I nearly choked on my own tongue. “But I’m not a wolf.”
The man shrugged, pulling a Modelo from the fridge and cracking it open with a hiss. He took a swig and licked his lips, grinning at me. “Doesn’t matter. You’re a piece of Paradise, baby. Any of our kind would be a fucking idiot for not taking you as their own.”
I had to proceed forward with extreme, calculated caution. As a numbers girl, I knew the odds weren’t in my favor here. But I had to do something.
“So do you have a name, or does the pack just call you ‘fucking idiot?’”
Fire flashed in his eyes. His jaw clenched as he grabbed for the only knife in his knife block—an old bread knife.
Okay, so provoking him was beyond stupid, but from the way he was giving orders to the other two outside and with the way he talked about his alpha, it was clear he was the beta here. And I was riding on the fact that he wouldn’t hurt me unless he wished to suffer the wrath of his alpha.
He was on top of me in a flash, looking over my chair with a terrifying mixture of fury and desire playing across his face. He held the serrated knife to my throat, but his eyes dipped to where my club dress was bunched around my thighs, as my legs were spread, strapped to each chair leg.
“My name is Trigger. Keep running your pretty little mouth, and you’ll be screaming it pretty soon.”
My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was sure he could hear it. But I forced a defiant smile. “If I’m not yours to claim, then I am not yours to punish, am I? Any blood you spill, any bruise you make, any scent you place on me, he’ll know what you’ve done. And if I know anything about shifters, it’s that you’re possessive bastards.”
“Oh, little girl.” He ran the flat side of the knife over my throat, letting its edged blade close enough so I could feel its cold kiss. “You don’t know me at all. I’m a creative guy. I can make you hurt, make you tremble in fear, and all the evidence to show for it would be your pathetic whimpers when he gets here.”
Despite all efforts to put on a brave front, my tough bitch façade was beginning to crack. “Oh, big man.” I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t keep my voice from shaking. “Torture a girl while she’s tied down and defenseless.”
Trigger’s lips spread into a maniacal grin that was all teeth. “Who said I was going to keep you tied up? I want to get your heart racing, your blood pumping. I want to taste your panic on the wind.”
I gapped at him, watching as he set to sawing through my binds.
He was letting me go!
I rubbed my raw wrists, trying to steady my breathing as he crouched to free my ankles, his face so close to my groin I could feel his hot, sticky breath on my bare thighs.
As soon as I was cut free, he took a handful of my hair and wrenched me to my feet. I swallowed a scream as pain shot down my spine. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of my cries because that’s what he wanted. I bit my lip as he dragged me to the door and shoved me out into the cool night outside the rank trailer.
It was so late now that few people were outside. The wolf I’d seen through the window lifted its head from the porch to watch us as we passed, his yellow eyes glinting through the dark. The park was quiet, yet there was still a life to it that told me the entire pack never really went to sleep. There was a stretch of fur as a wolf bolted past. In the distance, a motorcycle engine revved.
The wind whipped my hair, and the rain came thrashing down so hard I was soaked almost instantly. When Trigger had plucked me from the street, I had lost one of my shoes, making it difficult to walk. My stiletto still fastened to my foot sunk into the mud, and my barefoot had to act as my anchor to tug it free with every labored step I took.
“Where are we going?” I asked through a whisper as Trigger marched me through the trailer park, his grip still tight on my nape.
“Hunting,” he growled.
When we reached the edge of the park with all the trailers behind us, he shoved me forward. I stumbled and slammed face-first into the mud. Turning my head back over my shoulder, Trigger loomed over me with a dark grin on his face. He jerked his head to the thick line of pine trees just head. They were so tall their branches brushed the ink-black sky, swaying ominously in the wind, beckoning me.
“We’re going to play in there, Sunshine. I’m already hard from your tiny little heartbeat, pattering away like a frightened rabbit’s. When I catch you, because Iwillcatch you, I’ll give you to the alpha. See? I don’t need to spread your legs or cut your flesh to have fun. That will be a different kind of game the alpha will play with you, but you can be sure as hell that I’m going to be there, watching him ruin a piece of Paradise with his cock.”
“You’re sick.”
Trigger cackled, his lips curling through the rain to reveal sharp canines. “Run. I’ll even give you a head start.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. I was already scrambling to my feet. I tore off my stiletto, clutched it to my pounding breast, and took off sprinting toward the forest.
