It sounded okay but also lame in my head. I wanted to hear what Caleb had to say about the text and if they were really serious about matching me up with a pack for theirEnchanted Nestsbusiness. I was a viable single omega, after all.
When I reached the driveway, sweat beaded down my back. Something stopped me as I passed by the guest house. An older woman with gray dreadlocks, a torn white dress, and a frail-looking body stared at me as she stood outside the house.Was this Caleb’s mother?I couldn’t believe how she was kept in such a dreadful state. She waved me down as I approached her.
“Hi,” I said.
“You’re the omega that my son is infatuated with,” she said, her voice raspy.
“I wouldn’t say he’sinfatuated,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
“Please have tea with me,” she said. “I would like to have some company.”
“I don’t really have much time,” I said, hedging away, but she grasped my wrist. The smell of rotten meat emanating from her body made me want to vomit. But I felt sorry for this old lady. No one was taking care of her, and a spark of fury went through me at the treatment of her.
“Please, just for a few moments. I’m very lonely at times,” she said. “And I’d love to meet the love of my son’s life.”
“Alright,” I said, walking alongside her to the guesthouse. Her words made me a little more hopeful, but I was still wary. “What makes you think I’m the love of his life?”
“I know things, young lady,” she as we walked inside. “Let's go to this room, here. Shall we?”
I followed her into the second room and was alarmed to see no sunlight shining into it. I walked further inside and gasped when I saw a large drawing on the ground written in red chalk. It looked like a picture of a pentagram. I knew that wasn’t a good sign. When I turned back to look at her, she had disappeared from the room and had shut the door.
“Excuse me?” I said, walking to the door and turning the door handle. It was locked. “Listen, lady. This isn’t funny. Let me out.”
“Hold on, I’m just making tea for us,” she said from the other side of the door, breathing hard. Why was she acting like this? She must have really lost her mind, and I began feeling sorrier for Caleb. I couldn’t imagine this happening to my parents at all, and I began to appreciate what I had.
I heard scratching sounds on the wall behind me, and I quickly spun around. If there were mice in here, I was going to scream.
But something far worse was happening.
A pool of shadow was forming on top of the pentagram sign on the ground. Heart racing, I tried to turn the doorknob frantically with one hand while my back was pressed to the door.
“Please open the door!” I shouted. I watched as the pool of shadow began to take shape into a tall human-shaped body. The face and body of a large male appeared before me.
He wore a large black hooded robe, and his face was littered with scars. His red eyes landed on me, and his thin lips twisted into a wide smile.
Twenty-Six
JADE
Icouldn’t move. I was frozen in fear.
“Who are you?” I squeaked.
“You might know me as theShadow Wolf,” he said. “The king of all demons. My name’s Argon.”
My pulse was racing as I stood there dumbfounded. My eyes were glued to his red demon eyes. A scream stuck in my throat.
“Please let me out of here,” I said. I tried to shout the words so Caleb’s mother could hear me, but my voice was small from fear.
“Oh, that won’t be happening, naughty omega,” he rasped, slowly walking over to me.
I couldn’t move any farther from him. My back was already up against the door, and there wasn’t any space in this tiny hellish room. He stopped before me, and I could feel his fiery breath on my face as he breathed through his flaring nostrils. He smelled of smoke and dust.
“I didn’t do anything to you,” I said, cowering against the door. He reached up to touch my shoulder, and warmth spread from his fingers to my skin. The contact sent a frenzy of desire to swirl in my belly.
No, no, no. He was bad. He was the devil himself.
I steeled myself against it, clenching my thighs together.