ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Iona. Or Kole. Or Konnor. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘
***
Too many hours later I was back in Kole's room, sitting on the bed delightfully unchained thanks to my newfound friendship with Kallum, my mind spinning with every lie and false nicety I'd spun this morning. The day after tomorrow. That's when I was escaping. It hadn't taken much persuading to get them to agree to hold my fake hen do so soon, apparently the other females were very excited to meet me. It didn't give me much time to plan but it was the best I could do.
It also wasn't hard to steal away the pen Lucy had made notes with. She was sweet, but scatterbrained and I used that to my advantage. She lost the pen. She must have misplaced it. It was easily done. And now it was stashed in my backpack.
I eyed the lock on the window. Not my ideal means of escape, but I'd take it in a pinch and I would need the pen for that. But the pen would be no good without matches or a lighter and the wolves had kept me far away from anything like that. Maybe tomorrow I could tell Lucy that no hen do was complete without a cake and what was a cake without candles?
I thought about my pack resting in the cupboard. I thought about the locked windows, my chains, and Siobhan who would be my shadow that night.
If I managed to escape, I had a vague idea of where to go and I had gear in case I got stuck out there. Now, I needed to get the cuffs off for the party. I needed to get rid of Siobhan. I needed to figure out how to get out of that locked window without anyone noticing because waltzing out through the front door was not going to be an option. Of those three problems I had no solutions yet but I was working on it.
I started as Kole burst through the door, a dark look on his painfully handsome face. I hated that my body acknowledged how damned attractive he was. He ran his gaze over me, over the extra inches of stomach where my t shirt had ridden up. I quickly tugged it down but not before I saw the black in his eyes.
Teeth gritted he turned and stalked into the bathroom. A moment later I heard the shower running. A loud crack thundered from the bathroom and when Kole finally emerged I could see the giant crack in the tile through the open door. His knuckles were a deep purple and bent out of shape but I had no doubt they would be healed by the end of the night.
Part of me delighted in his distress, but the other part of me knew this was an opportunity to win his trust. A smaller part, a part that I didn't want to acknowledge, was concerned for him.
"Bad day at the office?" I called but I got no reply. "What happened, Kole?"
He stalked out of the closet, a pair of running shorts loose on his hips. "The Gulf Alpha is a fool and I-" he cut himself off, his jaw clenching, "Where are your cuffs?"
"Kallum took them off so I could shower. I guess he trusted that I'm not stupid enough to jump out a third storey window when there's fricking werewolves everywhere." I rolled my eyes, hoping to keep him from seeing that that's exactly what I was planning on doing two nights from now. When the time was right...
Kole scowled and headed for the door.
"Don't this out on him, Kole. He didn't do anything wrong."
He span, glaring at me. "I made my orders to him clear."
"Your orders? Or the elders orders?" I snapped back. "I've been in here uncuffed for over an hour and look, still sitting here, haven't gone anywhere."
"That doesn't mean that you won't." He took a step closer, looming over me but I wouldn't let my intimidation show. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to trust you?"
"I don't care. Just leave Kallum alone, he's the only one of you I can stand." That was painfully true and the pain showed on Kole's face too. His jaw clenched, droplets of water from his wet hair sprinkled on broad shoulders.
"He is my warrior, my brother. I will reprimand him how I see fit."
"Right," I rolled my eyes again. "How terrible of him to let me walk around a locked bedroom with my hands free. I might do something crazy like kidnap a person and put them in prison and then...oh wait, that's what you did." I snatched the cuffs off the bedside table and snapped them on myself. "Happy?"
"Actually, I was wondering if the muzzle would be required again."
"Really? I thought those thoughts only appeared in your head when the elders put them there."
His green gaze blazed at me, furious. The warm wave slipped over me and I shuddered as his dominance slipped through my veins like thick syrup. I gritted my teeth, fighting it, but it was impossible.
"Submit, Iona." His voice was low, warning, seductive. How could he be both at once? I gave in, caving earlier than I needed to because showing weakness, small drops of cooperation, was smart. He rumbled, satisfied. "Better." He released a breath, releasing me from his hold. "I will deal with Kallum later."
He came to sit at the end of the bed, sighing he looked out of the window, the moon staring back at him. He looked tired, his expression weary but he was trying hard not to show it. I hugged my knees to my chest, watching for any sign that the beast might break out.
"What happened tonight, Kole?" I waited, wondering if he would tell me. Did I care about his distress? No. Did I hope he was about to tell me something useful? Absolutely.
"I attempted to broker peace with Alpha Carson."
"You met with him?" I raised my brows in surprise.
"I called him. I don't trust him not to plan an ambush if I arranged a meeting," he said and I nodded. That was smart.
"So, he wouldn't accept peace?"
"No, all he wants is power. He wants my title, my people, my land and nothing less."
"You wouldn't sign them over ever? Even if it saved your life?" I asked, curious.
"No. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. The only way he can get them is through killing me." He gave me a wry smile. "There isn't much grey area in our life, Iona."
"I'm getting that." I nodded. We were silent for a while before he spoke, his words quiet in the dark.
"He's going to attack again, harder this time. I can feel it." The weight of those words hung like axes in the air, just waiting to be released and slice off all our heads.
"You're scared."
"I didn't used to be, not like this." He glared down at his clenched fists. "My wolves, they can handle themselves and besides, they're a part of this world, they understand the brutality of it. But you...you're human."
"I understand brutality, Kole, and I can take care of myself."
He looked up at me. "You're still human...he'll eat you alive."
"I'm guessing you aren't speaking figuratively..." I took his silence as my answer. My stomach turned over as I couldn't help but imagine being torn apart by one of those giant wolves. The thought was truly terrifying. I moved on, trying to distract myself. "Why doesn't he just come at you full force? Why these smaller attacks?"
"He did once. Not long after I became Alpha he launched a full attack, taking all of us by surprise. He thought I was too green to lead and underestimated me. We obliterated him but I made the mistake of letting him escape. He's been building to it again ever since, waiting for his pack to grow after the loss of the last battle, waiting for mine to weaken as I had no mate. Now he knows you're here, he'll push harder before we're mated."
I twisted my hands in my lap, I knew what that meant. "The elders want you to take me now, don't they? They don't want you to wait."
"I'm not going to do that, you have my word. Unless you want me to of course."
I snorted, "Yeah, that'll be the day."
He shrugged, trying not to show the sting of my words. "It would be private at least."
"What do you mean?"
"If you asked me to take you tonight, I'm not going to pull the pack out of their beds to watch. It would just be the two of us, in this bed. I'd put extra guards outside the room but it would be just us."
"That's my choice?" I scoffed. "Cave and get the privacy or stick to my guns and get raped in public? That's fucked up Kole."
"Everythings fucked up, Iona. Everythings backwards. None of this is the way it was supposed to be," he sighed. "Would it be so bad? Just the two of us in this bed?"
"I don't want you, Kole. You kidnapped me, starved me, chained me up outside like a fucking dog."
He gritted his teeth but didn't argue. "The ceremony has to happen. Eight days, Iona. I won't bend on that."
"I'm getting that too." I sat back, arms folded. My skin crawled at his proximity but the ache inside was worsening. Every time he was close it grew. "Speaking of the ceremony, I had my dress fitting today. Thanks for the heads up by the way. "
He gave a half shrug, a lame apology. "I hope you behaved yourself," he said and I rolled my eyes.
"Kara had an idea, about incorporating some human traditions into the ceremony."
"What kind of traditions?" He asked, his gaze suspicious.
"Usual stuff," I shrugged, "wearing white, wedding rings, the hen party-"
"- The what?"
"Bachelorette party? The brides last hoorah, as it were."
Kole raised his brows at me. "You snuck that in there, huh?"
"Who's sneaking?"
"You think I'm going to let you go out and party in some bar?"
"No, I was thinking you would let me have a party here, with the other women. Seeing as I'm their queen now or whatever I should probably get to know them." I thought that sounded pretty convincing. Just the right amount of reluctant compliance to make it believable. Kole's eyes narrowed at me, dissecting my face. "What?"
"I'm trying to figure out if you think I'm stupid enough to believe you aren't fucking with me."
"I'm not fucking with you," I snapped, "I hate it here, I want to leave but I know I don't have a choice so I'm trying to make the best of it." Liar. I was a liar. I had no intention of making the best of it. Kole was going to be my rapist. Nothing more. and the rest of them? Despite their kindnesses all they were was casual observers.
I held Kole's gaze.
I could see him thinking hard, the mechanics of his mind turning over. "Fine. Siobhan will stay with you at all times and you will remain cuffed."
"Seriously?" I gasped, the cuffs were going to throw a serious spanner in my plan. "I don't mind Siobhan but the cuffs? It's a party. How am I supposed to relax and enjoy myself when I'm walking around like a prisoner?" He opened his mouth to argue but I cut him off. I had to get him to agree to this, I had to. "Kole, where am I going to go? I'll be surrounded by wolves and no doubt you'll have more stationed around the pack house right?"
He nodded, giving me more information that I needed. I now knew where the guards were going to be. I prepared to act my bottom off. "If you have any hopes of me coming to you willingly at that ceremony you have got to start giving me some breathing room. Start treating me like a person instead of your prisoner." I looked into his eyes, hoping he saw sincerity on my face and not the truth. Which was that nothing he could do now would ever bring me to him willingly.
His hand closed around my ankle and suddenly he tugged, yanking me flat onto my back. Within seconds he was over me, his body pressing into mine. I gasped but didn't fight him. When his body shuddered like that and that low growl rumbled from deep inside, I knew staying still and quiet was the smartest thing to do. His green gaze was hard, searching for any lie but after a moment, he relented a little.
"If you run..."
"I won't." Liar.
Liar. Liar. Liar.
***
Hey lovelies!
Happy Halloween! 🎃
So, do you think Iona will manage her escape?
I'd love to hear any predictions you've got!
This chapter is dedicated to @pink_pirate thank you so much for your votes and kind support, I appreciate it so much! 💓
See you all in the next one!
AJ
❤
P.S. Early chapters are available on Radish if you can't stand the wait 😉