Free Honesty by Viola Rivard

rape her. He represented every person who had ever tried to hurt her.
    “I thought about letting him go. I could have stolen his car and gone straight to the police. But men like him, they have a way of getting out of things like that. Turning their victims into villains. The only real option besides shooting him was to leave and pretend like it never happened.”
    Clouds obscured the moon as rain began to fall again. Taylor was silent for a moment, listening to the beads of water as they dropped onto the leaves and splattered on the surface of the lake. She ran her fingers though her damp hair.
    “I still don’t know if it was the right thing to do. There were so many times when I was a kid that I saw things, people being hurt, and I didn’t do anything,” she said. “There are probably people out there to this day who are hurting others because I didn’t do anything. But not him. He’s never going to hurt anyone again.”
    She wasn’t sure what Alder’s reaction would be, but when she looked up at him again, Taylor was caught off guard. The muscles in his face were taut with anger. She instinctively recoiled, but his arm held her in place like a steel band around her waist.
    “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said in a deep voice.
    Taylor exhaled and placed a hand on his chest. “Geez, you scared me there for a second.”
    She laughed a little in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Alder was having none of it.
    “I want you to forget about him,” Alder said, his grip on her tightening. “Nothing in your past matters anymore. I’m going to make sure nothing like that ever happens to you again, Taylor.”
    The ache in her chest had returned. She placed her hand on the back of his neck, lowering his head so that she could kiss him. Alder’s lips were firm and his hands began to trace her body. She felt his tongue graze the seam of her mouth and she opened for him without hesitation, allowing him to sweep in and take her away from the moment.
    Lightning whipped across the sky as she fumbled with the button on his jeans. By the time the thunder rumbled through the darkened valley, she was grasping his hard length in her hand, stroking him. Alder groaned into her mouth, deepening the kiss as he pushed her back onto the porch.
    As he tried to pet and caress her, she wrapped her legs around his hips, silently urging him not to make her wait. She needed to have him inside of her, to feel like she was a part of him. While their bodies were connected, she could almost fool herself into believing that her past didn’t matter and that he would always be able to protect her.
    ***
    Alder was slow and gentle as he pushed inside of her, as if she was fragile and he was afraid to harm her. Hale knew that while her body seemed small and delicate, she could handle so much more than what his brother was giving her.
    The rain had helped to mask Hale’s scent as he hung back in the forest, watching and listening. He had been following Taylor all night.
    It had started innocently enough. After he’d left her in the forest—after she’d rejected him—he’d realized that she might not be able to find her way back to the others. Despite his aggravation and sexual frustration, Hale had found himself following her, making sure she was safe until she reunited with the others.
    It should have ended there. He should have left her and gone to one of his many willing females in order to slake his needs. But as soon as he had turned to leave, the animal inside of him had roared in protest.
    Over the years he had encountered a few human females, most notably his older brother’s mates. Hale had been fourteen when Cain took his first mate, Dawn, and it had caused some friction within their small pack. Although he was young, Hale was a natural alpha, already larger and stronger than a normal male his age. Cain had taken her away from the den when her scent had begun to change, not trusting Hale to be able to control his urges.
    Cain