Chapter Four
Katya ran across the rooftop and jumped onto the next building. Her mind raced, she didn’t even know why she’d shifted, all she knew was she had to get out of there as fast as possible, and that was the only way. Her tiger was screaming the word “mate” so deafeningly she couldn’t drown it out.
And that kiss.
She’d never been kissed like that. Kissed as if it were their first and last. As if there was no tomorrow and he couldn’t get enough of her. She’d kissed hundreds of men. It was part of the job. Yet, nothing had felt like the kiss she’d shared with him.
Him.
Adam.
She didn’t want to remember his name. Katya made a point to never remember the name of the men she stole from. Yet, his name clung to her like smoke, impossible to get rid of even after washing it away.
It was utterly ridiculous. He was her victim. Another guy. A stranger who had contributed to her cause. She didn’t have time for romance. She didn’t have time for a mate.
She was so close to paying off her sister’s debt.
So close to regaining her freedom. She jumped onto the fire emergency exit stairs and climbed to her room.
It was on the first floor of the run-down building.
She always left the window unlocked precisely for this reason.
Once she shifted, she lost her clothes, so she needed a safe place to return.
With a shake, she began to shift back into her human form.
Her bones realigned, her fur disappeared.
Little by little, she regained her human form.
She put on a worn t-shirt which reached her knees and a set of clean undies. After she closed the window.
With a sigh, she went to the “kitchen.” She snorted. As if you could even call it that. Her living quarters were little more than a space crammed with a bed, a microwave, small fridge, and tiny stove. A narrow bathroom opened to the side.
They had nothing else. This is where they kept them. A dozen women or so, all captives to their ploy, enslaved to a debt they hadn’t been aware of acquiring. All of them forced to do different jobs, from prostitution to thieves.
She had known, though. Katya knew what she was getting into, but she’d done it for her sister. She had to. For Irina.
Placing a mug of hot water in the microwave, she set it for two minutes and watched it turn. Irina, her younger sister, had come to this country with hopes of a better future and instead had found herself trapped without a passport and no money.
When her sister had told her she’d found an opportunity abroad she knew it’d been too good to be true.
When she didn’t hear back from her for months, she realized something was off, so she’d contacted the same “company.” They’d offered her a deal: pay off her sister’s debt and they’d tell her where she was.
She had attempted to find other leads but had come up empty-handed. The police back home had been no help.
In her gut she knew it was a mistake, but she’d accepted.
Three years later, she was still working for them and still didn’t know where her sister was.
Once a year they let speak her to Irina, but that was it.
She brushed aside the tear which slid down her cheek.
Three years. She was the older sister, she was supposed to have protected her, and she’d failed her.
If only she could save her she could then beg for her forgiveness.
She was so close. A few hundred dollars more and she’d pay off her sister’s debt.
Then, she’d worry about her own freedom.
The microwave chimed. She pulled out the steaming cup and poured it onto some insta-noodles.
Her thoughts returned to him—Adam. Katya recalled perfectly the night she’d picked him up.
He’d just been one more. Even if she’d sensed a strange tingle from her beast, she’d ignored it.
She had had a minor cold and had assumed it was from that. Clearly, it had been a mistake.
Mate.
What was she supposed to do with a mate? She didn’t have time or energy for that. She had to pay off the debt and free Irina.
“Enough, Katya,” she murmured. She wasn’t going to get anywhere by bemoaning about the past. She blew at the steam coming from her dinner. She glanced at the clock. The night was still young. Surely, she could still trap some innocent dude and make a profit. Right?
Barely an hour later, she sat alone at a bar, cursing her luck.
Adam had ruined it for her. She took a sip of her drink, trying to remain calm.
She hadn’t succeeded in picking up a single man all night.
Not young, not old, not drunk, it was as if they didn’t see her.
She knew the reason why. Whenever she’d flirted, her tiger had come out to play.
It was a game of cat-and-mice, a hunt, and the beast loved it.
Not anymore. The damn animal was only interested in one thing on the menu, and he wasn’t even on there!
So, she’d been left to fend on her own without the animal appeal and she had flopped dramatically.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered. Katya finished her drink, staring at the empty glass. She had to find a solution and quickly, or they would notice and that would mean trouble for her and her sister.