I never trusted anyone.
And now I was back where I started.
I thought I’d felt pain before, but it was nothing like how I felt now. The heaviness in my chest was crushing. I felt more broken than ever. How could he do this to me?
The door opened and light flooded the room.
“You awake?” Tyler asked.
“Let me go, Tyler,” I demanded.
He sat in a chair next to the bed, a bottle of water in his hands. “Thirsty?”
I glared at him.
“It’s just water,” he said. “You need to drink.”
“You had your friends beat the shit out of me and left me for dead. Then you shot me with something that knocked me out. You think I’m going to trust you?” I was never going to trust anyone again after what I’d been through.
“If I wanted you dead, I’d have let my father kill you. That’s what he wants, you know.” He lifted the bottle toward me.
“Why am I here, Tyler?” I asked.
“Drink some damn water, Lola,” he said.
I was desperate to feel moisture in my mouth again and what was the worst that could happen? I was pretty sure I was dead either way. I opened my mouth and let him pour some water in. It dribbled down my chin and Tyler wiped it away with his fingers.
After a few more swallows, I looked back at Tyler, trying to read his expression. “Talk.”
“I haven’t been able to shift since you left,” Tyler admitted. “My wolf is protesting or something. The bond is strong between us.”
“So?” I didn’t give a shit about Tyler not being able to shift. “It sucks not being able to do the one thing shifters are supposed to do, doesn’t it?”
“That’s the thing, Lola,” he said. “If you could shift, I would have gladly taken you as mine. You’re beautiful.”
“I’m not docile, and I never will be,” I warned. “And I will fight back no matter what. You can’t throw me around, Tyler.”
“I heard you shifted,” he said.
I closed my mouth. So that was what this was about.
“I want to complete the bond with you. The fates want us together. I will work to be more respectful,” he said, though it sounded like it pained him.
“You can’t be serious.” I tugged at my restraints. “You drugged me and tied me up. How the fuck is that respectful?”
“I’m working on it,” he said. “And I needed you not to run.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not completing the bond with you.”
Tyler sighed and stood. “You don’t have much of a choice. You complete the bond with me, or my dad puts a bullet through you. Maybe being with me and learning how to be a real wolf would be better than dying.”
“What would you do if you were me? How would you respond to being asked to bond with the person who spent the last decade beating the shit out of you?” I asked.
“Here’s the thing, Lola,” Tyler leaned closer to me. “If you’re not my mate, there’s nothing stopping me from throwing your mom in the caves for being a traitor.”
My lower lip quivered and I bit down on it to steady myself. My mom was awful but she was still my mother. “You wouldn’t.”
“I’ll be the alpha of this pack in a matter of years. You’re either rising with me, or your whole family is going down. You have a week to decide. I want to announce our bond before the next full moon. You will complete the bond with me. I’d rather do it with your cooperation but I am not opposed to force.”
Tyler left the room, closing the door behind him.
I sucked in deep breaths, my heart pounding hard. Tyler was insane. He wasn’t used to not getting his way and this time, I might finally be in a situation I couldn’t get myself out of.
I tugged on my restraints again, pulling hard. There had to be a way out, but how?This would be a really great time to shift.
My wolf wasn’t responding. Even the little glimmer of a connection we’d had seemed to be gone.
Tyler gave me a timeline. I had a few days, unless he changed his mind. There had to be something I could do. I had to figure out a way out of here. I refused to bond with Tyler and I refused to die. It wouldn’t hurt if I could make Tyler suffer on my way out. Besides, I had a score to settle with a feral shifter.