Page 15 of Bait Wolf
I stood. The floor dipped, and Ember stumbled back, all the way until his back hit the wall again.
“Please,” he whispered.
What he was begging for, I wasn’t sure.Surely,he wasn’t afraid that I would hurt him. I wouldn’t. I protected those that were mine. I would die before letting anything bad ever happen to them.
Asha.
Stunned, I stood very still as yet more memories returned to me. The full extent of what had happened hit me with a staggering force.
I’d found my fated mate and my beast had chosen him over my own sister.
I didn’t know where she was. I didn’t know what had happened to her.
I didn’t know how to fix this.
ChapterSeven
Ember
The alpha paced the room in agitation, fury pouring out of him, stinking up the room until I felt nauseated.
For a minute there, when the alpha had been holding onto me, his scent had felt so comforting, so warm and almost loving, that I had nearly forgotten that this man was a beast. I’d watched the guy kill—or nearly kill, I wasn’t sure—his opponent, and then I’d been locked in a room with him. A defenseless omega with a raging alpha. It was wrong. But no one regarded street omegas as anything other than a quick fix to a rut. A means to an end. It was sickening.
If I’d had any sort of status in society, or any alphas in my family to protect me, my entire life would have been different. But again, I was reminded that I had to watch out for myself because no one else would.
Case in point, I was currently cowering against the wall, eyes trained on the alpha, whom I could only think of in that term. He raged, pulling at his hair, hitting the walls when he reached them with bare fists. His hands were shaking. Every now and then, the claws protruded, and he would look at me, grimace, and force them back in. The fact that he was stumbling from the sedative’s effects didn’t help matters. I didn’t know which way he would go next, which direction he would fall. Every time he came near me, my entire body stiffened. Ready for any sudden movements.
For the millionth time, my gaze darted to the window.
I’d checked it the instant we had been locked in this room alone, ready to try my second attempted escape through a window again, but we were three stories up.
Would I survive if I jumped to the street below? Unlikely, but still, I considered it. Better to jump than end up on the other side of those long, sharp claws, right?
“Phone, phone, phone,” the alpha was muttering. “Where is my fucking phone?”
Assuming he could only be talking to me, I answered, my voice betraying me with a tremble.
“I don't know, Alpha,” I said.
When the alpha swung around to face me, my gaze dropped hastily to the carpet. How ironic that I was finally given a comfortable room to stay in, but I had to share it with a beast.
“Coal,” he snarled. “My name isCoaland I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. I wouldneverhurt you. I’ll kill anyone who touches you.”
And there it was again, the almost sweet declaration that swiftly turned possessive and violent. The cliche alpha.
I nodded submissively, still avoiding meeting the alpha’s gaze.
“Yes, Alpha—Coal.”
I bit my lip, fear spiking. Any moment now, if I said or did the wrong thing… would the alpha do something to punish me? He sure as hell seemed like the type, yet somewhere deep inside, I didn’t believe it. I was afraid, yes, because Coal was erratic and not in his right mind—when had he been, really? Yet I couldn’t deny that in all the time since we had first seen each other, Coal had been more concerned with keeping others away from me than hurting me.
I remembered the way his arm had felt wrapped around my waist, how safe I had felt for a moment there. It was hard to even believe now, minutes later with Coal like this.
“Right,” he suddenly muttered. “We’re leaving.”
I looked up at Coal as he marched toward me and offered a hand to help me up as though there was no arguing, which, I supposed, was the truth.
In human form, Coal was nearly as intimidating as he was as a wolf. He was tall, broad-shouldered and muscular with thick black hair that was cropped short, a soft-looking black beard, and pale, piercing eyes. I knew why he was called the Redwood now; because he seemed sturdy as a tree and like nothing could knock him or best him.
