“And so have I. But I have a lot more on the line and I can’t afford to lose.”
“Jane, if you can hear this, we’re coming for you and we’ll be coming with a whole goddamn army at our flanks.”
Chapter 25: Jane
My skull felt like it was about to splinter into a million pieces. As blood throbbed through my veins, it only fueled the pain. Parts of my skin felt like they were on fire, especially the skin around my wrists.
Rubbing them together, I found out why. A coarse piece of rope had been wrapped around them. I fought against this binding but to no avail. It was much too tight for me to slip my hands through.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath.
Blinking, I tried to see through the darkness that surrounded me. There had to be something that could help me.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on clearing my mind. “Think, Jane, think,” I whispered to myself, waiting for a lightbulb to go off in my head.
Nothing.
The minutes ticked by and all I could do was sit there, like some helpless damsel in distress. Beyond the room, I could hear people talking but their voices were much too muffled for me to figure out what they were saying.
“Landon? Roman?” I called out hoping that I could make a connection with my partners but I was answered only by the silence of my mind. “If you guys can hear me, a response would be nice right about now…” Again, I was left with nothing but silence. I didn’t even want to think about what the lack of communication might mean.
Creak!
A crack of light spilled into the room along with a draft that made me aware of my almost naked state. I wasn’t sure when my clothes had been taken from me but it had to have been when I was unconscious and unable to fight them off. The bastards.
The door continued to open, illuminating the room with artificial light spilling from the hallway.
“Ah, good, you’re awake.”
The man who spoke was wearing a red velvet suit. His hair was as black as a raven’s feathers and his eyes as green as emeralds. In a way, he didn’t look real. His shoes clicked against the ground with every step he took.
“I was starting to worry that my men had injured you beyond repair.” He took my chin in his hand and held me with enough grip where I could not escape his grasp. With no other choice, I spat in his face, in hopes that would be enough to get him to let go.
He didn’t.
Instead, his grip tightened to the point where I whimpered with pain.
“Everyone always tries to act so tough in situations like this but I can smell your fear. You’re nothing more than a little girl cowering in the corner, wanting to disappear.”
“No. What I really want to do is bash your face in,” I countered. “You think you can intimidate me with your
words but that’s not going to work. I’ve had it with guys trying to control me.”
He laughed. “Then you know nothing about our culture as wolves.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Females are nothing more than our playthings. Their only purpose is to bring pups into the world. Now, your mates might have told you differently but trust me, it was just a ploy to get you in their clutches.”
“You’re lying!” I struggled against my bondage. This guy was just trying to get inside my head. “Landon and Roman love me. They would never treat me that way.”
The man nodded his head. “But, of course. You’ve painted yourself a Cinderella story, haven’t you? But you fail to realize that during the time of fairy tales, princesses were dirt compared to princes. They were royalty, yes, but they never held the power and status of a male. The same goes for us.”
“They’re different!” I protested. “And nothing like you and the scum that follow you.”
“You speak with such confidence for someone who knows nothing about me.”
“I know that you massacred their clan.”