Lycan Heat by S. Yule (polar express read aloud TXT) 📕

to do with embarrassment and everything to do with anger. In fact, it was almost as if it radiated off him. His muscles tensed, and he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Janine squeezed his hand before he finally continued.

“I was instructed to use her as punishment because Damon knew I was so vehemently against such depraved acts that he and the other pack members enjoyed practicing.”

“Oh my God!” She sucked in a startled gasp and looked at Janine.

“It’s okay, Sherry. Raze never hurt me or forced me to do anything I didn’t want to.” Janine’s face turned red, but the source of her mottled skin was obviously from embarrassment.

“I devised a plan to get us both out of there, and we made it here. A few days later, Damon and some of the pack came looking for us. He was determined to kill me even if it meant killing everyone else and using Janine to accomplish it. Things got a bit complicated for a short time, but Damon and the rest were dealt with. It’s not something that was easy, but they threatened your sister’s life, and I couldn’t allow anyone to hurt her, nor would anyone else allow that here at Sanctuary.

“Sanctuary is a place for rogues to come and learn that we must protect our destined mates, that preservation of the ancient laws is essential to our race’s survival. If our mates are killed, we will have no way to reproduce. I didn’t want to tell you all of this because I didn’t want to upset you, but Janine insisted. And now that we have told you, I believe she was right. You have to be aware of the kind of danger you are in and take precautions.”

She didn’t ask exactly what he meant by Damon and the others being dealt with, but she was no dummy. Anyway, if some scumbag threatened her 15

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sister, he’d deserved what he’d gotten. They all had. Fear knotted in her stomach. If all of this was true, her life had just been turned upside down.

“I don’t want to be a werewolf or have one as a mate.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I’m not a woodsy type of girl.” She fought back the tears threatening to spill. “Are you telling me that these things are going to be hunting me or something?”

“We aren’t things. We are just like you or anyone else,” Janine said softly.

“You are definitely not just like anyone else. Not if you turn into wolves.

But I’m not judging. I need some time to think about all of this. I’m just a little bit freaked out right now.”

Sherry abruptly stood, knocking the chair over. Her brain was numb. She was glad her brain decided to take that route as a few seconds earlier, she’d been torn between shrieking or bursting into a hysterical fit of tears that would have lasted for a few hours or until someone had slapped some sense into her. Her hands shook as she went to retrieve her pajamas from her bag so she could take a long, hot shower before going to bed.

“You know that no one here will ever hurt you, Sherry. Right? Raze, myself, and everyone that you will meet tomorrow would die to keep you safe. I love you, and I’m sorry, but it’s not like either of us had a choice in this. It just is.”

“Yeah. Fate crap and all, right?” Fate must really hate her. She massaged her temples and could feel a wicked headache starting. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I want to take a shower and go to bed.”

She was almost too scared to go to bed because her mind would start playing with all the things Raze and Janine had told her, and she’d probably end up having a panic attack. Maybe tonight would be a good night to take one of those wonderful tiny yellow pills her doctor had prescribed to her for her anxiety. She only took them when she absolutely had to. She sighed. She wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all herself. She hated taking pills, and she was well aware that she had suffered much more than she would have had she not been so damn stubborn about taking them in the past.

After the wreck, she’d needed something to help her cope as she’d suddenly developed severe anxiety when she was away from Janine for too 16

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long. It was because she’d suffered a great loss, and she had convinced herself that if she could keep her sister close, nothing bad could happen to her. She’d gotten better over the years, but couldn’t quite shake the anxiety completely. When Janine had gone on her vacation, which now Sherry knew must have been a horrible experience, she’d been dating Mike. It had helped having him there when she’d gotten anxious over Janine’s absence.

Unfortunately, she had more brotherly feelings toward him, and he hadn’t been extremely happy about that fact, but he was a good guy and graciously accepted it.

If she had known what had really happened to Janine when she’d been away, she would have probably had a nervous breakdown. She had a deep seated fear of losing anyone she loved, especially her sister. She didn’t blame her for not telling her the truth about what had happened on her vacation.

She’d known that she wouldn’t take the news well about her being in danger.

In fact, if she thought about it, all the werewolf stuff paled in comparison with the information that she could have lost her sister.

Werewolf stuff? She turned the tap on in the shower and was surprised at how fast the water turned steamy. For being out in the middle of nowhere, the accommodations were excellent—albeit a little too rustic for her taste.

She stepped under the water and let the heat and gentle massage of water