As he forced her into the seat, his voice took on that reverent quality that made her stomach clench. “I’ve been planning this conversation for months. I want to hear your voice, really talk to you, convince you this is fate. You’re my mate, not his.”
The fantasy clicked into place in her mind with sick clarity. This wasn’t just about power or revenge—it was about rewriting reality until she submitted to his twisted version of it. When he leaned close, breathing her in like she was some exotic flower, revulsion rolled through her in waves.
Electra forced herself to stay calm, to think like a survivor instead of a victim. The mate bond hummed beneath her terror, and she pushed every ounce of her fear through it toward Rune.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, proud that her voice barely shook.
Tyr’s smile returned as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Birch gave me a cabin deep in the woods. Completely isolated. It’ll be perfect for our beginning.”
Her stomach turned as he started the engine, one hand resting possessively on her thigh. “I spent months imagining this while I was locked away. All that time to plan, to dream, to let my desire build until it was perfect. I’m not even mad you had me arrested—it just made everything better.”
The truck pulled away from her cabin, carrying her deeper into the forest. Electra memorized every turn, every landmark,desperate for anything that might help Rune track her. The mate bond pulsed frantically as she pushed thoughts through it.
Tyr has me. Mountain Spring Road. Please hurry.
“You know what I realized in jail?” Tyr continued, his voice taking on that dreamy quality that made Electra want to vomit. “Powerful alpha wolves probably do scare you. All that dominance, that need to control everything. Rune’s probably been pushing you around, making you feel small.”
The lie came easily, tasting bitter but delivered with careful precision. “You’re right. He... he makes me feel like I might lose myself. All that intensity, that possessiveness. Sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake.”
Tyr’s eyes lit up like she’d given him the greatest gift imaginable. “I knew it! I could see it in your books—you write about strong heroines who need gentle alphas, men who understand them. That’s me, Electra. I’m the one who really sees you.”
The forest grew denser around them, civilization falling away as the mate bond stretched thin but never broke. Rune’s presence pulsed through it—fury and determination bleeding through the connection like a lifeline.
When they finally stopped, the sight waiting outside the cabin stole what little hope she had left. Birch Fen stood with three of his men, their expressions cold and satisfied as Tyr pulled her from the truck.
“Enjoy yourself in there,” Birch told Tyr with casual cruelty. “Just don’t be too rough with her yet. We need her conscious when Rune arrives.”
His ice-blue eyes fixed on Electra with predatory satisfaction. “The real prize is what happens when your mate shows up. He’ll come unhinged seeing you with another man. Makes our job easier.”
The implication was clear and chilling. They expected Rune to lose control completely. They were counting on it.
As Tyr led her toward the cabin, his touch gentler now but inescapable, Electra’s terror sharpened into something focused and fierce. She needed to stall, to play along long enough to buy Rune time to reach her.
Inside, Tyr moved with disturbing care, lighting candles and rearranging furniture like he was preparing for a romantic evening instead of sexual assault. He spoke softly, reverently, completely convinced this performance would make her accept what was coming.
“You’re going to understand soon,” he murmured, producing red lingerie from a bag. “This is how it was always supposed to be. You’ll see.”
Her clothes were removed with clinical efficiency, and she forced herself to dissociate as he dressed her in the lingerie like she was a doll being prepared for display. This was his fantasy made flesh—the perfect moment he’d rehearsed in his mind for months.
When he guided her to the bed, every nerve screaming as she fought to keep her composure, the mate bond pulsed violently. Her fear bled straight into Rune’s consciousness as she sent one final, desperate thought through their connection.
Please. I’m running out of time.
TWENTY
RUNE
The mate bond screamed through Rune’s consciousness, each pulse of terror from Electra hitting him with physical force. His knuckles went white as he gripped the dashboard of Forrest’s cruiser, the plastic groaning under the pressure as waves of his mate’s fear crashed over him in relentless succession.
Tyr has me. Mountain Spring Road. Please hurry.
Her voice fractured through their connection, raw with panic that made his wolf slam against his ribs. The words echoed and degraded into something primal.
“Faster,” he growled, though Forrest was already pushing the cruiser to its limits on the winding mountain road.
This wasn’t the controlled fear he’d felt from her during the duel. This was violation waiting to happen, the kind of helplessness that made his Alpha instincts roar for blood and vengeance. But beneath that primal rage, something colder and infinitely more dangerous crystallized in his mind.
Tyr had planned this. The timing was too perfect, too precise to be coincidence.
