AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dušan pauses near the wooden staircase and swings around to face us. Heat flares over me at the way his gaze slides over me, his stunning eyes blazing with fire. It seems he can’t decide on what to do with me.
“What’s going to happen now?” I ask.
He doesn’t respond right away, and I see the wheels spinning behind those pale blue eyes. Does he remember how I offered him shelter from the undead, how he held me tight during the night? Just when I think he might ask me to join him, he walks away and tosses over his shoulder, “Take her to the others in the waiting room.” He climbs the stairs two at a time. Heaviness sinks through me, dragging me lower and lower.
Bastard.
I open my mouth to say something, but Lucien is there, taking my elbow and leading me away.
“What’s in the waiting room?” I ask.
“Just a place to relax and feel safe. You don’t have to worry, Meira. No one will hurt you here.”
I blink at this handsome man who walks me down a dimly lit cobblestone hallway. I don’t even bother trying to remember the paths we take. How far will I get if I try to escape this castle with all the guards we pass? Muscular shifters dressed in all black watch our every move.
“That’s not true, is it?” I answer. “It’s where I’ll wait until you fly me to the Alpha I’m being traded to.”
He looks over to me but says nothing because I’m right. I sigh and tear my attention away from him. My insides are like tar, sticking to my ribs, and I just want to scream.
Lucien leads me to a door at the end of the hall, his steps heavy, matching his breaths.
Moments later, the door creaks open, and we’re facing another guard, whose eyes meet mine. He’s tanned with the sides of his head shaved. A healed scar runs across his nose and under an eye.
“The missing one?” He grunts.
Lucien nods. “First flight in the morning.”
His words are like daggers, jamming into my back and twisting. I’m being sent away so quickly. I’m not ready to leave. I’ve lived in this country my whole life, and I know these woods and the monsters in them.
Lucien turns to me and fiddles with the rope around my wrists. “Dušan has an agreement with every trading pack to ensure each female he sends is never harmed.”
He draws the rope free from my wrists, but he captures my hands before I can pull away. He smiles at me, as if I ought to be grateful. But I am torn up. Scared. Angry. Confused.
“A captive is still a captive,” I murmur.
He looks at me with an ache sliding over his face. Those steel-gray eyes seem to pierce right into my soul as his thumb brushes against the inside of my wrist. I swallow hard.
“If you get hurt, find a way to contact us,” he points out. “We check in regularly with the packs and the women. Trust me on this.”
Remaining under his gaze easily sways me out of my turbulent thoughts and leaves me at his mercy. The way his thumbs stroke my wrists ignites a heady feeling that overwhelms me along with his Alpha power.
My heart racing, I stare at him like there’s more between us, but that’s me skating on ice without knowing how thin it is. It’s reckless and can only end badly for me. All male shifters want one thing—to claim a female and impregnate her. And I can’t be that woman or bring a child into this horrible world. I shouldn’t want to do anything with Dušan or Lucien.
His mouth parts to explain something, but I don’t want to hear any excuse he has to give me. I’ll be gone tomorrow and will never see him again. I draw my hands out of his and walk into the room, leaving him behind.
There is no reason for me to trust any of these Ash Wolves. Not now or ever.
At least half a dozen women I don’t recognize lounge in the room, reading books or chatting. To my surprise they seem semi-happy with being here. Two sit by the fire talking, while a brunette sits alone near the window, staring out at the forest down below. All the couches are taken, and no one looks my way. Similar to the girls on the aircraft, these are a similar age to me, dressed in clean clothes with no rips or stains.
Fighting back a tear, I crouch in the far corner and rub at the soreness in my wrists from the ropes.
I don’t know how much time passes when the brunette from the window stands to stretch her back and makes her way over to me.
“How are you doing?” She sits in front me, her legs crossed.
“I hate this place,” I respond.
She half-laughs and nods. “I don’t get how some of them can look so relaxed.” She points her chin to the girls giggling on the couch. “I’m bouncing on my toes wanting to get moving already.” She talks at a million miles a minute, her hands animated. She’s wearing a yellow and white stripped dress with short sleeves. Not a single smudge of dirt.
