Sunflower with Thorns

FOUR

ZANDER

When I came to, I was strapped to a chair in a dark room. For a second, before my memory came back, I thought that he had found me. But I sighed in relief when I remembered meeting with James and Charlee. I cringed at the memory and the pain that was spreading in my stomach.

It was times like that where I wished that werewolves had wolf spirits to talk to. It would've been nice to not feel so alone in the dark room. For someone to tell me that I wasn't alone. Having a wolf spirit would've also helped with the anxieties of thinking that he could actually have been my mate. I shook my head at the thought, no amount of extra voices in my head would've changed how I felt about that man. He was a monster, plain and simple.

As I was in my thoughts, trying to distract myself from my situation and from thoughts of him, two men came into the room. I couldn't see them but based on their scents, it had to have been James and Charlee.

"Next time you'll think twice about speaking whatever disgusting things come to your mind, fag." I could practically hear the scowl as James spoke.

"You know, as a fag," I began to say. Of course I had to speak what was coming to my mind. "I tend to have a pretty good idea of what being gay is. And you know, grinding into your friend there, while whispering in his ear. That's pretty gay."

"You don't know what you saw," Charlee said. I could tell that he was trying to be tough but there was an underlying emotion in his voice that I couldn't name.

"Is this about not being ready to come out? Because beating and kidnapping me isn't the way to stop that. I'm not going to say anything, I'm not a monster, but maybe next time don't start fucking when you know someone is coming to meet you. Or do you guys just enjoy being caught and then beating the person into silence? You guys get off to it or something?"

"Like he said, you don't know what you saw. I was simply trying to help him, trying to help him fix his shirt." James said, causing me to laugh.

"Really? That's what you're going with? Trying to help him fix his shirt? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? I don't know if you know this or not but grinding tends to mess up one's shirt more. Especially when you're trying to rip it off while doing it." I heard them take steps toward me, but I still couldn't see them due to the darkness.

"Do you really think that you should be trying to have a conversation with us right now?" Charlee asked, "I mean, you're tied up and we aren't, we can do whatever we want to you."

"That's an odd thing to say, Charlee." A new voice said. I couldn't tell who it was as he was standing in the shadows. But his voice sent shivers down my spine. "You know consent is one of our main rules. You aren't planning on breaking that rule are you? You know what happens when someone breaks a main rule."

"Of course not sir!" Charlee said quickly, "Um, how long have you been there?"

"If you're worried about me finding out about you two, don't. I've known for a while, the two of you are pretty obvious. Especially when James has you screaming his name at all hours of the night." The man said with an amused tone, it made me smile. "Really I'm not sure why you were worried, you've seen men come in and out of my room. Did you really think that I wouldn't accept you? I'm kind of hurt actually."

I took a deep breath through my nose as an amazing scent made its way to me. There was no other way to describe it than manly, it made me feel like there was nothing that could touch me because he would alway be there.

"We just didn't know how'd you be about it because we're both here, and we didn't want you to stop us from working together." James said.

"Again, you've seen men come in and out of my room. Men that are also part of the Crows. And I dont give a damn if you work together, just don't let it get in the way of that work. Anyway, why are we still in the dark?" The man spoke again, I heard feet moving along the floor. "It's odd that you were in the dark to begin with. It's one thing to threaten but it's just creepy to threaten in the dark."

I cringed as light filled the room, blinking rapidly to get used to it, I looked up at the man.

I felt like I was breathing for the first time, like coming up for air. He was gorgeous, he had dark brown, almost black, hair and dark green eyes. His jawline was sharp and his nose was straight. He had thin lips but that didn't make them look any less kissable. Even sitting down, I could tell that he would tower over me in height.

I felt all this because when the lights came on in the dark room, the man I stared up at was my mate.