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for a little bit, but I wasn't completely comfortable around him so I tried to extricate myself as smoothly as possible.
    "Somehow he got my phone number and started calling all the time. It was a little unnerving, but he never said anything that really raised a red flag. In fact, part of me was flattered that this handsome, rich man was paying me—a high school teacher—so much attention. I finally agreed to go out with him about a month after we met. That night, instead of taking me home, he drove me back to his compound. He locked me in a small chamber. He...he..."
    Jaryn could see that Nicole was starting to unravel. He stood then went over to her side of the table, lifted her from her chair and settled her on his lap. He didn't care about the other diners. All that mattered was that his mate was hurting, and if being in his arms would ease her pain, then he'd move heaven and hell to make it happen. She curled into his chest and he slowly rubbed her back until she stopped shaking.
    This Adam sounded psychotic, and the treatment of his mate at his hands ensured that retribution would be had. Heat surged through his body and he seethed with rage at the thought of his mate being anywhere near such a creature. Every primal instinct to protect what was his coursed through him.
    "I have you, Nicole. He can't hurt you anymore. Just tell me, and we'll take care of it. Did he...did he violate you?"
    "Yes, but probably not in the way that you mean. He never raped me, at least not that I know of.” She lifted her head from Jaryn's chest. “There are quite a few blocks of time that I can't account for. Times when I'd be in one place then wake up in a completely different area of the compound. For a while, I was convinced he was drugging me with the food, so I stopped eating, but then he made me watch as he punished those that served the food. I couldn't stand being the reason another person was whipped, so I ate what was put in front of me.” Nicole unconsciously rubbed the scar on the back of her neck. “Then there was the time..."
    Jaryn took Nicole's hand in his, placed a small kiss on the pads of her fingers then held her hand in his lap. He moved her mane of hair aside and frowned when he saw the scar on the back of her neck, directly over her spine. It had clearly been made by some type of incision, since it was too neat to be from an attack. About two inches long, it was slightly red and puffy. He sniffed at the puckered skin, but there was no trace of disease—only a lingering medicinal scent. He gave it a little lick, hoping that maybe his saliva might help the healing process.
    Nicole's eyes went wide. “What did you do?"
    "I licked it. As your mate, my saliva holds special healing properties for you. It's part of the mate bond. Why?"
    "It doesn't burn anymore. One morning, about a week ago, I woke up and found a taped bandage back there. I have no idea how the incision got there. When I confronted Adam, he told me that my time was up. That it was his mating mark and from that moment on I belonged to him. A few of the others helped me escape a couple of nights later. I've been driving for the last two days, and only stopped in the bank here because I'd run out of the cash I'd stolen from Adam's safe."
    He worried about the missing blocks of time from her memory, and if he thought too hard about what may have happened, there'd be nothing to stop his wolf from hunting down this Adam Broyles and tearing the man limb from limb. There was a very good chance that this man was the one he'd been searching for. They hadn't received any information about him kidnapping humans, too, but from what he'd gathered from Nicole so far, this Adam Broyles fit the profile. Before they explored that any further, he needed to reassure his mate.
    "It'll be all right. This Adam lied to you. I'm not sure what happened to cause this scar, but I can assure you it's not a mating mark. The only true way to gain a mating mark is the introduction