Chapter Two
C A R O L I N E
"Hey, sugar," King Dickwad greeted softly, closing the door behind him. The music had been so loud that I didn't hear him come in.
In his hand was Alfie's phone. He had been watching my snapchats. In pure shock, my cellular device fell out of my hands as I scrambled to close my laptop and take a small step back. No! Don't back away, idiot. Even though he had dominance radiating off of him in waves, don't let him use it against you.
He smiled wickedly as his gaze traveled up and down my body hungrily. "You really dressed for the occasion, didn't you, princess?"
"Get out of my room," I said stiffly, clenching my fists. Look tough. Be tough. Ignore the sweat that wants to trickle down your back and the fact that all of a sudden you need to use the restroom.
He took a big stride forward, and I instinctively took another back. This made him chuckle. "Still trying to act feisty. Hasn't anyone beaten the respect into you yet?" He tested, his eyes moving to my bed, taking in the trash and the food. "Cute little set up you have. But there's plenty more food downstairs. Come along."
"I wasn't invited. I am not a member of the pack, I am not obligated to attend any parties or meetings. I-"
I yelped hoarsely as he gripped my wrist and towed me closer to him, his dark gaze beating down on me viciously as he gave out a command. "You are obligated and required if I say so. Remember, sugar?"
I glared at the hand that was wrapped around my small wrist, wishing I had laser beam eyes that would melt his flesh and bones. But alas, his hand remained intact.
"Caroline," he hummed.
I jerked away from the name like he had slapped me. "It's Cara."
"Caroline is so beautiful. It fits you, sugar," he claimed, tipping my chin up so I was forced to meet his gaze. "Come downstairs and enjoy the rest of the night."
"No."
"Caroline..." He growled.
I may not be a Shifter, but that didn't mean alpha commands had no effect on me. Especially from the ultimate Alpha himself. I bowed my head submissively, gritting my teeth angrily.
He snickered at me. "Oh, and I forgot." He bent his head, his lips brushing softly against my throat - the standard greeting of Shifters. "It is nice to see you again, sugar."
Him and his stupid pet names.
I was pushed forcefully out of the safety of my room and down the many stairs to the bottom floor, where Alfie was waiting for me, chewing his nails as he waited beside a tall, muscular man that could only have been Dickwad's second in command.
"You know, I do have a name," Dickwad murmured behind me.
I paused, gawking up at him. "I said that out loud?"
"No. Being King has its benefits. Like reading unprotected thoughts of feisty little humans," he teased. Alfie saw me and his face paled. "Thank you for letting me borrow your phone, mate."
Alfie took his cell back and tucked it away, nodding vigorously. "Y-yes, sir, anytime."
"Now, since you and sugarbaby here are so buddy-buddy, I'm giving you the responsibility of keeping her here. Understand?" The King demanded.
Alfie nodded again, looking like he was about to faint. I just stood there like a toddler in time out, my arms folded across my chest.
The King turned to me, smirking at my sour expression, before leaning in to whisper in my ear."If I find out you've escaped, I promise I'll be the one to beat the respect into you. Do you understand? Good. I'll come back to check on you later, sugar," he hummed before gently shouldering past me.
Once he and his beta were gone - who gave Alfie a sweet smile as he went passed - I spun to gape at my friend.
"What the hell?!" I snapped.
"I'm sorry! You sent me the pictures right when he walked up to greet me! I couldn't just say no when he asked for the phone!" He gushed. "Especially with Andrew standing there watching me. He's so sweet and handsome and rugged."
"You had to give him my location though?" I hissed. "Look at me! He didn't even let me change. I'm in my pajamas! It's a good thing he came in before I took my bra off. Dammit, Alfie! I need you to be my cockblock!"
"No. That's not the correct terminology. You don't have a dick. In this case, it'd be a Clam Jam."
I wanted to tear my hair out. "Beyond the point, Alfred! Now I have to figure out a way to escape not only Dickwad, but you too. Since you'll be compelled to stalk me all night."
Alfie grimaced as he fell onto an empty couch. "I'm sorry. I'll try to give you chances to get away. Or you can just knock me out like you do those chicks in training."
"Alfie, I'm not punching you in the throat. I'd get in too much trouble, plus you'd get too hurt. Why don't you go find Andrew and flirt it up a bit? He seems like the dominant type. Go drop something in front of him or get into trouble so he can protect you." I sat beside him, throwing my head back and rubbing my temples.
I didn't have to look at him to know he was blushing. "We don't do that. Girls do. That's silly and childish."
"Whatever."
I figured to safely evade Dickwad's radar for the night, I would have to get off of the property. Which would be surprisingly easy, since there were so many people outside, wandering about. Losing Alfie was the easiest. He was so distracted by the few drinks I fed him and the handsome beta that was sending him subtle winks all night. Took me two seconds, in the end. And the old audible-gasp-what's-that trick. But next, I had to find the best way around to the front of the house.
Dickwad was in the back by the tables filled to the brim with different types of barbecued meat, surrounded by dozens of people. Mostly women who were touching him greedily, distracting him. His eyes were hooded, and I could feel the pride coming off of him in waves. The arrogance.
All I had to do was get up front, grab my bike, and go. Part of me wishes I still had heelies, cuz then I wouldn't have to waste time by getting the bike. I'd just roll into freedom.
I tiptoed around the side of the house. I just made it around the corner to the front, peering around. No one was up there. But I should have noticed the sound of footsteps approaching me immediately. By the time I realized I was being snuck up on, a hand slapped over my mouth and my back was roughly pinned to the bricks of the pack house.
Dickwad stood over me, his eyes a deep black, the first sign of a wolf about to shift. "Sugar..." His chest rumbled.
A shudder ran through me and I shut my eyes. This was it. I was dead. At the hands of my greatest enemy, who would probably end me as he cooed that wretched pet name.
"You like a little chase, human?" He whispered threateningly, his breath feathering on my face. "I know I do. I'll give you a ten-second head start."
I shook my head wildly, trying feebly to pull his hand off of my mouth. "Hands down, dammit!" He snapped, my body obeying immediately. "What did I tell you no less than an hour ago?"
His hand removed from my mouth slowly, letting me talk. "N-not to es-escape," I squeaked.
"And what were you doing?"
"Um..." Think up a lie! Make something up. "I was try-trying to get some air, that's all. I-it was stuffy and there were a lot of Shifter's-"
His hand clamped over my mouth again and I whimpered as his face came closer to mine, our noses bumping together. "Lies."
With his cold gaze boring into mine, all my body knew to do was nod in submission. "Since you like to run, we'll play my favorite little game. You're my prey, and I'm hunting you. You have ten seconds."
"Ten?!" I yelped.
He released me. "Nine."
"But-"
"Eight."
I shrieked and sprinted towards the woods, my mind flipping through possible hiding places when I heard the horrifying sound of flesh tearing and bones snapping.
I didn't know he was going to shift! That's no fair! I'm good as dead now!
I glanced behind me, and through the gaps in the trees I could see the massive, heaving form of a dark brown wolf, eyes blazing a fiery orange. His tongue wetted his muzzle before he snarled.
The Hunt was on.
Climbing was my best bet. I was agile enough to jump from tree to tree if I needed to, but the forest didn't get dense enough for another ten minutes. And I didn't have that time.
Especially with the mutt nipping at my heels already.
All I had now were quicker reflexes. So that was my current plan, I'd make random, last second turns, only deciding in the exact moment, in case he could read my thoughts. With his massive weight, each time he had to slow down and turn or else he'd hurdle himself in the wrong direction.
But he wasn't using his full energy, I knew that. If he wanted to, I'd be dead long ago. By the familiar trails and marked trees, I knew a stream was coming up. That would definitely be a problem. The bed of the river was covered in a thick, slimy moss. And I was barefoot. It was too wide to jump over.
Plus it was freezing cold.
There may be a log over it I could attempt to climb onto. It wasn't wide enough to fit the massive wolf that was currently trying to get a mouthful of my shirt. So that was my best bet.
I was lucky enough to stumble right onto the log. But I underestimated the size of the river. It was way wider than it ever had been.
Just as I clambered onto the unsteady log, Dickwad's massive paws hit it hard, making it shift and wobble uncontrollably. With a curse, I sprinted across. But the second time he hit the wood, it not only splintered and a broke down the middle, but fell off its hold and rolled out from underneath me. I first hit my stomach on the log, inches away from a splintered branch that probably would have impaled me, and as the log rolled away from me, I fell further. My body hit the shallow water, and I inhaled it as I tried to lift myself up. But my limbs were weak from running, and the moss made me slip back into the water. My whole body ached from the fall, and I wished the stream was more than just a couple inches deep so it could sweep me away.
Teeth grazed my back as Dickwad grabbed a mouthful of my shirt and dragged me to the muddy bank and out of the frigid water.
I made a half-hearted attempt at crawling away, but his massive head butted my side, flipping me onto my back, belly up. Just like a submissive runt.
"You're a fool, sugar. A plain, mundane fool," he muttered as he shifted back, kneeling above me. "I don't take kindly to disobedience. Not even from humans. And I'm tired of hearing you call me Dickwad. If I didn't find you so amusing, I'd have killed you by now."
I panted wildly, trying to get air back in my lungs from the chase and the fall. "I will have to think up a punishment suitable for an ungrateful human like yourself. What do you think, sugarbaby? How should you be punished?"
I shook my head, trying to roll over, but he easily held me down. "No. While we wait for your Alpha and my second to arrive, you will remain like this. I want them to see what I've reduced you to."
"M-my hip. Can I please just look at my hip?" I grumbled.
Dominic held my thigh and turned my bottom half, pulling my soaked shorts down to expose my hip - which took the force of the fall. He pressed a thumb straight into the sore spot, and I cried out in pain, trying to smack him away.
"Bruised the bone. Poor thing. That'll hurt to walk for a while. Days, without using a Shifter's blood to heal," he claimed.
I gagged at the thought. "I'd rather it hurt for months."
"Would you?"
The thought of having to down a Shifter's blood made my stomach lurch, let alone the monster that was sitting on top of me now. The first time I couldn't keep it down, and it took multiple tries for me to get enough in my system to heal me.
He touched the sore spot again and I hissed, baring my teeth. "Cara? Sire? What on earth is going on?" Alpha Jones asked incredulously, taking in the sight of his most spirited and headstrong member pinned, belly-up, under Dominic.
Dominic hauled me to my feet, unbothered by the fact he was stark naked. Shifters. The only people more comfortable in their bare skin than nudists.
"I ordered Caroline to attend the party. Warned her if she tried to escape. But she did it anyways. I called you here so we could speak of a suitable punishment, but I believe I've already come up with one," Dominic explained, patting my wet head like I was a child. "Yes, I know exactly how to handle this."