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“There’sno one coming to save me,” I called out to Pac. “Which means there’ll be no ransom.”
All Pac did was give me a look before digging into his fried chicken. Watching him eat was gruesome, and I tried to turn away, but I was tied to a chair. One rope was wound around my shoulders, another around my legs, and yet another around my waist, effectively pinning my arms down with it.
“Boss, you think the ropes are tight enough?” a bony guy in a dirty white singlet said.
“I tied it good!” the guy next to him said, and like a three-year-old boy, he threw his half-eaten chicken bone at the first guy.
This started a chicken war, and if I wasn’t tied up, I would have found it amusing to watch a bunch of grown-up men having a food fight. The whole time, Pac just continued to eat as if nothing was going on around him. It was a bit disconcerting that he could be so calm among such chaos.
“Can I have some water?” I asked when there was a lull in the fight.
All I got was a splash of water in my face from Pac while he continued eating.
“You know I won’t be much good to you if I perish from hunger and thirst,” I pointed out, spitting the residual water in his direction.
“Don’t care,” Pac said, the first words he’d said to me since marching all of us into this new building via an underground tunnel system I had no idea existed in the city.
“Then, why bother taking me?” It just didn’t make any sense. I had asked him if this was about Jill’s case, and he had grunted, which I took as a non-answer. But I couldn’t think of another reason why he would want me.
“You want to know why you’re here?” Pac asked.
I nodded, keeping my chin level. I clenched my teeth so my muscles wouldn’t give away the need to quiver. To say I was scared was putting it mildly. But I was also pissed. This couldn’t be how my life ended! Not without telling Brandon how sorry I was for saying that he could never take care of me.
“You’re a pawn—a small fry in a grand plan. And the best one I’ve ever had.” Pac sneered and spit something onto his plate. “You weren’t always part of the plan. But if you’d just left Jill well alone, you wouldn’t be here. I’d still have Jill, you’d still be living your boring life, and my plan would still be moving forward just like it is now. It’s your own doing that you’re here.”
He grabbed another chicken leg and took a bite. Chewing furiously, he looked around the room at the wrestling crowd. “Everyone; get out!” he snapped.
But the others didn’t hear him; they were wrestling and biting and growling at one another. Pac stood up and upturned the table, sending the men scattering away.
“I. Said. Get. Out!” he roared, and the others scampered as fast as they could out of the room.
Having sent his goons away, Pac sat back down, but this time facing me. There was a glow in his eyes. That wasn’t natural. I scooted my chair back as far as I could go until I hit the wall. My heart rate had spiked, and I wrapped my fingers around the rope on my waist, pulling it so I could move the knot from the middle of my back to my right hand.
Pac watched me closely. “You don’t know what I am, do you?” His tongue came out to rub against his lips as if he was hungry. “I can smell you. Not just your body odor, but your fear. It’s intoxicating.”
The smile that came across his face displayed crooked teeth that were more yellow and brown than white. I willed my heart to slow down and tried to regain some semblance of control. Now was not the time to freak out. This was just like the courtroom; I had to keep my faculties. I tried to focus on Pac’s face while keeping my features schooled. But . . .
It couldn’t be! Did his teeth just get longer? What the heck was going on?
My breath quickened, and my chest hurt. I willed it to slow by holding my breath for a few seconds, then letting out a slow exhale.
His laugh sent shivers through me. “That won’t help you. This is only the beginning. Once you see what me and my men are, you’ll realize how futile it is to remain calm. I expect you’ll lose your mind once you see what I’m talking about.” He laughed, but this time it was intermingled with a low growl. “Brandon will try to save you, but he will fail. I’ve no doubt his family will come with him, and they, too, will all fall, one by one. The anticipation of this victory is like drinking a fine wine. I can taste it already.”
“Brandon,” I whispered.
“Yes, your lover boy. He’s your mate. But from the look on your face, you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” He laughed again. “You two are meant for each other, did you know that?”
I knew that, but Brandon always said—
“Poor Becca. He pushed you away to the point you gave up on him. That itself will kill him . . . literally.”
“What do you mean?” I stilled as fear gripped me, rooting me to my chair. Even my fingers had stopped messing with the rope.
“Now I have your attention, don’t I? Without you by his side, Brandon will perish. It will be a slow, painful death because his soul is incomplete. If he had never met you, he might have been able to move on. But now that his wolf has met you and claimed you as his own, there is no turning back. Without you by his side, Brandon will die.”
The menace in his voice was like the sizzle of well-cooked meat. My heart rate was finally slowing down, but not because I was calm. It was because the truth of his words had dug so deeply into me that a flow of dread rooted itself in my heart.
I have to get back to Brandon.
