Page 48 of Torn By The Alpha

“He’ll give up. He’ll find someone else to harass,” Jade said.

“I hope so, but he doesn’t like losing, regardless of how stupid the game is.”

Jade looked at the sky and said, “I’d better get you back to the hotel so I can go home and shower before work.”

They had both shifted when Marsden suddenly appeared from the trees, along with four other women. The five of them threw up their hands and muttered something that Olivia didn’t understand. Immediately, Olivia was frozen. No matter how hard she tried to move, she couldn’t.

Marsden approached her and said, “White wolves are supposed to have special powers and qualities. I wonder what special qualities you have, dear. I wonder if your blood will be exactly what I’ve been needing.”

Olivia wanted to throat punch the woman and was frustrated because she couldn’t move.

Marsden looked over at Jade and said, “Don’t worry. I have plans for you, too.”

The evil witch nodded to her cronies, who waved their hands and said another incantation. Olivia cried out in pain as she was forced to shift back to her human form. She felt as though every muscle was ripping and all of her bones were breaking. Shifting had never been painful before.

A cuff was snapped onto both of the women’s wrists. Marsden snapped her fingers and a rope instantly wrapped around each of their necks with a long lead on it.

“Walk,” Marsden ordered.

Olivia felt as though she had no choice but to obey. She tried to fight the order, but her body simply refused to obey her mind. It was as though she was a marionette on strings, being controlled by an evil puppetmaster.

They walked for quite a way up the mountain. The stones and sticks cut Olivia’s feet. Brambles from the trees and bushes pulled at her hair and scratched her, until she was bleeding from several different places.

It seemed like forever before Marsden waved her hand in front of a bush. It moved, revealing the mouth of a cave.

“Step inside, ladies. Make yourselves comfortable.”

The witches tossed Jade and Olivia onto a blanket, and handed each one of them a tunic that looked like it was made out of a gunny sack.

“Put them on,” one of the witches ordered.

The women obeyed.

Then, the witches tied them up and Marsden said, “Sit tight. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you soon.”

Then, she laughed as though she had told the funniest joke in the world.

Olivia’s head swam and her heart raced. She struggled to catch her breath.

This is not a time to panic. You have to keep your cool, she thought. Emotions only mess things up in an emergency situation.

She concentrated on her breathing for a second and finally no longer felt as though her heart was going to explode out of her chest.

Jade and Olivia moved so they were sitting with their backs together and tried to undo each other’s knots.

“Oh, that won’t work, by the way.” Marsden laughed. “Those are magical knots. You can’t undo them. The cuffs on your wrists will keep you from shifting. So, you two may as well just relax.”

Jade pressed her mouth against Olivia’s ear and whispered, “Send a message to Zac.”

18

Zac

Zac was trying to pay attention to the elder, who was talking about creating a program for the young people who wanted to do something besides college.

“The public schools are trying to push college on everyone, but it’s not for everyone. Our schools have done away with the auto mechanics, construction, and other programs that were good for these kids,” the elder said.

“I agree that there needs to be alternative programs for the kids. However, we have scholarships and other funds that pay for them to enroll in programs at the community colleges and elsewhere. They are great programs, run by terrific instructors, that help the kids find employment once they have completed the programs. They are already well established. It would cost a lot more if we were to duplicate the programs, hire our own instructors, find our own buildings, etc.,” Zac said. “We will leave it as it is.”

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