“That’s not why!” she says, exasperated. “Back off from Trina. I’m curious about something.”
Grumbling, Rhys steps back and moves behind Sadie. Immediately, my temper cools, and the heat goes out of my blood.
“He’s fully territorial,” Sadie murmurs. “Interesting.”
“What?” Trina asks.
“What?” I echo.
Sadie sighs. “Look, Trina, I know this sucks, but you’re going to have to go back to Owen’s place, at least for now.”
“What?” Trina shrieks.
“The marriage bond has been completed, and you belong to him now. Owen’s reaction wouldn’t be so strong if it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Sadie, what the fuck?” Trina cries. “Have you gone insane?”
“No, sweetie,” Sadie says, rubbing her arm. “And neither have you. I don’t really understand this, but I will explain it all as best I can, I promise. For now, just go with Owen. I promise he won’t hurt you, and I’ll be there first thing tomorrow to talk about all of this.”
“But—” Trina protests, but Sadie takes her friend’s hand and puts it in mine.
“Be gentle with her, Owen,” Sadie warns. “She’s traumatized by what you’ve done, and I expressly told you to wait for me.”
“I would never hurt her,” I protest.
Sadie groans. “You already have. Try not to do any more damage.”
I tug on Trina’s hand and start walking back to the house. Trina turns to look over her shoulder, stumbling over her own feet.
“Sadie, please!” she cries. “Don’t do this.”
“I’ll be there first thing in the morning,” Sadie says. “I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
I give Trina’s hand another tug, and she trips over, falling heavily against me. In one swift movement, I pick her up and hug her against my chest. Her scent overwhelms me, and a sense of comfort and contentment eases through the feelings of anger and fear.
Trina sobs quietly in my arms, and we don’t talk on the way back. I expect her to be meek and tired when we get there, but as soon as we reach the house, she struggles out of my arms and pushes me away.
“Let me go!”
“I can stop physically holding you,” I reply. “But you aren’t leaving this house.”
Her bottom lip trembles as she raises her head and glares at me. “I have no fucking clue what’s going on, here!” she screams. “Wolves, rituals, spells—this shit is crazy! I can’t believe Sadie made me go with you. You’re all bonkers.”
“I have a good reason,” I say, thinking of my ailing pack. “We can help a lot of people if this works.”
“What do you mean, help?” she asks. “What possible benefit could there be to kidnapping me—and marrying me,apparently?” She tugs on the Dead Silk, but it won’t come off her wrist.
“My pack is in danger,” I say, trying to use a calm tone. “My people are very sick—”
“Well, doesn’t this sound like the start of a really bad movie?” she scoffs, rolling her eyes. “I’m not sold on any of this, so you might not want to begin with solemnly intoned, overused phrases.”
“I can’t believe this,” I reply, shaking my head. “Will you at least try to listen to me?”
“Why should I?” she yells. “None of this is real, you’re in a cult or something, and—”
“Oh, God, fine!” I roar, grabbing her hand. Trina struggles, but she’s no match for me as I drag her down the hall to my spare bedroom. I hurl her inside and slam the door, locking it from the outside.
Lucky it used to be a storage room—even luckier that it was fully furnished as a guest room when the house was renovated, and we didn’t bother to remove the locks.
