Page 62 of Ruthlessly Mated
Much like the rabbit, I don’t see the trap that catches me either.
Silver white rope snatches me off the ground, sweeping me into a net that burns as much as it contains me. I let out an animal scream, fall out of my wolf form, and end up writhing naked in the trap.
I know instantly that something terrible is happening. It’s obvious, of course. I’ve been caught. I’ve either been caught by the Rock City guard, which makes me feel like I’ve run a lot further than I intended to, or…
“And there she is.”
A voice that has haunted me since childhood looms through the dark. I might not have feelings, but I do have instincts. I still have fear. And anger. And hunger. In that order.
“There. You. Are.”
He sounds so fucking dead and so fucking satisfied. I fill with rage, snapping against the net with human teeth that have absolutely no chance of making any indentation. Every bite only serves to hurt, but I do it anyway because that is what trapped animals do.
“Shhh shhh shhh,” the shadows try to quiet me, but there is no soothing this reaction. I tried to run it away, but I cannot get itout of me. My teeth need to sink into something. I need a target for my anger. I need someone to suffer. The right person.
“I thought I wasn’t going to be able to catch you. Certainly didn’t think it would be in a wolf trap. Thought I might catch one of your mates, if I was lucky. But here you were, in an animal form yourself. I almost made the mesh a little too big, didn’t I. You’re such a petite little thing.”
The Vampire Alexander steps into my field of vision. He will forever be forty years old. His hair is swept back from his forehead in a widow’s peak. He has a scar on his right cheek from wounds sustained before he died. He is handsome, but not to me. To me, he is the vilest looking creature in the world. His strong features, his crooked nose, his heavy furrowed brow and intense eyes focused on me.
“You always were a pretty little wolf. What happened to your protectors? Did they tire of your chaos? Did they learn of your true nature? A little too chaotic, a little too pathetic?”
“Just kill me already.”
He laughs. “I am not going to kill you. I have never wanted to kill you. Your parents were more than enough of a sacrifice. Your penance is going to be quite different, and a lot more painful. My maker’s heart is still locked in that human rat den.”
“And surrounded by explosives.”
“Oh, is it? Nice touch. Nice touch.”
Vampire Alexander looks at me with cold malice, appreciating my deviousness.
“You taught me well.”
“I did, didn’t I.” He smirks. “I raised you as my own, Kita. I kept you alive long after you had any usefulness. I showed you how to make your way in the world. And you rewarded me by turning into an ungrateful heart-stealing wretch.”
“You killed my parents, you psycho! You destroyed my childhood, and my life. And now you have the fucking nerve to think that what you’re doing is reasonable? You burned a port down. You’re trying to ruin my life, and you’re trying to ruin everything, and I hate you.”
“You sound petulant,” he laughs. “Your mates must have spoiled you in the very short time they had you. I’d like to say I am surprised three wolves could not manage to contain you, but I am not. You have escaped even my clutches, after all.”
“Just let me go. I’m only going to cause trouble. You know it. Even if you somehow break the siege at Rock City, I’ll still be me, and if you’re not willing to kill me…”
“You’re feral. A semi-tame wild animal,” he says. “You’re too broken to be left in the wild by yourself. You need to be looked after. Animals like you? Who have been kept and had their instincts broken? They have to be kept, because what happens in the wild?”
“What?”
“They get eaten.”
He flashes his fangs, and I know that he’s threatening my life in some roundabout way. What he doesn’t understand is that I don’t care.
“I hope you do eat me,” I say through the netting, furious at all that is happening. “I hope you fucking kill me.”
“I already told you I’m not going to kill you.” He pauses, frowns at me. “You know, you were much less feral before you mated. I don’t think these men were very good for you, and I say that as your mortal enemy and eternal captor. I don’t think I approve of them.”
“I’m not good for them. That’s why I ran. So I don’t care what you do. I hope you do take me far, far away and lock me up and make it impossible for them to ever get to me. I hope you do kill me. I hope that all this ends.”
Alexander lets out a little sigh. “You were always a difficult captive. I thought your stealing my maker’s heart was bad enough, but now you are being maudlin and sad and quite frankly very unsatisfying to break.” He turns around. “Get her out of the net. Put her in a cage. Silver collar on.”
“They’re going to come for me,” I threaten him. “My mates are going to come and they’re going to kill you. An eternity is going to come to an end because you won’t leave me alone.”
