Page 39 of Kidnapped By the Wolf

But as he leads me around to the side of the building and hustles me toward his beat-up truck, the leaden weight in my stomach grows heavier.

Adrian might not have returned my feelings, but at least with him, I always felt safe.

The same cannot be said for Dane. Even when we were sort of an item, my father’s second was hot-tempered, capricious, and violent.

I know before we even reach the truck that I’ve made a horrible mistake.

Just before he snaps the door shut, he grips my arm and leans in close. I recoil on instinct, thinking he plans to kiss me, but Dane doesn’t go for my mouth. Instead, he takes a deep, unsettling whiff.

“You smell like wolf, darlin’.” A stormy look whips across his face, and his smugness morphs into rage. “What have you been up to?”

Panic squeezesmy insides as Dane whips around the hairpin turn. The truck swerves dangerously on the narrow road, and I realize if I hadn’t shown up at the bar when I had, Dane probably would have gotten shit-faced drunk.

As it is, he’s too inebriated to drive. He keeps drifting over the center line, all the while telling me what an ungrateful slut I am for leaving the pack for a wolf.

If he only knew.

Adrian didn’t want me — not really. I’m just Clint’s piece-of-trash human daughter. I feel like a fool for imagining that we could have had a life together, and now I’m going to die on some lonely mountain highway because of another selfish, egotistical male.

As we crest the last hill before reaching pack lands, Dane drifts over the double-yellow line. The blare of an eighteen-wheeler’s horn has him jerking the wheel hard to the right, and we narrowly avoid crashing into the side of the mountain as he struggles to right the vehicle.

My heart is pounding by the time Dane pulls onto the familiar dirt road and skids to a halt in front of my camper. He’s still cussing up a storm as he comes around to my side and hauls me out of the truck.

I don’t have time to contemplate escape. Dane’s grip on my arm feels like iron, and things are moving much too fast.

He opens the door and tosses me inside, and a sense of claustrophobia swamps me.

The camper that I once called home now seems small and pitiful. The fake wood paneling is scuffed and peeling. The carpet is matted and stained. And where I at least made an effort to keep the place clean, Dane hasn’t bothered. The camper reeks of beer and sweat, and the counters are covered in empty bottles.

“Home sweet home,” Dane slurs. “How does this place compare to your wolf’s den?”

He lets out a bark of humorless laughter, and I back up against the wall.

Dane’s not just drunk. He’s come unhinged, and every cell in my body is screaming at me to run.

I glance at the door, but Dane’s blocking my path. He was too drunk to see the center line, but he doesn’t miss the flick of my gaze.

“You thinkin’ of leaving me again?” His ugly mug twists in a scowl. “Well, aren’t you somethin’ else?”

Then his fist flies out.

A burning pain explodes around my eye socket, causing my knees to wobble. I hit the edge of the counter on my way down, and the impact radiates out from my hip.

“You wouldn’t be with me, but you fucked awolf?” Dane lets out a scoff of disgust. “Figures. You always were an uppity mutt.”

He slings the words like they still mean something to me, but I long ago stopped caring what Dane or my father or any of his bears think.

He can call me whatever he wants. I just have to keep him talking.

The longer Dane rants, the more time I have to come up with a plan. Besides the door, there are three windows in the main living area of the camper. There’s a fourth window in the tiny bathroom, but it’s too small for me to fit through.

My thoughts go to when I tried to escape through Adrian’s bathroom window, and the memory of us going down in a tangle of limbs makes my heart squeeze painfully.

Adrian.

Why didn’t he want me? It couldn’t just be because I’m Clint McGregor’s daughter. There has to be another reason.

Maybe he’s afraid I won’t bear wolf pups. But maybe I don’t have to be his mate.

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