Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
S era
“I said I’m not going!” I yell at my locked bedroom door. It’s been two days since my kidnapping, and I’ve barely left this room.
I scan the room for something to barricade the door with, in case one of my crazy captors thinks to break the door down.
My gaze lands on the wicker storage chest that sits at the end of the massive bed. I contemplate trying to drag the thing across the plush carpeted floor.
A beat later, I roll my eyes at myself. It would take me too long to drag the damn thing. Not to mention any one of them could easily flip it out of their way if they wanted to use their wolf strength to get in here.
“Little Hellraiser, open the damn door!” Noah pounds on the door as he demands that I open it.
“Stop calling me that!” I hate the fucking nickname he’s resorted to calling me. I wouldn’t have to raise hell if they would just leave me alone.
The lock on the door is the only thing I have control over. The rest of the house has lock codes that, of course, I don’t know. And there’s no window in my bedroom. Effectively trapping me inside.
Despite that, I haven’t left the bedroom since I was shown here two nights ago. However, despite its massive size and with a private bathroom, and admittedly, how beautifully decorated it is, it’s still a prison.
The thud from his banging is so loud that I jump in nervousness.
Fear seizes my body, which has me immediately searching the room for something to protect myself with. My bow and arrow are out of the question, since I haven’t seen them since I was taken from New Mexico.
“ You fucking brat!”
My eyes land on the door, but that’s when I realize the demand didn’t come from the opposite side of the door.
I blink in confusion. The voice sounded so familiar.
“ The entire pack will hear about how dangerous you are!”
“No, no, no,” I mumble over and over. It’s the voice from my nightmares.
It’s been months since I’ve had one of those. And years since I’ve had one of them resurface while I was awake.
“You are going to the pack meeting,” Ronan’s deep voice penetrates my thoughts.
I remember that I’m not dreaming. The voice I was just thinking about isn’t real. But my three captors on the other side of the bedroom door are very real.
“Screw you!” I yell before stepping away from the door.
I’m here against my will and I’m not about to let these three or myself forget it.
“I swear to Mother Moon, I will break this fucking—” Noah’s words cut off when I yank the door open.
We’re both heaving in anger.
“Why would you break the door down when you did such a beautiful job styling this lovely prison cell?” I ask.
“You’re not in a prison, Little Hellraiser.” His smile mocks me.
“Am I not?” I hold out my free hand. “Then am I free to leave without any sort of repercussions or the threat of the three of you hunting me down like I’m your prey?”
A low growl pulls my attention to something beyond Noah’s shoulder. It’s Montgomery.
He stands the farthest way, all the way down the stairs, which I can see from the bedroom doorway.
What the hell is his problem?
He looks at me like he loathes me. That is, when he even bothers to look at me. Aside from him telling me in no uncertain terms that I would be present at tonight’s meeting before going out for a run the other night, he and I have had no other interaction.
It’s not like it bothers me or anything. I just want to know what the hell makes him growl so damn much.
“Please, get dressed. We need to leave for the meeting soon,” Ronan says.
“Oh,” I say cheerfully. “Wait, was that an actual request?” A laugh spills from between my lips. “You have got to be kidding me. Have the three of you developed manners within the past two days?”
A muscle in Noah’s jaw visibly ticks. This time my smile turns genuine.
The thrill I get from pissing him off, even a little bit, is always worth it. Not that it’s hard to do. Ronan’s the hardnose, unfeeling one who barely even notices my attempts to get under their skin.
Then there’s Montgomery.
Aside from his few grunts and growls, I would barely even notice he’s around.
Well, that’s not true, I think as my gaze drifts back to look at him. His wavy, strawberry blond locks are a bit tousled, and the ever-present stubble that lines his jaw and upper lip, outline his pink lips in a way that draws my attention there.
Then there are his eyes.
Not quite blue. Not quite gray. But a mix of the two.
And always filled with a deep, burning sadness.
Or some different emotion I haven’t figured out.
My mind goes back to that day months ago. When Reese and I were trapped by that crazy human doctor who wanted to put a permanent end to shifters.
He’d managed to capture Montgomery weeks before.
From the moment I saw his lifeless body on that metal table, a deep yearning from the depths of my core tugged at me. It was as if my life was tied to his.
It was the same pull I’d felt years ago for Noah and Ronan.
Before they rejected me.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise to find out, days later, that Montgomery was actually their long-lost brother. The triplet their entire family believed died long ago.
Shaking my head, I step away from the bedroom door, obscuring my view of Montgomery.
None of that matters.
He obviously is as unsatisfied as the other two to find out I’m who Mother Moon chose to be their mate.
“You will be the destruction of our pack. We will never mate with you.”
Ronan was the one to throw those callous words at me years ago.
I remind myself of his words, to also point out that I’m only here now so they can put an end to the uncertainty within their pack. It’s not me they want. It’s the security of their alpha positions.
“This is fucking ridiculous. If you don’t think I’ll carry you, kicking and screaming?—”
“That would look great in front of your pack, wouldn’t it? What would the women of your pack think to see you dragging your supposed mate against her will into the room?” I challenge Noah.
“Not a damn thing because they know who the hell we are.”
I almost choke on the spit in my throat. “What?! So that means you get to do whatever the hell you want?”
He folds his arms over his chest. “It means they know and respect the alphas of their pack to be the protectors and know what’s best.”
I snort. “No wonder you three were so okay with the idea of kidnapping me.”
Noah drops his hands, about to say something, when Ronan steps in front of him.
“We are going to be late, and it is poor fashion for the alphas to show up late to a pack meeting. It shows little regard for the pack’s time.”
“Oh, and kidnapping your supposed mate and presenting her as the new Alpha Queen, when all four of us know it’s a lie, isn’t disrespectful?”
Noah mumbles something behind his brother.
“What was that?”
Ronan turns his head to look at his brother over his shoulder. No words are exchanged, but a few seconds later, Noah grunts and says, “Fine,” before heading down the stairs.
I watch his broad back, covered by the black T-shirt, the fabric fighting for its life to keep all of that muscle contained.
I have to push away the memory of seeing him completely naked just two days ago after he shifted.
It’s not that I want any one of them. But I am a warm-blooded woman who appreciates a nice figure and handsome face as much as the next woman.
That’s all these feelings are about.
“What do you want?” Ronan asks, drawing my attention back to him.
I look into his blank, expressionless gaze. “My freedom.”
“Other than that.”
“My cell phone and bow and arrow,” I say with a smile.
“Not that either.”
I roll my eyes. “Why ask me what I want if you’re not willing to give me anything I actually want?”
“Ask for something within reason.”
I snort. “My belongings and freedom aren’t reasonable?”
“No.” His expression doesn’t change.
I roll my eyes so hard, a small part of me thinks they might get stuck, like my aunt used to tell me.
“Whatever,” I mumble as I start to shut the door in his face.
Ronan’s foot in the threshold stops me. “What else do you want?”
My top lip curls. I don’t want to bargain with any of these bastards. Yet, it appears that I don’t have much of a choice.
I glance around the room.
“Clothes.”
His forehead creases.
I spread my arms. “The suitcase you brought from my room only had this T-shirt and jeans, some pajamas, and toiletries inside. I need more clothes to wear during the day. And if you recall, I was on my way to a wedding, wearing a bridesmaid dress when you barbarians kidnapped me.
“So, unless you want me walking around your pack’s territory in a bridesmaid dress or my silk negligees, every day, I need more clothes.”
He turns his head away from me so I can’t see his face.
“Or—”
“Done,” he says before I can tell him to give me my freedom again. “Tomorrow one of us will take you into town to do all of the shopping you want. In the meantime, you can wear what you have on to tonight’s meeting.”
He doesn’t wait for me to agree or disagree.
The son of a bitch leaves me standing there. I want to get the last word, to yell at him or throw something at him to get him to run back up the stairs and explode on me in anger. Anything would be better than his blank stares.
But that’s only the juvenile part of me that’s dying to have a temper tantrum. Something I haven’t done since I was five years old.
Not even when my parents discarded me, and dropped me off on my aunt’s door, did I cry, protest, or show any emotion.
Not when that same aunt died years later. I shed one tear and kept a placid face. And when the two brothers I believed were my mates rejected me, I didn’t cry, fight, or beg for them to need me like I thought I needed them.
So, I refuse to act out right now. No matter the perceived satisfaction it would bring me.
Instead, I shut the door, working to control my breathing.
I glance around at the lavender and cream color scheme, the massive king-sized bed with a tufted headboard. The room would be perfect if there was a large window.
I swallow as I look over at the bouquet of lavender flowers that sit in the massive vase on the glass table at the center of the room. I hate to admit that I adore the way its scent lights up the entire room.
“Lavender calms me.”
A statement I’d told only two people years ago.
I shake my head as the question of whether or not they remembered tries to invade my mind. It doesn’t matter if they remembered or not.
I’ll go to their damn pack meeting, but only because it will earn me a trip into town. Once there, I can figure out how to get away from these three asshole brothers who don’t want me anyway.