Page 18 of Betrayed Wolf Mate

“Can I ask something, though?” When I nodded, Sam continued. “Why didn’t you just go on your own? Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad you didn’t because I would have been worried sick. But I also kind of expected that you would. So…what changed?”

I hesitated, color rising to my cheeks. I knew the answer, but I didn’t want to admit it.

“Stella?” he asked.

“I don’t want them to find me,” I finally said, talking to my feet. “And if I go out, then they might.”

I hated admitting it. I didn’t want to be frightened. I was supposed to be handling this on my own. But I was terrified of what would happen if I managed to mess up. If something went wrong, and I ended up right back where I’d started.

Strong arms enveloped me, and I was soon wrapped in Sam’s warmth.

“I get it,” he said into my hair. “But it’s going to be all right. I promise.”

I wanted to believe him, I really did. But that kernel of fear refused to budge, no matter how hard I tried.

“What if it happens again?” I asked, finally voicing a fear I’d been holding in. “What if they catch me and bring me back to Akron? Next time, getting out isn’t going to be so easy. I don’t know if I’ll be able to escape.”

“You don’t know there’s going to be a next time,” Sam said, squeezing my arm reassuringly. “You can’t let that fear take over everything, or he’s won.”

“But what if it does happen?”

“I’m not going to let it,” he snarled. The anger and fierceness in his eyes told me just how much he meant it. The look was reassuring, but only a little. Because it still felt like there was too much that could go wrong.

“But what if it does?” I said. “I’m completely unprepared. I’ll be stuck with no way out, and all of this will have been for nothing.”

The pained, tender look in his eyes hit me harder than it should have, momentarily freezing my panic as our gazes locked. When had he gotten so close to me? I could feel the heat radiating off him now, could see every individual eyelash.

“Do you want me to help prepare you?” he asked.

The offer took me aback. It was so out of left field that I nearly started laughing. He had to be joking.

But the look in his eyes told me he was serious.

“Really?” I asked.

“If that’s going to make you feel safe, then absolutely.” The intensity in his gaze made me feel like he was burning a hole through me. “I want to make sure you never feel like things are beyond your control. And if it turns out to be useful to you down the road, then yes. I want you safe, and I want you to be able to defend yourself. If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” I said. “Can you show me now?”

He nodded and walked out, returning a little later with rope and a pair of handcuffs.

“You have those on hand, do you?” I asked, my tone playful but also genuinely curious.

Sam gave me a wicked smirk that heated my insides, and I blushed. “Not for the reason you think,” he said. “I haven’t since…” He coughed, as if stopping himself from saying something. “We’ll start with these. Because unless the rope is magic, it’s fairly easy for any shifter to break out of it.”

I held out my hands, but instead, he cuffed one of his own wrists. “You might not be able to do this one,” he cautioned. “It’s easier when you’ve done it a few times.” He grabbed his thumb and tugged. There was a sickening pop, and his thumb hung loosely. He slipped out of the cuff easily and popped his dislocated thumb in place. “I wouldn’t recommend it, though. It hurts like hell.”

“Well, what’s a trick I can do?” I asked.

“If something’s nearby, then pick the lock.” He held up a paperclip, inserted it into the keyhole of the still-locked cuff, and poked around a bit. A minute later, the cuff sprang open. “You can do that with anything small, pointy, and rigid enough.”

He showed me a few different tricks, going over each one and explaining it before giving me the chance to try. I wasn’t great at a lot of them, but even then, just learning how to do these things helped put my mind at ease.

“How many times have you had to use these tricks?” I finally asked, unable to hold back my curiosity any longer.

“More times than most people,” he said. Then, without elaborating, he continued his training. “There are also pressure points on cuffs that you can use to your advantage.”

“Like what?”

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