Casper. When I questioned him he’d hit me. He would always apologize after and swear it would never happen again but it did. When I finally found the courage to leave Casper and I had barely made it off the property before he found us. He had his men bring us back. They took us to the basement of Tobias’s house and they put us in cages. After a few days of being locked up they came down and took Casper kicking and screaming back upstairs. I screamed for someone to help him until my throat went raw but no one came. When they brought him back Casper had been severely beaten and drugged. After the drugs wore off he told me what had been done to him. Tobias’s men took turns raping him.” Carl stared down at the table. The guilt that he felt for not protecting his brother ate at him every time he looked into Casper’s big blue eyes.

“What about you?” Jake asked.

Carl couldn’t bear to look into his eyes. “Tobias was the only one allowed to touch me,” he mumbled.

“Why did no one help you? This is crazy.” Holden pushed his chair back and started to walk back and forth in the small area. “Your alpha deserves to die.”

“And he will because I’m going to kill him.” Jake’s voice had grown rough and garbled.

Carl didn’t know what to say. He wanted the alpha dead but not if it meant putting Jake in danger.

But why do you care so much? the little voice in his head asked. Carl chose to ignore it because he didn’t have time to examine why he felt so strongly toward a man he just met. And what he might feel toward this man didn’t mean anything. The most important thing was getting Casper back.

Chapter Six

After listening to Carl’s story Jake was fuming. He could barely keep from shifting and killing something. But that would only be counterproductive and just eat up time they didn’t have.

“Should we call Devon?” Holden suggested.

“Who’s Devon?” Carl asked. His eyes looked around the room wildly as if he were looking for the nearest exit.

“Devon is our alpha back where we live. Trust me he’s nothing like yours. If Devon knew of this he’d be here and ready to kill yours,” he reassured Carl. “But no we’re not going to involve him or my brothers just yet. Let’s see if we can handle this situation on our own. It’s never good for an alpha to stick his nose in another’s business even if what the bastard is doing is wrong.”

Jake had learned that from his father. He said to always mind your own business and not to borrow trouble if it can be avoided. Devon didn’t need to be involved in this situation but Jake found himself knee-deep in it and was ready to draw blood for the grievance committed against his mate.

“Fine but at the first sign of trouble I’m calling him. I’m new to the pack. If I let you get yourself killed they’ll tear me limb from limb.” Holden stopped pacing long enough to give him a hard stare.

“What can I say, they love me.” He nudged Holden in the arm as he passed by. Jake turned to look at his mate when he heard a light growl come from his direction. It would appear that his mate was jealous and Jake had to wonder if Carl could feel the bond between them. “Easy, Carl, Holden and I are just friends.”

Carl brought his hands up to cover his face. “I’m sorry.” He moved his fingers so that one eye was visible. “I don’t know why I keep doing that. I barely know you. Maybe it’s just from all that has happened.”

Jake chewed on the inside of his cheek, pondering if he should tell Carl. Something must have shown on his face and Seth called out to him.

“Jake, now is not the time. We need to have clear heads when we go into this. Keep whatever it is you want to say to yourself for right now. Okay?”

His jaw clenched tight. Seth knew exactly what he wanted and needed to tell Carl but he had to agree with Seth. Now wasn’t the time. “Sure, Seth, whatever you say.”

Carl kept looking from him back to Seth. The young wolf must have sensed the tension in the air.

“Come on, guys,” Holden spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “We need to get a plan together and get going.” He put his hands on his hips. “So who has a plan?”

“We’re going to drive up to Edgerton in my Jeep,” Seth answered. “When we get there we’re going to walk on foot to the house. From there we’re going to camp out and watch the property until we know exactly how many wolves are there and to find the easiest way to break Casper out.”

“What?” Carl stood up. “How long will that take? We can’t leave Casper in there. I know what