Chapter 10
Isat in the window seat in Kole’s bedroom, staring out at the town that was now my prison. After the training grounds, Dinah had invited me to meet some of her friends but I’d refused. So, they’d returned me to the pack house to wait, handcuffed, for Kole to collect me for dinner.
I was still, but my mind wasn’t idle.
My tour around the town had taught me that escaping was going to be a lot harder than I’d thought. I ran through a hundred plans in my mind and came back to the same problem every time.
They were wolves.
Even if I did manage to get out of the town, they could track me.
Hunt me. They were faster, stronger. If I got a long enough head start, maybe I could get to a road and get help, that’s if I was lucky enough to come across a passing car, which wasn’t likely as remote as we were.
But first I had to get through Kole. Then my guard.
Then past the thousands of other wolves between me and freedom.
I fought back a wave of despair. I would figure this out. I was smart, resilient, and capable.
During the last few days I had scoured my mind for every bit of wolf trivia I had ever picked up from books, documentaries, and my work.
I knew about their heightened senses, I knew a little about pack behaviour and hierarchy.
And I knew this: the pack never follows an unstable leader.
Kole’s behaviour today proved that was exactly what he was.
If these creatures really were wolves, they weren’t going to follow him for much longer.
That was a crack in his armour I fully intended to exploit when the time was right.
A shiver ran up my spine and a moment later, the door opened.
Kole.
I hated that my body knew when he was nearby. He entered, his expression as dark and brooding as ever. He looked at me like he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to kiss me or kill me. That was a dangerous thing to not be sure of.
“Are you ready for dinner?”
Wordless, I stood, not bothering to fight as he reattached my chain to my cuffs. It was strange that I thought of those things as mine now. My chain. My cuffs.
The hall was packed as I’d expected, full of jovial laughter, but as we entered tension radiated from Kole in a suffocating wave.
It permeated the air and sucked the joy out of the room.
I watched, as I watched everything now. He was like the stern of a ship, steering the vessel one way or the other.
The pack's mood, their very well being fluctuated with him.
He was unsettled, his beast unpredictable, and they felt it.
He led me to the high tables where his family was seated, along with Marcus and Carrick and the two women that I assumed were their mates.
As at breakfast, I had no chair, only the cushion on the floor.
Teeth gritted, I knelt. As Kole fed me my first mouthful of food, everyone else began to eat too.
The meal was a kind of broth, nothing special, but it was one of the best meals I’d ever eaten.
I could taste every flavour and I had to fight the urge to moan with every mouthful.
This was getting ridiculous and yet that treacherous part of me liked it.
Letting him tend to me in this way felt like the rightest thing in the world.
Yet, I knew it was so wrong. In ten days, he would hurt me.
I had to remember that. This man couldn’t be trusted. No one here could be.
I could feel Kole watching my every movement as he fed me, taking breaks in between to feed himself. I ignored him as if he wasn’t there at all. He was my food dispenser, my vending machine. Nothing more.
Furtive glances shot our way, as if the pack was waiting for an axe to fall. The incident at the training grounds must have spread across the pack by now and they were scared Kole’s beast would make another appearance. So was I.
As the meal drew to a close, Elder Crowley and his cohorts, Forster and Tesh, passed us by on their way out of the hall. Crowley stopped in front of us.
“Alpha,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “we just wanted to compliment you on your work with your mate. She appears to have improved already.”
“Yes,” Forster chimed in, “we’re looking forward to seeing her fully submit at the mating ceremony. It will be such a comfort to the pack.”
I said nothing in response, knowing that would only give them ammunition to punish me again. Instead I focused on Kole. He gave them the barest nod, dismissing them before continuing to feed me. I shifted, my knees getting sore.
“Have you eaten enough?” he asked and I nodded. He stood, chain in hand. I followed, struggling from my kneeling position. He reached down to help me and I yanked my arm away.
“I don’t need your help.” I bit my tongue, cursing it for letting those words loose. Words placed there by the Elders smug condescension. The room fell to silence. Kole’s green eyes flashed. I expected retribution, but instead he just straightened, saying nothing.
Scowling, I struggled to my feet, only to find his hands on my shoulders, pushing me back to the floor.
“What are you doing?” I pushed up to my feet again but once more he forced me back to my knees. He stood over me, expectant.
What did he want?
I tried one more time, but again, he made me kneel. I felt every eye on us, watching this war play out, except I didn’t know how I was supposed to win this one. I stayed on the floor, glaring up at Kole. My knees were aching, my thighs burning from the stress position I’d been in for so long.
Minutes ticked by and my frustration grew. I was tired. I was furious. Kole was immovable. I shifted, trying to move to my backside, but he clicked his fingers, correcting me. I stayed put.
“What do you want?” I asked, but he didn’t answer me. Only watched, waiting. I felt like a dog being trained to sit for a treat. Kole was training me…to do what? To display better behaviour?
Okay, figure it out, Iona.
This isn’t that complicated. I rewound to when I’d pissed him off. I’d rejected his offer of help. Was it that simple? He wanted me to ask for his help to get up?
Trying my theory, I reached up a handcuffed hand, and immediately he took it, pulling me to my feet. My knees groaned in relief. Kole looked pleased. I shook my head at the ridiculous man.
“You’re a petty puppy, you know that?” I muttered.
“Careful, mate,” he whispered, his eyes too focused on my mouth. I bit back my retort. I’d caused enough trouble for one day. He led us from the hall, leaving gossip filled whispers behind us.
Up in his room, he released me from my cuffs. Immediately, I headed for the bathroom, rubbing my wrists. I needed to be out of his presence for a moment.
I leaned over the sink, breathing, trying to keep the walls from closing in. This was too much. Everything was too much. I ran my hands under the cold water, washing my face, allowing it to calm my heated skin.
Unable to put it off any longer, I returned to his room, wondering what plans he had in store for me tonight. I was expecting a seduction, an attempt at getting me to give into him. I wasn’t expecting him to be sitting at the small table where he’d fed me porridge, fully dressed and pensive.
He looked up when I entered the room and we hung there for a moment, neither of us seeming to know how to move next. He moved first.
“Would you like a guard in our room tonight? While we sleep?” He must have read the confusion on my face because he continued. “I can have Kallum watch over us in here instead of out in the hall. After what happened today, I thought you might be too afraid to spend the night with me alone.”
He had a point. I didn’t relish the idea. An extra wolf between him and I seemed like a good idea, but that was also an extra wolf between me and escape, so I was going to have to take the risk.
“No, thank you. Maybe you could just sleep in another room?”
“Not an option.”
I stifled a sigh. It was worth a try.
“You weren’t afraid of me today?” Again, his question surprised me. I was tempted to ignore him. Why should I engage with the man who was holding me hostage? The answer was obvious. Because without his trust I was never getting out of here.
“No more than I already was.” I shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but of course it did. He knew it too. “Is your wolf always crazy like that?”
“He’s never relaxed, not anymore. You could tame him, if you tried.”
I snorted. “Iona the wolf tamer.”
Kole gave me a barely there smile, the first one I’d seen since we met. “That has a ring to it.”
A knock at the door interrupted our moment. Kole answered the door, revealing Carrick on the other side.
“We need you,” he said, a grim expression on his face. Kole nodded.
“Alright.” Without another word, he shut the door, turning to face me. He picked up the cuffs.
“Seriously? I’m not going to go anywhere.” My protests were pointless. He ignored me, snapping the cuffs into place and chaining me to the bed again.
“If you need anything, call for Kallum. He’ll be right outside.”
Hours passed and I grew more and more fed up. I’d watched from my window as a vandalised Maclay Construction vehicle was brought back via tow truck. The windows were smashed and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was blood on the paintwork. I guessed this was why Kole had been called away in such a hurry.
Was this the work of the Gulfs? It wasn’t my problem but I needed to know everything if I was ever going to escape this place.
My body hummed with restless energy. I could smell the day on my body.
The blood and sweat from the training grounds clung to me but worse was Kole’s scent.
It hung around me, a haunting aroma that was driving me insane.
I hated smelling like him, hated that a part of me felt soothed having his scent on my skin.