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“I’m not going to kill you.” Darryl’s voice had gone very deep and scratchy, and she knew from experience he’d begun to let the beast inside him take control. He dropped his voice even lower. She had to fight to understand everything he said. “Do you know most shif
ters in this world can’t make new ones like themselves? You’re either born with the gene or not, and even that doesn’t guarantee your other side will come out. But my kind…Can you guess what kind of shifter I am, Shae?”
She pressed her lips together refusing to answer. He took hold of one of her hands and forced it to his mouth. He dragged her fingertip over the long, sharp canines, and her mind raced. Any number of shifters formed sharp teeth like that. Even Shiya’s boyfriends’ canine teeth could grow out like Darryl’s. Was he a polar bear?
“Can’t guess?” Darryl taunted. “I’ll give you a hint.”
A growl started in his throat that brought her damn close to wetting herself. She shut her eyes, unable to prevent the quake that shook her from head to toe. Killing wolf shifters was hard because they were pack animals, and their abilities bordered on magic. During her training, she had learned about them but never personally come across one, and now she knew that the men she’d called Darryl’s boys were also werewolves. She and her family had never known the wolves existed so close to home, and here she lay unprotected. Panic rising until it cramped her stomach, she reviewed his words in her mind. “Do you know that most shifters in this world can’t make new ones like themselves?” No, he couldn’t mean to do what she thought.
“I can see you,” Darryl teased. “You figured it out.”
“You can’t—”
“I can do what I want!” His words sounded like those of a spoiled child, but his anger scared her more. He released one of her hands to grasp her throat and forced her head to turn, exposing her neck. Shae fought with new resolve, but he didn’t give an inch. All she did was wear herself out, and her throat dried at the realization that he intended to bite her.
“Darryl, you don’t want a Keith as a shifter, and it doesn’t matter anyway. My family will only kill me. We don’t take prisoners.”
He laughed. “You’re a dumb bitch.”
She frowned. “Fuck you!”
Instead of the blow she expected, he leaned down and licked her cheek. She gagged openly this time, and he growled. “First, I’m going to make you a wolf. That’s necessary. You know why? Because I can’t make you my true mate until you’re a wolf. Oh, I heard about your sister Shiya and how she took two bear shifters on. That’s what gave me the idea. They’re idiots, though, and I’m smarter. See, they might be mated to her and will follow her wherever she goes, but she’s a free agent. She can decide today or tomorrow to leave them.”
“But you want to control me.”
He tapped her jawline with a finger from the hand holding her around the throat. “Bingo. As alpha, I can control my pack, and once you’re a part of my pack, I can control you to a certain extent. You could still decide to betray me. But as my mate…”
His wicked grin stole her ability to breathe, and he shook her a little as if to remind her to take a breath. She pulled in a bit of air. Fresh tears burned her eyes, and a knot formed in her throat.
“As my mate, you will be devoted to me. In fact, you will live and breathe devotion to me. You will betray your own family for me. Got it, Shae? You, baby girl, are going to be all mine. First I change you, and then I mate you. Then together we rule the Keiths. It’s a perfect plan.”
Hot tears rolled down the side of her face, into her hair. “Darryl, think about—”
“No more talking.” His teeth sank into the base of her throat, and he covered her mouth with a heavy hand just as she screamed. Blackness danced around the edge of her vision as the pain blossomed beyond reason. He sank his bite deeper, ripping cruelly into her flesh. A moan escaped him, but she thought it had more to do with the triumph of beginning his plan than an enjoyment of the taste of her blood. He didn’t drink, but let the thick liquid roll down her neck, onto the carpet. Soft whimpers echoed in the room, and it took a while for her to realize she made the noise. After some time—she might have passed out—the pressure on top of her disappeared. She didn’t see him get up, but heard him moving about the house.
A light clicked on, and the toilet flushed. The sink water came on, and Darryl hummed. All throughout Shae’s body, her muscles spasmed, but she had no strength to rise from the floor or to call out. The spot where Darryl bit her burned, and the poison he had set loose in her blood seemed to spread fast, down her neck, across her chest, and farther.
The bastard returned and stooped over her. He pulled her eyelid back, alerting her to the fact that her eyes were shut. She’d had no idea. He continued to hum and moved his hand to her neck. A thumb brushed over the wound, forcing a squeak from her. She could muster no more than that.
“I guess I’ll give you a break and put you to bed.” He lifted her without effort and carried her to the bedroom. The light he turned on made her wince, and the throbbing headache she’d developed intensified. Standing over her, he played with the material of her torn dress. “This is all mine now, but don’t worry. I’m not ready to fuck you yet. See, the way I like it, a human woman couldn’t take it. I’d break you. When you’re fully wolf, then we’ll fuck like bunnies.”
He laughed at his own joke, and she turned her head. From the curse, she figured he didn’t like her attitude.
“You’ll think I’m funny soon enough.”
“Because you’ll force me to?”
His heavy steps led to the door and out to the kitchen. Soon she heard the front door open and close. Seconds after, an engine roared to life, and Darryl was gone. Shae lay where she was, uncovered, with the light beaming down on her. The fever and delirium started sometime later, and she didn’t know if it was day or night, if she would live or die.
Chapter Six
For the first time in what must be days, Shae opened her eyes, and the light didn’t blind her. Not completely anyway. Every muscle still pulsed with pain, and the migraine hadn’t receded. She’d found no ability to rise from the bed today, so she lay there unmoving, existing. Her cell phone had gone off countless times, and the ringing noise had hurt so bad, she’d wept. Sleep escaped her, but then she thought she must have passed out a few times too because sometimes daylight streamed through the window and often moonlight.
She longed to call her dad for help, but she hesitated. She’d spoken the truth to Darryl as far as she knew it. Keiths did not spare shifters no matter who they were. She believed it was a matter of time before her dad ordered his men back into Juneau to kill Shiya’s boyfriends, so it was for certain he would do the same to her. Even if she never turned, she was infected and could not be allowed to live.
Nausea assailed her, driving her to make an effort to leave the bed. Today, she made it onto the floor on her hands and knees. She collapsed and then managed a shuffle to the bathroom. Head hanging over the toilet bowl, she dry heaved for a good hour and then passed out on the cold tile floor.
In the bedroom, her cell rang, and she whimpered, covering her ears. Something nearby made a shooshing noise, and then a flowery scent like a fist rammed up her nose. She screamed. The hacking came back. “No, no, I can’t. Please, I can’t do it again.”
