Chapter 46
FORTY-SIX
VIVIENNE
The day seemed to stretch on forever.
I had no idea what time it was because there were no windows in the shed where they had put me—only narrow cracks between the weathered wooden slats that let in thin strips of sunlight.
The floor was dirty and smelled faintly of mildew and old motor oil.
Rusted tools hung from nails driven into the walls and broken equipment was piled in one corner beneath a layer of dust.
It was cold too. Not freezing, but cold enough that I couldn't stop shivering, especially considering that I was still naked.
Eventually I found what looked like an old canvas drop cloth tossed beneath a workbench. It was stained with splotches of paint and smelled musty, but I wrapped it around myself anyway. At least it covered me and trapped some of my body heat.
I sat with my knees pulled to my chest and tried not to think about the way Harris had dragged me from Wolverton Manor the night before or the sight of Kor collapsing after being hit with the tranquilizer dart.
Every time I thought about it, my stomach twisted.
Where had they put him? Was he hurt? Was he frightened? Did he know where I was?
I had no answers for any of my questions, and I thought the worst part of this terrible situation I found myself in was not knowing.
Around noon, the lock rattled, and the door opened just enough for someone to slip inside. I scrambled to my feet immediately, my heart pounding with hope. For one foolish second I thought it might be Kor.
Instead, it was Jimmy Turner.
I recognized him instantly. He worked as a bagboy at the grocery store in town and had carried my groceries to my car more than once over the years. He couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty and he looked profoundly uncomfortable standing there holding a bottle of water and a protein bar.
"Jimmy?" I said. "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged awkwardly and held out the food.
"Harris told me to bring you this. Said you need to keep your strength up."
I took the water gratefully because my throat felt dry and scratchy. I took the protein bar too, though I had no appetite.
"Thank you." I hesitated, then decided I had nothing to lose. "Jimmy, please…you have to help me."
His expression tightened immediately.
"Lady Jamison—"
"Please." I stepped closer. "Just unlock the door and let me go. I won't tell anyone it was you. I'll leave town immediately—you won’t get in trouble."
His face fell and I could see genuine sympathy in his eyes.
"I’m real sorry, lady Jamison, but I can't."
"Jimmy—"
"I can't," he repeated, shaking his head. "Harris ordered that you be kept locked up."
The words made me feel sick. So Harris was running the Pack now and other Alphas were listening to him, even though the Alpha Challenge hadn’t even been held yet. If he was in charge, I really was in trouble.
Feeling desperate, I tried a different approach.
"Then tell me about Kor. Is he all right?"
Jimmy shifted uncomfortably and his eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
"I don't know. Honest, I don’t."
"You must know something." I took another step toward him. "Please. Is he hurt? Is he alive? At least tell me that!" I heard the edge of hysteria in my voice and tried to tamp it down. “Please, Jimmy—I need to know.”
At that, he finally nodded.
"He's alive, all right. Harris made sure of that."
The relief that washed through me was so powerful that I almost started crying.
"Thank the Goddess,” I whispered brokenly. “At least he’s alive.”
"He is, but that's all I know," Jimmy said quickly. "I swear it. Nobody tells me anything."
"Where are they keeping him?" I pressed, hoping for even a tiny bit more of information.
But he only shook his head.
"Don't know."
"Please, Jimmy."
"I don't know."
I could tell he was telling the truth, and my shoulders slumped.
"Then…what's going to happen to us?" I asked. “Do you have any idea?”
Once again, his eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
"I don't know exactly," he admitted. "But Harris keeps talking about tonight."
"Tonight? What about it?"
Jimmy shrugged.
"All I know is he says he has some kind of plan for you and Kor when the moon rises."
A cold finger of fear slipped down the groove of my spine.
"What…what kind of plan?" I asked, my throat so dry I could barely speak.
But Jimmy was already backing toward the door.
"I don't know. Honest, I’m sorry."
"You must have heard something,” I pressed.
He shook his head.
"Lady Jamison, I really don't know."
And before I could ask another question, he slipped outside and shut the door behind him. A moment later I heard the lock slide back into place.
Then I was alone again.
The hours after that seemed endless. I ate the protein bar because I knew I needed the energy, but it sat like a lump of sawdust in my stomach. The bottle of water was gone far too quickly and after that I had nothing to do but sit and think.
Unfortunately, thinking was exactly what I didn't want to do.
As the afternoon wore on, I became increasingly certain that I knew where I was being held.
The sounds drifting through the walls gave it away.
Every now and then I heard voices. Once I heard the distant bark of a dog.
Later I heard a truck engine and the slam of a car door.
By the time the sunlight filtering through the cracks began to fade, I was almost positive I was locked in the equipment shed on the edge of the Moon Glade where the Pack gathered every full moon night to Shift and hunt.
The realization wasn't comforting, but it did give me a small sliver of hope.
The Moon Glade sat roughly halfway between Wolverton Manor and Blackridge.
If I could somehow get out, I might be able to make it back home.
It wouldn't be easy—I was barefoot and wrapped in a dirty canvas drop cloth and I had no idea how many Pack members were nearby.
But if I could get free, I thought I might still have a chance.
The problem was that I couldn't leave without Kor—even if I somehow escaped, I couldn't abandon him.
So instead, I sat there in the growing darkness and worried.
My thoughts kept circling back to Harris Murdoch and what he might be planning. The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. Harris wanted power more than anything. He wanted to be Pack Leader. He wanted Wolverton Manor. And at one time, he had wanted me.
What if he still did?
The thought made me feel physically ill.
My greatest fear was that he would somehow win the Alpha Challenge and claim me for himself. I could imagine him standing before the entire Pack, declaring that he had earned the right to take me as his Omega, then breeding me in front of everyone to prove his ownership
I didn’t think I could stand that. I’d spent twenty miserable years with Carter forcing me every month to try and get an heir.
I didn’t think I could bear having the same situation—or an even worse one—with Harris Murdoch.
I literally didn’t know if my mind could take it.
I might snap and go crazy and try to kill him or myself.
That was how much I hated him…how desperate I was never to let him touch me.
And if that was what he had planned for me, what was Harris going to do with Kor?
The question filled me with dread. I loved him and I had no idea where he was or what they were doing to him or what Harris had planned, but I was sure it wasn’t anything good.
Outside, voices grew louder—more people were arriving.
The full moon would rise soon.
My pulse quickened as I listened to the sounds drifting through the rickety walls of the shed. Laughter…footsteps…car doors slamming. The low murmur of dozens of voices gathering in anticipation of something.
Or someone.
Then, just as the last traces of daylight vanished from the cracks in the wooden walls, the lock rattled again.
I jumped to my feet as the door flew open.
Two large Alphas stood there waiting for me. One of them grinned.
"Come on, your Ladyship," he said sarcastically. "It's time for you to take your punishment."
My blood turned to ice. But before I could protest, they seized me by the arms and dragged me out into the night.