I smiled as I tightened my arms. "I'm good with that."
Chapter Ten
Considering what he did for a living and the type of man he was, I was totally shocked that Stalker was a man who looked forward to holidays…or cuddling and hugging. It just didn't seem to be something the imposing panther would do.
But I was grateful he did. I needed a good hug. "What are we going to do about my father?"
That was the question burning hotly in my head.
"At the moment, we're not going to do anything," Sinclair replied. "You're part of my pride now. There's nothing he can do."
"He'll do something anyway." I was positive of it. "We may think he doesn't have a chance in hell of doing anything, but he'll come up with a plan. Trust me."
My father always had a plan.
"Your father is not the boogieman, Jojo," Stone said.
I let out a small laugh. "Do you know what I did for my fifth birthday?"
Shade frowned. "No."
"My father took me out into the woods in the middle of nowhere and ordered five of his guards to hunt me. They hunted me for over forty-eight hours before I found my way home."
"Wait." Stalker held up his hand. "I thought you said you didn't shift for the first time until you hit puberty."
"We don't."
Sinclair gasped. "He hunted a five-year-old child?"
"He did." My smile was a little rueful, but mostly sad. "He said that my ability to survive and make it home was a sign that I was supposed to be the next alpha.
"He did the same thing for my fifteenth birthday, which was a couple of years after I shifted for the first time, so I was able to shift into my fox form. Only, that time, he hired a group of rogue wolf shifters to hunt me through the woods."
"Christ!" Stone covered his mouth.
"A few days ago, he called me into his office and informed me that I was to be mated. When I objected, he turned me over to his second in command, who took me down to the basement, hung me from a hook in the ceiling, then proceeded to beat me black and blue for the next several hours. He only relented when my father came down and ordered him to get me cleaned up because my future mate was coming for a visit. He was ordered to not let me shift so that I could enjoy my punishment just a little longer."
I drew in a fortifying breath as the memories of that night just a few days previous floated through my mind. "After showering and getting dressed under the watchful eye of my father's second in command, I was locked in my room to await my betrothed, a woman I had never met. When I saw my father leave with the nanny, I knew it was my chance to get Tommy and escape."
"Nanny?" Stalker asked. "You had a nanny?"
"My father insisted on it. Of course, he's sleeping with the nanny so…"
"Wow." Stone snorted. "Cliché much?"
"It actually worked in my favor because he took her with him the night I escaped, leaving Tommy unsupervised." I glanced at Stalker. "If you were stalking me, I'm sure you noticed all the armed guards whenever we came outside."
Stalker nodded.
"I was not allowed to go anywhere with Tommy unsupervised. My father said it was for our safety, but I knew what it was for. My father knew I'd run with Tommy my first chance."
"How could he know that, Jojo?" Sinclair asked.
"Because I told him when he forced us to leave Myra's skulk."
That might not have been my brightest move in retrospect. From the moment I stepped foot out of the house I'd shared with Myra and her father, I'd been under constant surveillance. I still hadn't figured out how I escaped two days ago.
Damn, had it only been two days?
