Page 141 of Monsters in Love

“Who?” The word left my lips before I barely realized I'd spoken.

“Your prince,” the Alpha growled, and nudged my thighs apart. “He’s waiting for you…”

“Princeee…”I whispered as he licked the edge of my panties. I writhed under their touches, pressing my neck against bared teeth as the Wolf unleashed that low, threatening thunder. “I have no prince.”

“Oh, but you do.” The Alpha gripped the edge of my panties in his teeth and yanked.

The fabric ripped under the force and with the savage sound, a blinding flare of clarity pushed in.

All of a sudden, I knew what was happening.

What these beasts wanted to do to me…

And I needed to stop it.

My eyes flew open. The cold spear of clarity carved through me.“No!”I screamed and kicked, shoving away from them. My panties were torn, leaving them as nothing more than a flap of cloth around me. They stood there, those strange mammoth beasts, staring at me while my pulse spluttered and gave a feeblethud.

Run…

The word came out of nowhere, only it was Lia’s voice in my head. Lia, who had more spunk than anyone else I knew, came back to me now.

Run, Arden…RUN!

Run…

I stumbled backwards, then turned. My heart gave a stutter as I lunged for the door. But desperation surged inside me, forcing me to haul ass out of there.

“Arden!” the Alpha roared my name, but I didn’t stop.

I yanked the door open and ran outdoors. Trees closed in around one side, leading to some kind of hedge on the other. A hedge that had to lead somewhere. Anywhere, as long as it wasn’t here.

My steps were a blur. I reached down, yanked the torn remnant of my panties free, and ran, not caring I was dressed in nothing more than a damn bra.

I ran for that hedge, tripped, stumbled, and reached a hand out to the compacted brush. But it wasn’t a hedge. It was some kind of maze…no, not a maze…a labyrinth.I didn’t waste a second, just ran while that panicked thrashing in my head stuttered.

“ARDEN!”

The howl came from behind me. Low. Growly. Soundingverypissed off. They’d catch up to me in no time. Then they’d take me back and…and…

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about them. Just get the hell out of here. Towering green walls closed in all around me. I turned and ran, and then turned again, until I was sure I was running in circles. Circles of hedged green. Circles that would lead me where?

“Arden, come back! You’ll die out there.”

It was the Alpha. I knew it. Faint thunder came from somewhere behind me. They were letting me run, playing with their goddamn food. And I was the food. Just not the kind I'd expected.

That heat welled between my legs, like a spell that refused to let go.

We can help you. Let us help you.

Their words crowded in, rebounding in my head as I put one foot in front of the other and ran. Cold moved in, a pale mist slipped in around my feet, growing thicker the deeper I moved into the labyrinth. What the hell was this place? I ran, tripping as I tried to find a way out of whatever this was.

Until I turned, running past an opening, and caught sight of a man. I stopped, backtracked, used my hands to cover myself as best I could, and stared at him. “You…can you get me out of here?”

He stared at me for a long second before he nodded and lifted his hand. “Yes. But you need to come with me.”

I glanced over my shoulder. I was almost naked…and about to go somewhere with a damn stranger. A growl cut through the air, sounding close…too close. “Okay.” I turned back to the stranger, but he was…gone. “What the fuck?”

He was gone…just like that.

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