She hadn’t expected the intensity of pain, and she gritted her teeth.
“Fucking useless human.”
She screamed as he lifted her to her feet like a ragdoll.
“I don’t know what he sees in you.” He punched her back, and she went stumbling again. Pain exploded in her chest.
He wasn’t trying to be gentle. “Do you know what I do to useless women?” he asked. He stepped on her back, not too hard, but the threat was there. He grabbed her hair and lifted her head up.
“Fuck you,” she said.
He laughed. “No, I don’t fuck them. Well, sometimes I do. There’s no better feeling in the world than a woman wriggling. Do you have any idea what it’s like for a woman to hate you being inside them? I know.” He licked her cheek. “It’s fucking heady. They can’t do anything about it, and they hate you for it.”
“Get off me.”
“Be careful. I need you alive. When I’m reborn, I’m going to take you, Bethany. You’re going to wriggle. I wonder if you’re going to hate it more because you’re a mated woman or mated to a wolf. They’re possessive, you know.”
She gasped for breath. There was no way she was giving this monster the satisfaction of seeing her squirm or fear him.
Caleb was going to rescue her. She had no doubt. There was no way in hell this bear was going to win this.
He pulled her to her feet again. “I can’t wait for our games to begin. Anyway, you need to get to know me better. You see, I’m a man of fair choice. The bears, the bitches, they were so fucking weak. So I found this abandoned house and locked them in. They had no right to have anything real, anything pure. I starved them. I only gave them food for good behavior and the food I gave them was rotting.” He burst out laughing. “Can you imagine going day after day with only rotten food after doing something you hate? That was so much fun.”
This man was horrid. If what he spoke was true, then women were starving and trapped somewhere.
“Anyway, don’t you worry, they can get away at any time. They’re weak and chained up, but they can still get out. I made sure of that. Their bears can help them to escape. All they’ve got to do is chew through their own flesh, and they’re free. No arms, no cuffs.”
“You’re a monster,” she said.
He laughed. “No. You see, if I were a monster, I wouldn’t have given them an incentive. I left a nice clean bucket of water for them. Of course, if they make it from the blood loss, then they are strong. I’m giving them a chance to learn who they are. There’s no way I can be deemed a monster.”
Tears filled her eyes. The way he described it, she couldn’t imagine experiencing that kind of torture. She hoped he was delusional and those were all lies.
“Anyway, enough of those sluts. I had to do that. They were all making me weak. I’m not weak. Their men weren’t good enough, and all they had was me. I’m a fucking king. They should treat me like one. It’s what I am. I’m a king and they should have been happy to just serve me. Useless fucking sluts. All of them. All of you females are.” He shoved her again, but this time, she was prepared and was able to keep her footing. She wanted to laugh in his face. Instead, she just kept on walking, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing he scared her.
“So, I need to be reborn. The sleuth, their stench is all over me. I can’t stand it. I need to be clean. We’re all born in water, and I will have to die in water.” He nodded his head. “That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to die and then I’m going to come out reborn.”
She frowned. “How will you be reborn?” she asked.
“I’m a king. I will come out, and if not, you’re going to save me.”
Bethany couldn’t believe what he was saying. He truly believed she would save him? She nearly burst out laughing but bit her tongue. Who would save this man who was a monster who deserved to die? He was crazy.
“What happened to my cab driver?” she asked.
“He’s dead. He wasn’t going to take the easy road. I’m not a bad guy. No, I’m a good guy. People just need to learn to do as they’re told.” He shook his head, as though he actually believed the shit coming out of his mouth.
They kept on walking and he ranted, talking about how useless the world was. How they were only there to serve him and how everyone should be grateful for his very presence. She hated listening to him, but she also wasn’t about to tell him the major flaw in his genius plan. If he was going to be reborn, it meant he was going to die.