“Mine!”
No!
I win the battle in the end, and fury comes blazing in, flowing in my veins and steeling my resolve as I advance toward her in a run, growling with all my menace.
19
Ava
When I come to, the first thing I notice is the smell of freshly chopped wood, earthy and musky with a hint of pine. It’s quickly overpowered by a dull throbbing in the back of my head, and the muscles in my arms are screaming in pain, my wrists raw as if there’s something digging painfully into them. My throat is as dry as the Sahara desert, and my eyelids weigh a thousand pounds. After a few seconds, the effort pays off, and I’m finally able to open my eyes.
I’m in some sort of a basement. The space is small and rudimentary. The walls are all wooden, and there’s only one narrow rectangular window placed high on the wall on my right. It’s covered by snow, and fiery orange light slants through a small hole. It must be either sunrise or sundown; I can’t makemuch of it other than that. On the wall in front of me hangs a display of hunting knives, and under them sits the only piece of furniture, a scruffy-looking oak table.
I look up and realize why my muscles are in so much agony. My wrists are tied together, and I’m dangling from a hook in the ceiling like in some mobster movie, my toes barely touching the cement floor. I’m naked. But why? How? Who would do this to me?
And then it hits me. The Halloween party.Oh God…Tony. Poor Tony.He’s dead. Torn to pieces by that wolf. My heart cracks down the middle when the images start playing on a loop like a broken record in my mind.
A sob escapes my throat, and then the dam breaks. I can’t stop the overflowing current of emotions that rake through my body as my tears start flowing freely, blurring my vision and wetting my cheeks, cascading down on my naked chest.
Heavy footsteps and a creaking sound pull my attention toward the wooden stairs on my left. I blink a few times in order to clear the blurriness caused by the onslaught of tears. Honey eyes lock with mine as Logan descends the last two steps, and his fingers flick over a light switch. The sudden burst of light blinds me momentarily, but it’s a short moment, and it doesn’t stop my heart from fluttering in my chest at the sight of him. I haven’t seen Logan in a month, and I feel as if I’ve been starved for the sight of him. My eyes drink him in ravenously, and the strange attraction I feel for him hits me full force.
“L-logan? Please, help me.” My voice comes out raspy, like I haven’t spoken a word in days.
A cruel smirk tugs at the corner of his lips as he saunters toward me with a predatory gait, all clean lines and taut, sinewy muscles under his gray tee and dark denim. “You can drop the act, Ava. Or is your real name even Ava?”
My eyebrows pull together in confusion. “Of course it is. Whatare you talking about?”
He reaches me, and then one hand comes up, cruel, punishing fingers grabbing the sides of my face and pressing into my cheeks. “I must admit, you’ve put on a good show, playing all innocent and tempting. You’re a good actress. Maybe you should look into Hollywood. If you survive, that is.”
Logan’s touch burns through my skin, even if it brings me pain. The air between us crackles with energy, and all of a sudden, I’m aware of the fact that I’m stark naked and at his mercy. The room is stifling; it feels like I’m inhaling the air coming out of a hot oven.
“What show? What are you talking about? I don’t understand—”
“Cut the act! You can’t fool me anymore. Where’s my real fated mate? What did you do to her?” His upper lip curls, baring his teeth while his fingers bite into my cheeks, and I wince in pain. He looks feral, almost like a wolf.
An image from the woods, being chased by the giant wolf with ash-brown fur and amber eyes, flashes through my mind. My stomach takes a nosedive straight to the bottom of my feet. It’shim. Logan is the wolf I’ve been dreaming about. But unlike my dreams…he’s here to hurt me.
The temperature in the room continues to rise. A drop of sweat rolls down my spine, and my hair sticks to my sweaty forehead. “Please, Logan. Please. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His jaw locks with anger as he dips down and crowds me, his nose pressing into mine. “Did you do some kind of spell on me? Are you working with a witch?”
A laugh bubbles out of me before I can stop it. “A witch?” His nostrils flare in response, and I realize he’s being serious. Are witches real?
¡Mierda! What else is out there?
His hand releases my jaw, but he lowers it and circles mythroat in a punishing grip, cutting off my air supply and making me sputter. “Stop playing with me,” he seethes.
In that moment, something weird happens to my body; my nipples stand up at attention, and desire pools at my core. Despite hanging in a literal dungeon. Logan finally releases me when I feel like I’m going to faint. I gasp for air, and it’s impossible to form a thought with the haze of lust muddling my brain.
His gaze roves over me lazily, a glint of hunger shining in his eyes, and then, as if he can’t stop himself, he palms my breast, brushing an electrifying thumb over my taut nipple. I can’t stop the moan that escapes my mouth.
What is happening to me?
It’s so hot in here it feels like I have descended into the pits of Hell. Perspiration coats my entire body, and I’m so wet between my legs that I’m dripping down my thighs.
Logan’s chest moves rapidly with every inhale, and his nostrils flare as if he is scenting the air. In the next second, his eyes narrow. A muscle jumps in his taut jaw. When he steps into me, my nipples rub onto his chest, sending ripples of desire down the ladder of my spine. I have to bite my lip hard to stifle another moan. “Answer me! Where is my fated mate?”
I close my eyes and swallow, my throat raw. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I rasp as my eyes snap open. There’s something wrong. “Please,” I whisper, but I don’t know what I’m begging for. “I feel weird. I need, I need…” I press my thighs together in a failed attempt to stop the searing fire that’s taken over my body. Looking down, I see the massive erection tenting the front of Logan’s jeans, and I whimper with need.
