Page 79 of Prey

“You’ve thought this through. The logistics of keeping someone long-term. Where will she live? With us?”

“The compound’s isolated. Secure. I can provide everything she needs.”

“Including medical care for pregnancy and childbirth?” Ezra asks. “Pediatric care for a child?”

“I’ll bring in specialists. Money talks.”

“What if she resists?” Theon asks. “So you just plan to keep her prisoner essentially. What kind of life do you really think that will be for her? For a child?”

I watch Jenna stir on the live feed, her hand reaching across the bed for my absent warmth.

“Look at her.” I snap a photo and send it. “She’s already half-gone. Yesterday, she admitted she missed me during those three months. She stayed in Chicago because part of her wanted to be caught.”

“The question is which part wins,” Raphael muses. “The survivor who learned to kill, or the broken girl who craves domination.”

“I’ll make sure the right part wins.”

“Well, shit,” Marcus laughs. “Nik’s officially gone caveman.”

“She’ll bend before she breaks,” I conclude.

“Famous last words,” Ezra murmurs as I end the call, the line going dead.

I pocket my phone and turn to the sight of Jenna sitting up in bed, her hair tousled, skin flushed from sleep. She looks toward the door, already planning her next move.

Let her plan. Today she gets weapons. Today she gets hope.

And tonight, when I drag her to the breeding room after claiming her in the wilderness again, she’ll understand that hope was just another tool I gave her to make the breaking sweeter.

I clean up, heading to the equipment room. Tactical knives. Fire starter. Water purification tablets. Enough gear to make her feel dangerous.

The psychological impact of having weapons and still being hunted down and fucked will shatter her last defense. The part of her that believes she can fight her way free.

By this afternoon, she’ll know better—she’ll be begging me to take her back to that mirrored room where she can watch herself submit.

I gather the gear, heading toward her door, already hard again at the thought of tonight’s hunt.

Three more weeks to make her understand she was always meant to be mine.

Three more weeks to make her crave me more than anything else.

I unlock her door and step inside, watching her eyes track immediately to the weapons in my hands.

“Ready to play a new game, baby?”

The mixture of fear and anticipation that flashes across her face tells me everything I need to know.

She’s already more mine than she realizes.

29

JENNA

Iwake to find myself empty for the first time in hours, and the absence of Nikolai’s cock feels wrong. I hate that I notice. Hate more that my pussy immediately craves him.

The bedroom door opens, and Nikolai enters, geared-up and ready for today’s hunt. He carries a hunting knife and survival pack, which he sets on the bed beside me.

“Four hours,” he says without preamble, his winter eyes tracking over my naked body with obvious hunger. “Four-hour head start this time. The knife is real, the gear is functional. Use them wisely.”