Page 18 of Passion & Betrayal

A few times,

I heard voices, but I couldn’t understand the words or recognize them. I wished I had been able to fight whoever was doing this, but I had no muscle control.

The scent of gun smoke filled the air as they took me out of the window. I remember being tossed in a car and then nothing.

I had no idea how much time had passed when I finally started to wake. It took me a moment to understand that I didn’t know where I was. I think it’s some warehouse from the look of the walls, but the room I am in has only a bed and a bucket in a corner.

When I sit up, the room spins, making me nauseous. I hold onto my head until the throbbing calms down.

Where the hell is this place? My heartbeats increase when I hear footsteps. I hear the lock disengage, and then two men walk in. It takes me a moment to realize who stands in front of me.

“You … you’re Cian’s father, Micah?” I ask, although I already know. The drug is still in my system, so it was taking me longer to comprehend everything.

The man chuckles. “Yes.”

“What are you doing taking your son’s mate?”

I see a flash of fury so hot I almost cringe and flinch away from him.

“Yes. You are my son’s, but you also have that bastard, Sypher, from the Broken Skulls MC.”

I nod slowly because I can feel the heat of disgust from several feet away.

“I … we don’t have a choice who our mate or mates are,” I say.

The vein in Micah’s forehead twitches. “The thing is, if one of your mates, let’s say, is killed, you still have one left.”

“Why would he die?”

“Because he and his family are worthless and revolting,” Micah said. “They don’t deserve to be on earth.”

The muscles in my stomach tighten in dread. “Why am I here?”

Micah crosses his arms over his chest. “My son will be getting a note soon saying if he wants you back, he has to kill the bastard.”

“And if he won’t?” I ask, afraid of what he’s going to say but needing to know.

“I send pieces of you back to him until he does.”

The man says it so blasé that I know he doesn’t care about anyone except himself and what he wants.

“You know he’ll come after you,” I say.

“He’ll never know it’s me. I’m supposed to be in Florida with my brother.” He grins. “Sit tight, girl. I’ll come back when I have news,” Micah says. He turned and left, followed by the other guy.

I hear the click of the lock and feel my stomach turn. After a moment of slow breathing, I regain some semblance of control.

I feel it in my gut that Cian’s father had lost his marbles and wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me. I had very little time to save myself.

I walk over to the only window. It is higher up and very small. I look around to make sure there aren’t any cameras before I upend the bucket and stand on it. I start to open the window slowly, afraid it will make a sound.

I look around outside to see if there’s any clue of where I am. It is in the bad part of town, but that won’t hold me back from trying to escape. I’m not sure if Micah knows I’m a lynx shifter, but if he doesn’t, he won’t know how much smaller I am than my human self, and I am very athletic. I can jump better than most cats, and I can easily hide. They’d be able to find me if they turned into their cats, but I needed a chance to escape and find a way back to my mates.

God, why did everything have to be so complicated? All I ever wanted was a simple life with a mate, and eventually cubs. But I end up with two obnoxious men who are enemies and the father of one who’s evil to the core.

I don’t know anything about Micah. I’ve never heard a word, so I don’t know how bad it can get with him. I’m not about to stick around and find out, either.

I take off my clothing so they won’t rip. I might need to get dressed at some point. I shift and shake myself, trying to get rid of any residual effects from the drug he’d given me.

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