Chapter 4 - Sadie
A wave of heavy darkness crashes through me, the pounding of my blood in my ears and the back of my skull making it feel like my head is about to explode. I’m not sure how long I’m out for, but it’s Cassie’s warm body against mine that eventually chips through the shock and wakes me.
We’re both tied with a strange, soft rope, almost like a silk ribbon. It’s just a few loops around the midsection that also traps our hands, but it feels like it completely immobilizes me.
What is this stuff? It’s so soft, but there’s no give in it.
Cassie moves next to me, murmuring a little. Her eyes are closed, and I’m not sure if she’s asleep or passed out. Fury floods through me, and I look up towards the front of the car, trying to struggle again.
If I could get free, I’d wrap this weird rope around your fucking neck! How dare you hurt my baby girl?
Intense emotions struggle for dominance in me, but rage is the only one that sticks.
I was going to spend the whole day with my baby, and now she’s been ripped out of her home, terrified and confused—and what the fuck is this whack job going to do next?
The car slows a little, and Rhys looks over his shoulder. “It’s not that far,” he says, turning back around. “We’ll be there soon. Is the little girl okay?”
“I think so,” I answer, keeping my voice soft. “If she’s not, I’ll skin you alive.”
“I wouldn’t hurt my daughter,” he replies.
“Why do you assume she’s yours?” I shoot back.
He glances over his shoulder again. “I know,” he says, and his gold eyes do the strange glow that I remember so well but thought I’d only imagined.
He’s not human.
The thought sinks into my guts, adding a new element to my terror. I try to convince myself I’m being ridiculous, but now that the thought is in my mind, I can’t get rid of it.
“How far?” I ask, trying to distract myself from those thoughts.
“Not much longer,” he says. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tie the kid too tight. She’ll be fine.”
“Cassie,” I say.
“Hmm?”
“Cassie,” I repeat. “Her name is Cassie.”
Rhys doesn’t respond, just keeps his eyes forward. I wriggle a little, but I really can’t move, so I just try to relax against the seat.
Cassie’s breathing seems smooth and even, as if she’s just peacefully asleep. My heart aches again for the beautiful, safe world I built around her that was shattered in one instant by the reckless actions of her insane father.
That’s what I get for becoming infatuated by intense presence… of course he’s a serial killer.
My heart constricts. I try to talk myself out of the idea, but too much of it fits.
How he found me out of nowhere… taking us from the house so he can dump our bodies somewhere… the feral glint in his eyes…
“I know you’re scared,” he says. “But you really don’t have to be. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Why does it sound like you don’t even believe that?” I say softly.
He looks over his shoulder, and I see that troubled look again. “I…” he begins, sighing. “It’s complicated.”
“It doesn’t look complicated from back here. It looks really fucking simple. I’ve been kidnapped by a maniac, and I’m afraid for my child.”
Rhys sighs, a sharp sound of exasperation. He quickly pulls the car over, and my fear jumps up a notch.
Uh-oh. What the fuck have I done?
He gets out, walks around the car, and opens the door. I try to cower away, but he leans in, briefly looks Cassie over, then grabs me.
“No,” I gasp, struggling as hard as I can. “What are you going to do? Don’t—”
Rhys dumps me into the front seat, then goes back to the driver’s side. We get going again. I look around, but the only thing around us is the forest, and it doesn’t tell me anything about our location.
“This is going to sound really fucked up,” he says, “but it’s the truth. I’m a shifter—a werewolf. I live in a pack where I am the alpha, in conjunction with two other packs. And magic and all the things of legend are real.”
I stare at him for a second, the fear in me slowly dissolving. Even though I try to hold it in, I break into sudden laughter.
“Really?” I choke out. “That’s what you’re going with? Hey, if that’s the story you have to tell to justify your actions, then whatever. You’re a fascinating psychological case, you know that?”
He sighs. “It’s true. It’s all true. I found you through a magic spell because you’re my mate, and you have to come back and rule my pack with me.”
An even harder cackle breaks through my chest even as threads of doubt slither through my mind.
“This just gets better and better. Are you a serial killer? How many ‘mates’ have you had? Is this your first time kidnapping a child?”
Rhys sighs, his mouth set in a hard line. “You’ll see,” he says in a flat voice, and that brief declaration scares me more than anything else he could have said or done.
We turn onto a small dirt road, and the trees close around us. Fear rises in me, a sick wave of nausea and cold chills that ring through me, making my breath burn in my throat. I hear Cassie wake up and whimper softly.
“It’s okay, baby,” I say. “I’m right here. We’re okay.”
“No, we’re not, Mommy,” she mumbles.
Since I can’t argue with that, I just shut my mouth, marinating in the rising fear that simmers in my guts. When the trees fall back, and an ancient, tall building of stone and wood appears before us, shock pierces through my fear.
Oh, God. We’re here. Whatever is going to happen, it’s happening now!
Rhys gets out of the car, and I see two men come out of the front door and meet him in the driveway. They speak briefly, and he points at the car, then they all start walking towards us.
Every single horrific news story I’ve ever heard crashes through my brain in an instant. The infinite, horrible ways we could be about to be killed literally send me reeling, and I start to pant, losing all control.
Rhys opens the door and drags me out, holding the rope that’s still bound tightly around my midsection.
“My friends are going to watch the car while we go inside,” he says. “I need you to—”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I scream, twisting against the ropes. “You want to leave my daughter with these strange men? For fuck’s sake—”
“It’s okay, ma’am,” one of them says with a kind smile. “I’m Owen. We’ll take care of her.”
I shake my head, trying to struggle again.
“I promise,” the other one says. “My name is Shane, and we’ll protect her with our lives.”
“I’d love to shake your hand,” I snap. “But I’m a little tied up right now.”
“Regrettable,” Owen says. “But necessary.”
They’re all fucking crazy!
“She is your mate,” Shane says to Rhys. “I can smell it. The kid is yours, too.”
“I know,” Rhys answers. “This is really shocking—I don’t know how the elders will take it.”
Their words shock and confuse me so much that I can’t speak. Pins and needles race through my body, partially paralyzing me as Rhys begins to drag me away.
“Cassie—” I gasp, looking over my shoulder.
“I’ll be okay, Mommy,” she says.
Rhys drags me forward, and I can’t look behind me anymore. The house looms over us, the strange peaks and balconies giving the place a deformed, untidy look. The shadow it casts is long and dark, and as we come underneath it, my fear turns into despair.
There’s no escape from this place.
Rhys drags me through the massive front door and down a narrow hallway to the left of the foyer. We come into a spacious room with a long wooden table in the middle, a fireplace on the left wall, and massive bookshelves opposite.
Six people sitting at the table look up. All of them have wide, glowing eyes like Rhys, only in different colors.
Is this a cult? Are they on drugs?
“I’ve brought her,” he says. “My true mate, as promised.”
The six of them look me over, then turn towards each other, whispering so softly, I can’t hear. A curvy, pretty blond woman starts to raise her voice and eventually steps away from the table in disgust, folding her arms and glaring at me.
“Don’t mind, Darla.” A chubby old man gets up from the table and comes towards us. “She’s just antisocial. It’s not personal.”
“Yes, it is!” Darla snaps. “I don’t like her!”
“I’m Neville,” the old guy says, ignoring her. “And I look forward to talking with you after the wedding.”
“Wedding?” I croak, a whole new wave of shock hitting me.
If I survive today without a heart attack, I’ll be fucking amazed.
“Take her home, Rhys,” one of the women says. “We’ll prepare for the ceremony tomorrow and contact you soon.”
“Thank you, Faye,” he says. “There’s a lot to discuss.”
Faye makes a dismissive gesture, and Rhys starts dragging me back down the hall. My emotions intensify inside me until the pressure in my chest finally bursts out in a massive scream.
“This is fucking crazy!” I yell as he drags me into the foyer. “You’re all nuts, every last one of you! There’s no such thing as werewolves or magic. You, people, are just deluded—”
“Sadie,” Rhys says. “Stop.”
“No, you’re a maniac! An insane, deeply troubled individual who has somehow found people to play along with your obsessed fantasy. None of this is real, you can’t keep me here—”
Rhys hurls me against the wall, not hard enough to hurt, but with enough force that the breath blasts out of my lungs.
“Fine,” he says. “You need proof? Here it is.”
He steps away from me into the center of the room, and I collapse against the wall, trembling so hard that I can barely hold up my own weight.
To my shock, Rhys takes off his shirt, revealing his muscular torso and well-defined shoulders.
I can’t help admiring him, and lust stirs somewhere deep inside me as my body remembers the touch of his skin.
The heat throbs within me, but it’s held in check by my fear, and I have to wonder if he’s actually going to fuck me and then kill me right here.
When he opens his pants and slides them down his legs, I almost pass out from the conflicting crash of sensations warring within me. Holding my breath, I try to count my heartbeats in an attempt to get myself under control.
What the fuck is he going to do to me?
“Okay,” Rhys says. “Watch. It will happen quickly, and your eyes will deny it—sometimes it can even make mortals very sick when they see it for the first time. Your entire being will reject it. But watch.”
Rhys takes a deep breath and straightens up. I keep my eyes locked on him, and his form shimmers as if a veil has been thrown over my eyes. I tilt my head, blinking to bring him back into focus, but the shimmering only gets worse.
I blink a few more times, and suddenly, a massive black wolf is standing in front of me. Its piercing gaze stays right on my face as it cocks its head, studying me.
It has Rhys’s eyes… oh, God, it has his gold eyes.
The wolf takes a step towards me, and I scream at the top of my lungs, struggling against the ropes. He stops, licking his chops a little as he stares at me.
This thing is bigger than a pony… almost the size of a bull. He could chop me in two with one bite.
The wolf blinks its great big gold eyes, then shakes itself, and suddenly, Rhys is standing in front of me again.
“Do you understand now?” he asks.
I shake my head, tears pouring down my cheeks.
Rhys sighs, going to collect his clothes. He gets dressed quickly and comes back over to me.
“I had to come and find you. I really had no choice. I’m sorry, I truly am, but my pack is dying. My friends, my family, they’re all dying. Finding the true mates of the alphas is the only idea we have to stop it. Whether you accept it or not, this is your destiny… and apparently it’s mine, too.”
I want to scream at him, to deny everything, but as he talks, memories flit through my mind. The strangeness I feel right now, witnessing him shift, I’ve felt before, lots of times.
I’ve seen Cassie’s eyes glow. I’ve seen her tracking things as if by scent. She dreams of running through the woods, talks about how strong the sensations were, the soil under her feet, the crisp scent of pine all around her…
I shake my head a little, and Rhys sighs.
“I’m going to untie you now,” he says. With a brief touch of his fingers, the magic rope comes undone, and he takes my hand. “This is just a gesture of good faith. Don’t make me regret it,” he warns.
I nod as he leads me out the front door and back to his car. The shape of it and the gleaming, midnight-blue paint trigger a memory from that night all those years ago.
It’s the fucking car he couldn’t shut up about. He finally got it on the road.
I want to dismiss this tiny fact, but instead, it sticks with me as a sign of perseverance and loyalty—that when he really wants something, he doesn’t let go of it.
“Are you okay, Mommy?” Cassie asks as we approach the car.
“Sure, baby,” I answer. “Rhys is going to untie you now, so we can go to his house and settle in. We’re going to stay for a while.”
Cassie keeps her eyes on me while Rhys undoes her ropes and then glares at him.
“Did my friends take good care of you?” he asks her.
Cassie shrugs.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I say, getting into the back seat to hug her. “It’s all going to be okay. This will be a wild adventure, I promise.”
“Are we going home?” she asks.
“Yes,” Rhys answers. “My home, which is now your home, too.”
Cassie looks up at him, and her pale brown eyes glow, just like the other wolves’. In that moment, I realize my daughter was never going to survive in the human world.
We really are stuck here now. And maybe if it’s her destiny, then it could be mine, too.