Wolfstrom spoke, “Allow me to introduce my son, Prince Bain and my nephew Prince Raulf.”
Cricket ignored Raulf and gaped. Slade’s cold green eyes stared back at her. “No.”
Dressed in a black uniform, the prince sniffed in distain. “The little bitch that tried to betray us.”
“Slade, it’s me. Cricket.” She wanted to give him her real name, Abella, but not with Wolfstrom and Henrik present. She needed to hold him, listen to his strong heartbeat, and enjoy his scent of Yukon tundra. Cricket stepped closer.
He growled. “On your knees, runt.”
Cricket obeyed. She knelt and lowered her chin. “Yes,
my master.”
Chapter 18
Slade gazed down at Cricket as she trembled on her knees. Safe. Her scent warmed his heart. Yet, she appeared pale and skinnier, still recovering from the virus that nearly killed her. He fought the urge to cradle her in his protective arms. Not now. In order to escape, he must continue the charade. “Father, this inferior runt is tarnishing our den.”
Cricket clenched her fists.
Henrik stepped too damn close into Slade’s personal space. “Prince Bain, I only brought her here to see if you recognize her. She claims she knows you.”
Cricket lifted her chin, her face pinched in contempt.
Sorry, honey, it’s just an act. He cocked his head, sniffed and then circled her. The taint of illness still on her.
“Do you, son?” asked Wolfstrom.
Slade scoffed. “No. Father, I do not.”
Wolfstrom and Henrik studied him for any clue he’d lied. His control over his emotions, a superior trait passed on from his Yukon pack allowed him to fool them. The same trait that protected him from the mind-wipe. The Siberian werewolf who stubbornly held onto his identity finally succumbed to the new drug, adding credibility to Slade’s alteration.
Wolfstrom scowled at her. “Get up, runt.”
Cricket stood and lowered her head.
He sensed her defeated thumping heartbeat and the welled tears behind her amber eyes. If only he could tell her, it was all an act. “I don’t recognize her.” He inclined his head. “Did I meet her before my temporary amnesia?”
Henrik smiled. “Yes, she and her human lover shoved you off the cliff. Nearly killed you.”
Cricket sighed in defeat.
Slade grabbed her arm and jerked her up to face him. “Bitch! Too bad he’s dead. Eating him would have been a pleasure.”
She gasped.
He chuckled. “Don’t be so shocked. Like Father, I enjoy human meat.” The drug dealer they had hunted as game was already dead and, disgusting as it was, eating his heart had proved his loyalty.
Cricket’s heart broke. Brainwashed and now a cannibal. “The Slade I knew would never resort to cannibalism.”
His tone turned harsher than ever. “Allow me to punish her for what she did to me.”
“Son, not now. We need her to fully recover before we can harvest her eggs for cross breeding.”
He scoffed. “I don’t see the point in breeding a runt.”
“To create an uber human.”
Slade picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He spanked her ass and she growled. “She does have the cutest ass. I wish to take her to my den.”