Page 43 of Vicious Wolf Mate

“Gnash… here? -llo? -ASH!” I can barely make out every other word they say. Even if they could hear me, and Mace didn’t hate me, I doubt we could have a very clear conversation. Then the air kicks on with a loudwhooshin the vent and any chance of them hearing me is gone.

Regardless, it’s nice to know they’re all still alive. For now, at least. I imagine Dave and my father aren’t keeping them breathing out of the kindness of their hearts. They must have something terrible planned.

I need to figure out a way to talk to them. They’re obviously going to try to escape, and I need to be a part of it. I won’t be left behind. I won’t be forced through this mating process with Dave. This is do or die.

But how? Talking through the vents clearly isn’t going to work. How do I quickly explain everything to Mace? Let him know, Dave is my ex-husband who won’t leave me alone and is going to force me to be his mate through some new evil process. No part of that explanation will ever be quick.

A guard approaches my cell with a tray of food. He slides it through the bars with a low grunt. It takes all my effort not to barf as I watch the bland food slosh around on the tray. The guard starts to walk away.

“Wait!” I have an idea, and it might even be a good one. “Can I have a pen and some paper?”

“No.” The guard responds quickly. He returns to trying to walk away.

“Don’t you know who I am?” I feel gross playing this card, but it’s the only one I have left. I bat my eyelashes and raise the pitch of my voice to seem sweeter and more innocent. “I’m Mckenna. I’m about to be Dave’s mate! I was hoping to write my vows while I wait here.”

The guard approaches the bars of the cell, I step forward to meet him. His eyes narrow with suspicion. “Vows aren’t a typical part of the process.”

“No, they aren’t, I guess I’m just sentimental. A bit old- fashioned. I really want Dave to know how much I love him before we do this.” Once again, it’s taking all my effort not to barf. Right now, I’m really glad Mace can’t hear me through the vents.

The guard stares at me for a moment. He looks me up and down. I try to make myself look as cute and innocent as possible. I open my eyes real big, pout my lips, and stick my chest out. Anything to help him believe I’m not up to any trouble.

“Fine,” he says with a nod. “Hold on.” He walks away and comes back with a notepad and pen. “You have ten minutes to write your vows. After that I’m taking it away.”

“Ahem…” I turn around and show him my hands tied-up behind my back. “Do you mind? I’m good with my hands but notthatgood.” I wink at him and he gets visibly flustered. Men are so predictable.

“Oh… of course.” He unties my hands and I take the notepad and pen. He continues to stare at me.

“Do you think you could give me some privacy? These vows are going to get very personal. There will bea lotof crying.” The guard simply turns around to look away from me. Fine, that’ll do.

I quickly get to work, writing a message.Mace, please understand, Dave is my ex-husband. We’ve been divorced for two years. I haven’t even seen him since then. I never said anything because I assumed he was out of my life for good. I’m sorry I hurt you.

Hopefully that will be enough to get Mace back on my side. If I had more time, I could write a more eloquent message. But time is something I very much don’t have.

I continue writing.You need to come rescue me. My father and Insignyshave developed some new process to force humans to mate and cement a permanent bond the way shifters do. They are going to do it to me to force me to be with Dave. Please hurry!

With that I put the pen down. Is that enough? Should I say more? More to convince Mace that I do really care for him? Or is that best left said in person?

After arguing with myself, I scribble down some more words meant for Mace. I’m feeling paranoid that my first paragraph won’t be enough to fix the damage. It needs some more personal touches. But I need to do it quickly, time is ticking down.

At the bottom of the note, I lastly leave some directions to show them how to get from where I believe their cell is to me. Now, it’s just about getting the note to them. Luckily, I have just the plan.

With the guard’s back still turned to me, I slowly tip toe over to the vent. As I get closer, I can hear some commotion echoing through. Are they talking to someone? Are they fighting? I can’t tell, but I’m pretty sure they need to get this note now.

After a moment, the air loudly kicks on in the vent again. I drop my note in and watch it get blown away out of view. Now, there is nothing left to do but pray that the note made it to the other side and the boys see it before it’s too late.

31

MACE

Abigger guard, maybe the biggest, certainly the biggest asshole, comes into the holding cell chest first.

“Which one of you pound puppies is Drario?” the guard barks. The guard is clearly being rhetorical. He is holding a large club and tapping it against his leg. I know he’s not going to use it. This poor bastard feeds off of putting fear into others.

Not one of us says anything.

We don’t need to. This guard knows which one is Drario.

The guard points his nasty looking club at Drario’s chest. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” the guard tells the room, but he is staring right at Drario. “I am going to cuff you before we go anywhere.”

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