54. Ember
Ember
I woke up tied to a chair, duct tape biting my wrists. My head ached and my stomach rolled. I blinked, my vision slowly coming into focus.
I was in a run-down condo. The decoration style felt like I was in the late eighties, with a hideously ugly brown couch, shag carpet, and wood paneling. I was sitting in a matching brown armchair, with my hands tied behind my back and my feet bound together with duct tape.
Panic shot through me. Someone had kidnapped me.
I glanced around for signs of who it was, where I might be, but moving my head around made my stomach roll.
Sounds from the kitchen made me tense.
Around the corner, Greg appeared. He saw me looking and grinned. The look of relief and joy on his face was completely at odds with the circumstances, enough that I wondered if he was somehow kidnapped too.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty’s awake.” He picked up a glass of water from the counter and walked over to the chair. “How are you feeling?”
“Groggy.” I swallowed hard, the sickly-sweet taste still in my mouth. “What happened?”
Panic beat inside me, but I had to stay calm. I had to try talking my way out of this.
“Just a little side effect.” Greg actually ducked his head, like he’d been caught pirating music and not using a drug to incapacitate me. “Sorry for the abrupt methods, but I had to get you alone.”
“Why?” I blinked, my mind working too slowly. He had to be the one stalking me, and yet it felt like I still didn’t have all the pieces. How did he expect not to get caught? How did he see this playing out?
“Because you won’t go on a date with me.” Something dark crossed his face. “And then you bonded those loser alphas.” He glared, and chills ran down my spine. “I told you, you’re just a hole for them to fill. A whore. They’re going to use you up and leave you.”
“They bonded me.” Greg was the person stalking me. The notes used the same words exactly.
Greg from the office. The annoying, pushy, but sometimes considerate guy from the office. I couldn’t make sense of it.
I tried to decide if I should use logic or not. “They love me.”
“ I love you,” he snapped. “Just because I’m not an alpha, you refuse to give me a chance. It was almost too late. I had to do something.” He looked manic, both angry and pleading.
“You’ve been sending me flowers,” I said, trying to get him to confirm what I already knew. “And trying to romance me the best way you knew how?”
“Exactly.” He looked relieved. “Wasn’t it sweet?”
My bottom lip wobbled. “What about my nest?”
“I am sorry about that.” He raked his hand over his face, almost scouring marks into his own skin. “I meant to leave you a present, you know, something sweet. But then I scented that alpha and I just lost it. You forgive me, right?”
I tried to follow the logic but couldn’t. Greg was justifying any violence he committed as either my fault or out of his control. I had to be very careful.
My pack would find me; I knew they would. But I had to buy them some time.
“You forgive me, right?” he asked again, his tone dangerous.
“Yes,” I said, blinking slowly. “Sorry, the chloroform is making it hard to think.”
“Of course, of course.” His happy manner snapped back. He held up a glass of water to my mouth. I took a slow sip, some of it dribbling.
“Just take it easy.” He beamed, like he’d just won the lottery. “Now that it’s just the two of us, we have all the time in the world.”
I looked around. “Is this your house? It’s nice.”
“It’s my mother’s house.” His voice went flat again, and I noticed his hair was messier than usual. West had mentioned he was moody at work. “It’s not a fancy mansion like those men you’re staying with, but she left it to me.”
“It’s cozy,” I said. I needed to plan, but my head was spinning, and my ears were ringing. Through the bonds I felt my pack’s love and support, but also their panic and worry.
The best course of action seemed to be telling him what he wanted to hear. He was unstable, and I didn’t want to do anything that might provoke him.
“We’ll get a real house,” Greg said, standing up.
“Can you untie me?” I gestured with my hands. “Now that it’s just the two of us?”
He snorted. “I’m not dumb. I know you don’t want me. You’ll go running back to those nasty alphas the second you get a chance.”
I bit my lip. “What if I have to use the bathroom?”
“Soon, okay?” he snapped. “I haven’t got everything prepared. But this is our chance to be together.” He paced out of the room, disappearing down a hallway.
I glanced at the door. Three massive padlocks sat above the regular doorknob. The locks were shiny and new, but the doorknob was old and a darker bronze color. So the locks were new.
My hands and feet were bound and also asleep, with barely pins and needles coming through my fingertips. If I made a break for it now, I wouldn’t be able to get the duct tape off before Greg came back into the room.
I debated, trying to remember statistics on kidnapping. It was the first twenty-four hours that were the most important, right? But if I knew the kidnapper, did that change the number?
I’d have to take a chance to escape the first time I could.
We were probably still near San Francisco if this was his mother’s house.
And I couldn’t have been unconscious for very long.
I glanced around the small living room. A half wall separated it from the kitchen.
The air seemed stale, so I didn’t think he was here very often.
A quick glance at the side tables and the coffee table didn’t provide me with a weapon. No convenient heavy vase sitting close by, just a small brown glass lamp that had a short cord.
In the kitchen I would have better luck, especially as he said he hadn’t planned on taking me this soon.
I shuddered, panic threatening to break through at the idea that he had been plotting to kidnap me all along.
I wasn’t safe; he was here, and who knew what he wanted with me.
Acidic bile rose in my mouth, and I couldn’t stifle a whimper.
Soft soothing pets came from the bonds, Alejandro’s touch there to anchor me.
Ben’s fierce determination was so strong it felt like he was there with me, and through them, Rian echoed support and love.
I desperately wished I could feel West in the bonds, but I knew he was feeling love and murderous rage just the same.
I sucked in a breath, black lights flashing in my vision. I was going to have a panic attack and I wasn’t in a safe space. Fresh adrenaline spiked through me, my palms sweating, and I looked at the ugly brown lamp.
The ringing in my ears got louder, and I focused on each glass facet of the lamp.
The dusty lampshade was covered with a layer of plastic over the cheap beige canvas.
The light switch was black, the sort you pushed in to turn it on.
My grandmother had a lamp similar to this one, only it wasn’t as ugly.
Focus on small details , my therapist had told me. When I felt the edges of a panic attack loom, grounding my attention helped. I looked at the coffee table. It was brown wood, the legs curling up at the bottom.
Greg reappeared and I almost lost it. He was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
He held two syringes in his hands.
“I thought you loved me.” I didn’t bother to hide my distress. My body quivered and the scent of burnt lemon cake filled the air. “What are those?”
He froze, his eyes going wide. Omegas could have that effect on everyone, not just alphas. I didn’t even have to ham it up. I was terrified, and I didn’t want him to hurt me.
“Oh, honey.” He sat down on the armrest of the chair and put his arm around me. “I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.” He sounded so sincere.
I wanted to scream; I couldn’t understand how he could possibly juggle this level of cognitive dissonance.
“This is going to help us be together. You’re my true mate. I knew that the moment I looked at you. You’ll see, in time.” He picked up one of the syringes. “Once the influence of those disgusting alphas is gone, you’ll understand.”
I shook my head. “What is that?”
He gave me a bashful smile. “Something that will clear away the bonds.”
I jerked like I’d been shocked with electricity. “What?”
He frowned. “They just want to use you. They don’t love you like I do.”
“They respect my personal boundaries, for one,” I snapped, fear and anger twisting inside like a poison.
“I’m doing this for us.” He shifted, pinning me against the armchair, and slid the needle into the meat of my bicep.
It was instant fire and ice through my veins. I shook my head, the room spinning.
“It’s not exactly legal, but I’ve been assured it will work. This will dissolve your pack bonds and then we will be free.”
He grabbed the other syringe. Everything felt hazy. I should have tried the door when I had the chance. I’d thought I had more time to string him along.
“I hate you,” I said, my words slurring. “I didn’t want to go on a date because I wasn’t attracted to you, but this is firmly putting you into the camp of hated people.”
He put the second needle in my arm, in nearly the same place he’d stuck me the first time. “It won’t matter.” He gave me a nasty smile. “This one will put you into heat. You’ll be begging me for a knot.”
Hot and cold and hot again. I shook my head, my mouth going dry. I groped around internally, but the bonds were still there, strong as ever.
But for how long? I’d thought losing one of my packmates was the worst thing that could happen. I didn’t expect something like this.
He wanted to take away my pack. I’d heard about the black market of drugs, but I never thought it was something I’d have to worry about.
My body tingled, and I felt dizzy. I curled to my side, resting my sweaty forehead on the arm of the chair. The faux-velvet texture itched, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.
My heartbeat sped up, and Greg was saying something to me, but the roaring in my ears was so loud, louder than the ocean.
The world went away, and I let it take me.