Lauren's knees nearly buckled at the words the wolf had just spoken. She felt like her heart had just been ripped in half and shredded to pieces. How could she have been so stupid? To let a succubus of all creatures in to her heart. God she was an idiot. All those things she had said to her, all the kisses and moans and whispers had all been lies. And she had fallen for them, hook line and sinker. Right now she hated herself, she hated the fae, she hated Bo, but most of all, she hated Dyson. Because she had fallen for the succubus, more so than anyone in her life, and now to find she was mated with the wolf….she just wished she could get away from this miserable life. Nothing was worth the pain she felt over and over again.

Dyson stood and watched her with his usual arrogant sneer, knowing he had hurt her. She had to fight her inner beast from lashing out and wiping the sneer from his face and didn't even pay any attention to Bo who was pleading with her about something. She didn't care, couldn't care anymore. She was going to make sure Bo knew exactly what her mate was and then she was done. Done with her, done with him and done with feeling.

"Fuck you Dyson. Tell me, have you told your mate about the kind of man you are?"

Now that Lauren had spoken, Bo stopped her pleading and looked between the two of them. She had no idea what was going on, but she could feel the anger and pain radiating off of Lauren.

"She knows I am a wolf and that she is my mate and that I will love and protect her forever."

"Yes, but does she know the man that you are? Hmm?"

Dyson said nothing but glared at Lauren. He tried to pull Bo away before she spoke again, but she was having nothing of it. "Get your hands off of me Dyson and stop saying all this shit about how I am your mate. I never asked you to mate with me, I never wanted you to," she said before turning back to Lauren. "Lauren, please just…"

Lauren shook her head cutting Bo off. She didn't want to hear any explanations right now, she wanted to finally speak the truth about the wolf so he would feel just a fraction of the hurt she had.

"You haven't told her have you? Why Dyson, why haven't you told your mate about it? It can't be that you are ashamed, you took such great pleasure in it all those years ago," she spat, the word 'mate'. Just the sound of the word causing a wave of revulsion inside of her.

"Tell me why you haven't told her about how it was you that beat me all those years ago? Left me with broken ribs and bones, my eyes so bruised I couldn't open them for days? Tell her how you left me on a cold dungeon floor with only water and some stale bread for two weeks until I could finally stand up again, only to be dragged back to work because I missed my curfew by four fucking minutes? Tell her how you laughed at me, called me pathetic and not worth the air that I breathe, that I was only good for beating and fucking?"

"Stop bitch, stop this now," the wolf demanded, feeling the shock and revulsion coming from Bo.

But Lauren wasn't done and she certainly wasn't afraid of the wolf any more. "Go ahead Dyson - tell her how you made me watch as you got yourself off in my prison cell and how you threatened me that the next time I ended up in the dungeon I would be doing more than just watching."

Bo couldn't help the gasp that escaped her after Lauren's confession. It made her sick to her stomach to hear what Dyson had done. Doing that to anyone went against every fiber of her being, but the fact that he had done that to Lauren made something in her snap. Without even knowing why, her inner succubus took over, screaming at her to take vengeance for what Dyson had done. Her eyes immediately flashed blue and both Lauren and Dyson took a step back, feeling the power rippling off of her.

Turning to Dyson she growled "you Bastard" and grabbed his neck to fling him against the closest wall. Pushing him hard and lifting him a few inches off the ground, she let her succubus have control and snarled in his face.

"Listen dog and listen close. I am NOT your mate. I am NOT your lover and I am NOT going to take your shit anymore. If you touch one hair on Lauren's head or utter one more negative word about her, I will end you. You will stay away from her and me, do you understand DOG?"

Dyson struggled to get free but Bo was too strong for him in her succubus state. "Bo, please, I love you."

Squeezing harder and cutting off his air circulation, the Succubus was in no mood for games. She had picked Lauren and would do everything in her power to protect her. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Finally Dyson nodded and the succubus released him, allowing his body to fall to the ground in a heap. Turning to look for Lauren, she saw the door to the Dal closing as the blonde had just run out.

Fuck she said to herself, rushing out the door after the woman she was falling for, hoping it wasn't too late to undo the damage.

XXXX

Bo caught up with Lauren two blocks later. The blonde was still upset, but Bo could sense that her anger had faded, at least a little. Grabbing Lauren's arm, she pulled her to a stop, bending over slightly so she could catch her breath after expending her energy in the power show for Dyson and then chasing the blonde down.

"Lauren, please. Wait. It's not what you think, you need to give me a chance to explain," she panted.

Lauren whirled around to face her, wrenching her arm out of Bo's grasp. "Explain? Bo, I knew you had fucked Dyson, and I could handle that, even though the thought of him touching you made me sick to my stomach. But to know that you mated with him…."

"Stop! That is where you are wrong. I never mated with him. His wolf mated with me, not with my consent or even with my knowledge. I swear to you, there is nothing binding me to him. What he did to you makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me want to kill him and I am not sure if I can ever forgive him for it."

"But you love him?" she ground out.

Bo sighed. "I care about him, I am not going to lie. He was the first person I was with that didn't die, he has been there for me, and he has been a friend, despite the fact that he has been acting like a giant ass lately. But I am not in love with him. I am in love with you Lauren. "

Lauren's eyes snapped up to hers, shock and amazement, and was that hope, in them. "You love me?"

Bo's answer was pre-empted by a very loud growl coming from directly behind her. Her body tensed immediately as she recognized the sound from the two werewolves that attacked her before. Fuck, she thought to herself. She wasn't able to fight them off before, and now Lauren was here. She had to protect Lauren. Turning around quickly, she moved in front of Lauren and turned to the two giant Lycanthropes who were grinning fiendishly at her.