Shackled (The Lord Series) by Carlos

I rush after Tyson, hoping to catch him in time before he does something reckless. But he is much faster than I am. Cursing and yelling, I force my legs to move quicker and when I finally enter the kitchen, I yell, "Are you fucking stupid or

what?" thinking Tyson is already throwing punches left and right.

Luckily, he is only arguing with Ansel, and I stay the fuck away from their fight, not because I don't have anything to say about this entire situation, but because being so close to the Slutty Nun...has me feel all her pain and anguish and fear. It almost brings me to my fucking knees. Breathing becomes hard and my heart throbs painfully. What the fuck is going on?

For a moment, I see the Slutty Nun, no, Olivia, as she was years ago-happy and carefree. She is no longer like that. She is like a...shell of her former shelf. Has she been like this all this time or is this recently? And I care because....?

What if Levi is right?

What if Tyson is right and we were played? But how? I remember clearly finding her in her room with the gun in her hands and Camila's cold sprawled across the rug. Ansel finally gives the Slutty Nun to Tyson and he leaves the kitchen with her.

Mose drops on a chair and drags his palms down his face. "I fucked up big time with Olivia. I didn't think she would be triggered this badly."

Ansel starts smoking. "It was me who fucking failed her. Again." He rubs his temples. "Tyson had no right to take her away from me, not when I'm bonded to her." "Drop it," I snarl.

Jasper starts cleaning the kitchen and I give him a hand.

"She is not ready for heavy stuff," Mose murmurs. "We need to take things slow with her."

Thinking of the video Levi showed Tyson and me, I comment, "No shit." I start washing the dishes in the sink. "You claim to love her but you made her cry."

"What the fuck is your problem?" Ansel demands to know. "Tyson and you suddenly act as if you never hurt Olivia. I might be a piece of shit, but at least I own my mistakes. But you? You won't admit you fucked up even if your life depends on it."

What the fuck is my problem? That's a good question. And I might have hurt Olivia but she hurt me first. An eye for an eye.

It's more than that.

My fucking problem is that for the first time since Camila died, I have doubts about everything. And then Tyson goes ahead and drops a fucking nuclear bomb on me by saying Olivia is our soulmate.

I refuse to accept it because if that is true... then, I tortured the woman that I was supposed to love. And there ain't no way, no fucking way, she is ours. Because there's no way in hell I'm supposed to be with the woman who ruined my life. *I think we've been played, Rueben.*

By whom? And how? And why?

Ansel suddenly gets up. "I don't trust Tyson to take care of Olivia. To make her understand she is fucking perfect and she did nothing wrong-"

I cut him short. "Sit the fuck down and drop it already!" I yell.

My blood-brothers look at me, waiting for an explanation for my behavior. What can I tell them? That *probably* Tyson and I tortured Olivia for nothing? That we broke her when she probably did nothing wrong? I can't accept that *I* might have screwed up big time.

Impossible.

Tyson and I found her after she killed Camila, my sister's blood still fresh on her hands.

*But are we sure?*

the things I saw with my own eyes, but I fucking trust Tyson more than I trust myself. And if he says something is wrong, then surely something is wrong. But what?

"Levi showed a video to Tyson and me. This guy who sold Olivia to us, he and his buddies did despicable things to Olivia. Malaky," I add when I remember his name. I might be a fucking piece of shit, but I never did what he did to Olivia to anyone.

Ansel's eyes turn red. "Show it to me."

"Tyson has the video but I have to warn you all, it's one of the most fucked up things I have ever seen," I let my blood-brothers know.

Jasper, who is sweeping the floor, grips the broom so hard it breaks in two. "How fucked up?"

I finish washing the dishes. "Dark web level fucked up."

Mose looks at me, his face grey as the ashes. "And we spanked her."

"And I broke her ribs. It's on my mind constantly. I know she hasn't forgiven me," Ansel says next.

Jasper leans against the counter. "I abandoned her when I learned she can't have kids. Looks to me like we all have failed her."

No, I didn't.

If I'm so sure about it, why do I have the feeling that I have failed her big time?

"Tyson thinks someone might have screwed with our heads big time," I say to Ansel. "We need to talk to the Elders and tell them everything."

Ansel pulls out another cigar from his pack. "No. That's out of the question."

"What do you mean by screwed with your heads?" Jasper asks.

"Altered our memories? I have no clue. Tyson said that we have been played," I reply. "This is why we need to contact the Elders. If Tyson is right, then who knows what the Dukes are capable of." Ansel slams his palms on the table so hard he breaks it. Mose gets away from it just in time. "I fucking said no! I'm already dealing with this!"