Chapter 14 #2
The day after tomorrow. That’s when I was escaping. It hadn’t taken much persuading to get them to agree to hold my fake hen do so soon, apparently the other females were very excited to meet me. It didn’t give me much time to plan but it was the best I could do.
I’d studied the lock on my window. I figured with enough time alone with a hair grip I could get it open. If I didn’t have a guard listening in to my every breath I could do it now. That’s why I needed the distraction, the noise to cover what I was going to do.
I thought about my pack resting in the cupboard. I thought about the locked windows, my chains, and Siobhan who would be my shadow that night.
If I managed to escape, I had a vague idea of where to go and I had gear in case I got stuck out there.
Now, I needed to get the cuffs off for the party.
I needed to get rid of Siobhan. I needed to figure out how to get out of that locked window without anyone noticing because waltzing out through the front door was not going to be an option.
Of those three problems, I had solutions to none yet, but I was working on it.
I startled as Kole burst through the door, a dark look on his painfully handsome face.
I hated that my body acknowledged how damned attractive he was.
He ran his gaze over me, over the extra inches of stomach where my t-shirt had ridden up.
I quickly tugged it down but not before I saw the black in his eyes.
Teeth gritted, he turned and stalked into the bathroom.
A moment later I heard the shower running.
A loud thud thundered from the bathroom and when Kole finally emerged I could see the giant crack in the tile through the open door.
His knuckles were a deep purple and bent out of shape but I had no doubt they would be healed by the end of the night.
Part of me delighted in his distress, but the other part of me knew this was an opportunity to win his trust. A smaller part, a part that I didn’t want to acknowledge, was concerned for him.
“Bad day at the office?” I called but got no reply. “What happened, Kole?”
He stalked out of the closet, a pair of running shorts loose on his hips. “The Gulf Alpha is a fool and I—” He cut himself off, his jaw clenching. “Where are your cuffs?”
“Kallum took them off so I could shower. I guess he trusted that I’m not stupid enough to jump out a third storey window when there’s werewolves everywhere.
” I rolled my eyes, hoping to keep him from seeing that that’s exactly what I was planning on doing two nights from now. When the time was right.
Kole scowled and headed for the door.
“Don’t take this out on him, Kole. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
He spun, glaring at me. “I made my orders clear to him.”
“I’ve been in here uncuffed for over an hour and look, still sitting here, haven’t gone anywhere.”
“That doesn’t mean that you won’t.” He took a step closer but I wouldn’t let my intimidation show. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to trust you?”
“I don’t care. Just leave Kallum alone, he’s the only one of you I can stand.” That was painfully true and the pain showed on Kole’s face too. His jaw clenched, droplets of water from his wet hair sprinkled on broad shoulders.
“He is my warrior, my brother. I will reprimand him how I see fit.”
“Right,” I rolled my eyes again. “How terrible of him to let me walk around a locked bedroom with my hands free. I might do something crazy like kidnap a person and put them in prison and then…oh wait, that’s what you did.
” I snatched the cuffs off the nightstand and snapped them on myself. “Happy?”
“Actually, I was wondering if the muzzle would be required again.”
“Really? I thought those ideas only appeared in your head when the Elders put them there.”
The warm wave fell over me and I shuddered as his dominance slipped through my veins like syrup.
“Submit, Iona.” His voice was low, warning but seductive. How could he be both at once? I gave in, caving earlier than I needed to because showing weakness, small drops of cooperation, was smart. He rumbled, satisfied. “Better.” He released me from his hold. “I will deal with Kallum later.”
The mattress bowed as he sat. He looked out of the window, the moon staring back at him. There were shadows under his eyes, it struck me how exhausted he looked. I hugged my knees to my chest, watching for any sign that the beast might break out.
“What happened tonight, Kole?” I waited, wondering if he would tell me. Did I care about his distress? No. Did I hope he was about to tell me something useful? Absolutely.
“I attempted to broker peace with Alpha Carson.”
“You met with him?”
“I called him. I didn’t trust him not to plan an ambush if I arranged a meeting.”
That was smart.
“So, he wouldn’t accept peace?”
“No, all he wants is power. He wants my title, my people, my land, my business, and nothing less.”
“You wouldn’t just legally sign them over? Even if it saved your life?”
“No. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. The only way he can get them is through killing me.” He gave me a wry smile. “There isn’t much grey area in our way of life, Iona.”
“I’m getting that.”
“He’s going to attack again, harder this time. I can feel it.” The weight of those words hung like axes in the air, just waiting to cut off all our heads. “He’ll be desperate now. Desperate to kill me before I seal my bond with you.”
“You’re scared.”
“I didn’t used to be. Not like this.” He glared down at his clenched fists. “My wolves, they can handle themselves and they’re a part of this world, they understand the brutality of it. But you…you’re human.”
“I understand brutality, Kole.” I dealt with more than enough of it growing up. “I can take care of myself.”
He looked up at me. “You’re still human. He’ll eat you alive.”
“I’m guessing you aren’t speaking figuratively…” I took his silence as my answer. I couldn’t help but imagine being torn apart by one of those giant wolves. I moved on, trying to distract myself. “Why doesn’t he just come at you full force? Why these smaller attacks?”
“He did once, when I was eighteen. He launched a full scale attack, taking all of us by surprise. It was that attack that made me Alpha. We won that day, but I made the mistake of letting him escape.”
“How did his attack make you an Alpha?” His father, Jonah, was still alive and seemed strong and healthy. I wondered how the power transferred if not triggered by death or old age.
He frowned, his mouth setting in a grim line.
“It’s a long story. That day…it’s the darkest day in my memory.
When I told you that his Luna was an evil wolf, I wasn’t lying.
The pain she brought on my family…” He shook his head, clearly pushing away things he wasn’t ready to tell me.
Things I found myself desperate to know but I didn’t press it.
“He’s been building to it again ever since, waiting for his pack to grow after the loss of the last big battle, waiting for mine to weaken as I had no mate.
Now he knows you’re here, he’ll push harder before we’re mated. ”
I twisted my hands in my lap. I knew what that meant. “The Elders want you to take me now, don’t they? They don’t want you to wait.”
“I’m not going to do that. You have my word. Unless you want me to, of course.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that’ll be the day.”
He shrugged as if he didn’t care. It was an unusually human response. “It would be private at least.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you asked me to take you tonight, I’m not going to pull the pack out of their beds to watch. It would just be the two of us, in this room. Alone.”
“Those are my options?” I scoffed. “Cave and get the privacy or stick to my guns and get raped in public? That’s fucked up Kole.”
“Everything’s fucked up, Iona. Everything’s backwards. None of this is the way it was supposed to be.” He sighed. He seemed so tired tonight. “Would it be so bad? Just the two of us in this bed?”
“I don’t want you, Kole. You kidnapped me, starved me, and chained me up outside like a fucking dog.”
He flinched but I didn’t apologise and, to his credit, he didn’t try to defend himself. “The ceremony has to happen. Eight days, Iona. I won’t bend on that.”
“I’m getting that too.” I sat back, arms folded. My skin crawled at his proximity but the ache inside was worsening. Every time he was close it grew. “Speaking of the ceremony, I had my dress fitting today. Thanks for the heads up by the way.”
He gave a half shrug, a lame apology. “I hope you behaved yourself.”
“Kara had an idea about incorporating some human traditions into the ceremony.”
“What kind of traditions?”
“Usual stuff,” I shrugged. “White dress, wedding rings, the hen do?—”
“The what?”
“Bachelorette party? The bride’s last hoorah, as it were.”
Kole raised his brows at me. “You snuck that in there, huh?”
“Who’s sneaking?”
“You think I’m going to let you go out and party in some bar?”
“No, I was thinking you might let me have a party here, with the other women. Seeing as I’m their queen now or whatever I should probably get to know them.” I thought that sounded pretty convincing. Just the right amount of reluctant compliance to make it believable.
Kole’s eyes narrowed. “I’m trying to figure out if you think I’m stupid enough to believe you aren’t fucking with me.”
“I’m not fucking with you,” I snapped. “I hate it here, I want to leave, but I know I don’t have a choice so I’m trying to make the best of it.
” Liar. I was a liar. I had no intention of making the best of it.
Kole was going to be my rapist. Nothing more.
And the rest of them? Despite their kindnesses, they were still casual guilty-by-association observers.
I could see him thinking hard, the mechanics of his mind turning over. “Fine. Siobhan will stay with you at all times and you will remain cuffed.”