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Chapter Sixteen
Halfway through my run I heard something behind me. I knew it wasn’t Liam. I hadn’t sensed him, and he wouldn’t intrude on my time. It didn’t make sense for Philip to be out here either. If that dude was into running while not in wolf form, I’d eat dirt for a week. I kept my pace, letting them pick up theirs.
When I finally caught their scent, I didn’t recognize it. I sped up, leading them to the lake. There was way more room there if I needed to fight. As I came out of the trees, I spun to face them.
An enormous, rock solid Summer shifter came barreling toward me. His size made him a little slower than usual and I easily evaded him. We moved in a slow circle, eyeing each other up for a few moments before he lunged at me. I backed away and to the side. We did the dance again and this time I charged him, landing a right hook to his face.
He barely moved.
“Fantastic,” I muttered as he rolled his head side to side and cracked his neck.
My punch had been a mere annoyance. So, my best bet would be to hit him in the soft bits.
Testing my theory, I darted forward and landed a side kick to his gut. Before I could pull my leg back, he grabbed it and pulled me to him. His hand was on my throat in a flash.
“The bitch thinks she can take me, is that it?” he said, his voice sounded as dumb as he looked. “She’ll regret that.”
“Who the fuck are you talking to?” I asked as I brought my knee up into his balls. He let me go as he bent forward, grabbing himself on a groan.
While he was bent over, I kneed him in the stomach then kicked him in the face. I continued my assault as long as I could, hoping one of the blows would knock him over.
My hopes died when he stood tall again and charged me. He tackled me to the ground, pinning my arms beneath his knees. He sneered as he punched me in the face then reached in his pocket to pull out a syringe.
Oh shit, I thought as he injected me with Bane and my body went limp.
He threw me into the back of a van. I landed in an awkward position on the dirty floor. I tried to move, but the Bane had paralyzed me. After a few minutes, he took a turn too quickly, and the momentum rolled me onto my back and out of the cramped posture.
The van stopped, the door slid open, and he picked me up to carry me into the carnival. I watched in confusion as he headed to the funhouse. He carried me through the maze of those stupid mirrors that distort your reflection to the center where a chair equipped with chains sat. Without Bane in my system, those chains might as well be Silly Putty. I’d have to wait for it to wear off and hope they forgot to give me more.
He left me without a word. With no other choice, I sat quietly, waiting for Stella or her weirdo boyfriend to show themselves. They’d come eventually. And sure enough, not ten minutes later I heard Roland calling my name as he wandered through the maze of mirrors.
He kept repeating my name in a high-pitched, singsong voice until he finally jumped out from behind one of the mirrors. I assume they thought it would creep me out, but it was more annoying than anything.
“Oh, no. You scared me.” I rolled my eyes as he and Stella approached me. “What’s up? Why am I here?”
“Because you just wouldn’t leave it alone,” Stella said. “We tried everything to get you to back off, but you just got worse. And telling me Roly isn’t my mate was really mean.”
“I can’t just let you kidnap innocent people. This douchebag is not your mate,” I said through clenched teeth. “Tell her, Roly.”
He smiled at me. “You’re a bitch who needs training,” he said. “That’s okay, I’ll train you like I trained Ellie here.” He grabbed her ass so tightly I saw her flinch. “Though she didn’t need much training.” He frowned. “But you’ll be more fun. Harder to break. I can tell.”
“Roly,” Stella said. “We need to move her to the cage.”
“A cage?” I repeated. That was the last straw. All compassion, empathy, and love I had for her flew out the window at that. Well, mostly. I still couldn’t fully grasp what she’d become. There had to be more to it. “Wow, Stella, you really have been a talented actress all these years.”
She smiled and did a little curtsy. “I know. You thinking I was cute and innocent, always surprised me. You have no idea what kind of fun I like to have.”
“Stella, you talk too much.” He spoke to her, but his eyes were on me. “Now, my pretty little freak, we have some fun planned for you.”
I kept my eyes locked on Stella. She was watching Roland. The closer he got to me the angrier she became. He ran a finger over my cheek causing bile to rise in my throat and Stella’s face to turn red.
“Touch me again, and I’ll rip your fucking hand off,” I growled still watching Stella. Her eyes darted to me for a second before settling back on Roland. There was a change in them. She was happy. Happy that I’d talked back to him. When he slapped me, the happiness wavered.
“Do not talk to me in that way,” Roland said.
I made eye contact with him, a no-no move in packs. He was trying to be my superior. He expected me to be submissive. He didn’t know me at all.
“I’ll talk to you any way I want. You are not my Alpha. From the looks of you, I’d say you’re lower than an Omega. And even if you were an Alpha, I don’t obey mine so why the hell would I obey you?”
