“She’s searching for Stools?” They were the first words I’d said since he’d confessed everything she’d told him. All the bullshit she’d had to deal with was unbelievable. What I’d done to her.
Her question about Cierra made more sense now, but it didn’t hurt any less. That she could believe I’d be a part of something so atrocious told me how severely I’d damaged her.
Alex shuffled near the door of the basement, preparing to burst up the stairs and out of my reach at a moment’s notice.
“Yes, she wants to ask him if he knows anything about the situation.” Alex rubbed the back of his neck.
“Get her back here.” I bit out, my stomach turning. I kept pacing like the chained animal I was. She was out there alone, unprotected.
“She needs space.”
I snarled, and he flinched against the wall. Words I wanted to spit at him fled my thoughts, overtaken by anger. I bared myteeth. I’d been too lenient with my brother, not assigning him important work or bringing him into the fold when planning. He never desired responsibility, preferring to fuck around, and I hadn’t cared, but it was biting me on the ass now.
I yanked at the chain with each pacing step in the basement. “Let. Me. Go,” I ordered, the guttural words were the only ones I could push out. Alex stared at me from the safety of the door.
I’d squeeze the life out of him if he was close enough.
“No,” he muttered. “I’m not trying to die.”
“Release. Me.”
A whine spilled from his mouth, and he scrubbed his face with his palm. The grip he had on the door tightened so much that it creaked. He needed to be close enough for me to force his will.
“Fucking, let me go,” I bellowed, yanking at the cuff clamped tight around my wrist.
“Not yet.” He cleared his throat. “Not until you calm the hell down.”
“Not. Safe.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her?—”
I snarled.My mate who only I will protect!
“From a safe distance,” he admitted, eyes dropping. My panic calmed, and I continued my torment. “I just came to tell you she’s staying at her friend’s place. That chick with the tattoos.”
The words stuck in my thoughts, but she couldn’t be alone. She needed my protection.
“There are no other males around her.”
I yanked on the iron cuff.
“You’re fucking stubborn,” he muttered.
With my left hand, I twined the chain around it and yanked, keeping my other wrist stiff. The edges of the cuff dug into my flesh. The raw redness of my skin was only spreading with how much I pulled.
Blood began to drip from my wrists.
“You need to calm down, Lucian,” he said, his voice unsteady.
I bared my teeth at him.
He wouldn’t be able to shove Wolf’s Bane down my throat again, so he’d better be long fucking gone when I could finally shift. I rattled the chains.
I narrowed my eyes, and his lips squeezed together. “Fine, damn.” He shut the door, sealing me in the dark basement, the only light filtering through a narrow window high on the bathroom wall.
“Alex,” I roared.
The length of time the Bane would keep me useless depended on how much he’d managed to make me drink down while I was unconscious. I didn’t have the luxury of being separated from her for much longer.
