Holy fuck. The ride to Zoey's apartment was pure torture. Her scent filled the cab, and I knew I wasn't the only one adjusting themselves since my cock seemed to be trying to force its way past my zipper. She was just so delicious. I was still a little angry at how so many people had put her down to where she thought she was ugly and unattractive. Even if she hadn't been my mate, I would have pursued her. She was so gorgeous and so sexy, and she really had no clue. I was determined to make sure she started to believe in herself and to show her how much she affected me and how amazing she really is.
I shook my head and paid more attention to where we were as the truck came to a stop in front of a rundown old apartment building in the absolute worst part of town. My eyes widened as I saw a drug deal go down on the corner and a guy banging a prostitute in the alley.
"Baby…" Deke looked shocked. "You don't live here, do you?"
She looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah. It's all I could afford. Honestly, it's been the nicest place I've had so far."
I took her hand and gave it a small squeeze. "Well, you don't live here anymore. Come on sexy lady. Let's go get your things and go home."
She gave me a small smile and slid out of the truck behind Ash. He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a hug.
"It's gonna be ok, sweetheart."
"I know. It's just… strange knowing that I'm going to live some place really nice for a change."
We all exchanged a glance as we followed her up the cracked walkway. My nose wrinkled as we entered the building and started up the stairs. It smelled of urine, old blood, and other things I didn't want to think about. As we reached the third floor, we could hear the fighting of one couple behind a door and the screaming of a baby behind another. The smell of marijuana and other drugs lingered in the air. The sound of a slap and a woman sobbing came from behind the fighting couple's door.
"Holy fuck… I can't believe she lived here. This place is disgusting."
"She's lucky to still be alive or at least not hurt. You can almost feel the desolation and violence in this place."
Deke's eyes kept darting around to keep watch of our surroundings. Ash looked over at us.
"Let's just hurry and get her the hell out of here."
We all agreed and stood behind her as she unlocked her door. She stepped inside and we followed, quietly closing the door behind us. My heart broke. My mate, my beautiful mate, had been living in a dim, worn out, one room apartment. The walls were cracked with crumbling drywall. And I saw not one piece of furniture in the place. The pallet she had mentioned sleeping on was tucked into one corner was nothing more than a couple of threadbare blankets and a worn, flat pillow. A few mismatched dishes sat clean on a small towel next to the sink and the wind came through a badly repaired broken windowpane.
I wandered into the kitchen and poked around. My gut clenched when I saw just how little food she had in her refrigerator and cabinets. I turned and watched as she pulled out a small duffle bag and started to put a small amount of clothes, a few books, and some personal items inside that had been in a neat stack near her "bed." I looked wide-eyed at Ash.
"Ash… dude… is that all she has?! We need to take her shopping like pronto. Our mate needs better things than that."
"I agree. Clothes shopping is our next stop. I can't believe she's lived like this for so long. And the fact this is one of the best places she's had? I just can't…. this makes me want to whisk her away and give her everything I possibly can."
"Agreed."
"Zoey?"
"Yeah, Jer?"
My heart felt warm as she said my nickname. Only a few people were able to call me that and live.
"Is there a car we need to move to the house for you?"
She shook her head but didn't say anything.
"So how do you get to work? Wait… you said you moved from town to town… how did you do that with no car? Did you sell the one you had when you got to town then?" Deke's voice sounded pained, as if he already knew the answer.
"Oh, I usually caught a ride with Sasha to work. I told her I could catch the bus, but she won't let me and comes out of her way to come get me. She insists that the bus isn't safe for me to ride here. As for moving from town to town, I'd hitchhike. I've never had a car. I only know how to drive and have a license because the Alpha insisted that we all knew how to drive when we got old enough just in case there was ever an emergency."
My blood ran cold as I imagined her hitchhiking. With her looks, she was lucky she hadn't been assaulted. I couldn't hold back the growl that built in my chest. Zoey looked at me startled.
"You're lucky you were never hurt, let alone killed. You aren't to ever hitchhike again. If you ever decide to move on from here, you let one of us know and we'll drive you wherever you want. Or someone else can. Or we'll give you a car. Hell… just please don't put yourself in danger like that again, love. Please. My heart can't take knowing all the things that could've happened to you."
I knew the horror of my thoughts showed in my eyes as she came over to me. When she touched my arm, I couldn't help it. I grabbed her and wrapped her in my arms and pulled her in close. I dropped my head and rested my face in the crook of her neck and just breathed her in deep. I felt her hands rubbing up and down my back.
"It's ok Jer. I'm ok. I was never hurt, and I was always careful who I got rides with. I always carried a knife with me so that I wasn't completely helpless. I do know some fighting skills even if it didn't seem like it with that fucker at the party. But I promise to come to one of you if I ever need to go somewhere."
"Thank you, beautiful. That sets my heart at ease. I won't let any harm come to you. You're too precious to me… to us… for that."
She gave me a squeeze and then gently stepped back out of my arms.
"I've got everything packed that I have so we can head out of here. I still need you guys to explain why I'm so important and why you care so much about what happens to me. I know that's not something you do for everyone that works for you, at least not to this degree."
Asher nodded. "Yeah, we still need to go over that. We can do that when we get home." He gestured to the door as Deacon grabbed her bag. "Shall we, my lady?"
She giggled as he gave a courtly bow. "We shall, handsome sirs."
Zoey went out the door and started down the hall as we closed the door to the apartment if you could call it that. My head snapped around in her direction though as we heard an oily, predatory voice in the hallway.
"Zoey."
She stopped dead as the man blocked her path. His black hair was greasy, and he was overweight with broken blood vessels in his face that said he was a heavy drinker. I saw his bloodshot eyes flick to us and the bag in Deke's hand before coming back to rest on her.
"Skipping out, are we? Your rent is due first."
"I just paid you last week."
His eyes trailed over her body. "Funny. I have no record of that. But of course, if you don't have the money, I'm sure we can work something out. You could pay me in other more pleasurable ways."
His eyes focused on her mouth as his fingers trailed down her neck to just between her breasts and he grabbed his crotch with his other hand to show exactly what he meant. I saw red. Before I even realized what I was doing, I darted forward and grabbed the man's hand from her chest and squeezed, making his knees buckle.
"Don't touch her!" I snarled at the man.