“So, what then?” she snapped. “You take me to your territory and hold me? For what? Ransom?” She chuffed. “I’m bottom of the barrel.” Leaning back, she turned her head to glare out the window. “Bragga won’t pay a cent. Not for me.”
Thrall was the one to respond as he waved his hand toward the windshield. “You just want us to leave you out here? They’ll just drag you back to the Biter compound.” He shot her a dark look in the mirror. “Is that what you want?” His eyes narrowed as they shifted between her and the road. “That doesn’t even makesense, especially if it was as bad as Jury claims it was. Plus, wouldn’t you want to go see Jury?” He shot Daemon a pointed look. “This doesn’t feel right. Something’s off with her.”
“First off, stop judging me,” Narae snarled. “You took me! I didn’t say a fucking thing.Yousaw what you saw,youdid what you did.” Her angry eyes slid to Daemon, who was staring straight ahead. “Youbit whoyoubit. I didn’t ask for any of this. And you’re right.” Her attention went back to Thrall. “This doesn’t feel right. You just expect me to believe you’re from an enemy pack. How do I know this isn’t all just some loyalty test from Bragga? A set-up! You two could be new recruits sent to get information from me. I don’t know where Jury is! You can tell him that!”
That had Daemon turning in his chair to thunder, “We killed Biters!”
She rolled her eyes. “Bragga would sacrifice any of us to prove a point.”
Daemon shook his head in disbelief as Thrall hissed, “Jesus Christ! What is it with that fucking disease of shifter you call Alpha?”
“I don’t call him, Alpha,” Narae bit out. Crossing her arms over her chest, she sank lower in her seat and glared out the window. “I don’t call him anything. I keep my head down, my mouth shut, and I avoid the males as best I can.” Now she was shaking her head. “This little stunt is going to cost me.” More quietly, she said, “When he gets me back, he’ll make an example outta me. I’ll be punished for this.” Almost on a whisper, she fretted, “I’m still not healed from last time.”
That had Daemn sitting up straight, then slowly turning to look at her. “He won’t get you back,” Daemon growled. “And he sure as fuck ain’t punishing you. He won’t touch you again! You’re not his anymore. You’re no longer a Biter.” His words were like a shot that ricocheted through the cabin, leaving an eerie silence in their wake. Finally, Daemon heaved a sigh. “We’ve got a long drive for you to come to terms with that. I suggest you start.”
And that pissed Narae off even more. It felt like she’d just gone from the frying pan to the fire. Still being bossed around. Still treated like property. Still trapped. She looked at the lock on the door, trying to gauge whether it was engaged. She was contemplating jerking the door open, rolling out while shifting mid-roll, and then making a break for it. She swallowed once, trying to build up the courage, when the sound of the locks engaging filled the truck cab. Her eyes snapped to the rearview mirror, where Thrall grinned at her. “To keep you safe, little bug.” He shot her another wink.
A snarl rattled its way up her throat, but was cut short as she noticed Daemon’s body tense in his seat.
Thrall’s grin vanished, and he hissed, “Shhhhit!”
In a flash, Daemon’s hand shot up and ripped the rearview mirror from where it hung.
Thrall bellowed, “Fuck, man!”
Daemon’s voice was dangerously low when he commanded, “Pull over.”
Thrall stammered, “I wasn’t… She didn’t…”
“Pull over!” Daemon roared, and Thrall immediately did as ordered.
Narae sat up straighter, heart thundering in her chest as the cab of the truck filled with the weight of Daemon’s…authority? Rage? She couldn’t quite place what it was that was emitting from Daemon, and she didn’t get the chance to figure it out. Before the truck fully rolled to a stop, Daemon jerked his door open and shoved his way out. Behind him, the door slammed closed so hard that the whole truck rocked. In a blink, Daemon was at her door, jerking on the locked handle. Narae scrambled as far as she could from where Daemon stood outside her door, glaring at Thrall, who stammered, “O-okay. Sorry. Geez!”
Thrall ducked his head and quickly unlocked the doors.
Then Daemon’s big body was folding into the back seat.
All the fine hairs on Narae’s body were raised. She was torn between fight or flight while her damn wolf just waited, head canted, eyeing Daemon curiously.
Daemon slid into the seat and faced her, his back pressed against the door as he grunted, “Come here.”
When he reached for her, Narae yelped, “Wait!” as she plastered herself against the door. But Daemon was too fast and too strong. Before she could formulate a plan, he was pulling her across the back bench seat. Narae had seen what he’d done to her pack-mates. If Bragga was a beast, then Daemon was an ender of worlds. There’d be no way for her to take punishment from him and survive. There’d be no hope of defending herself. No fucking way!
Chapter 18
Narae didn’t know if she should try to fight Daemon off or submit. With Bragga, she knew what was to come, so she never fought. Fighting back had only served to hurt her worse in the end, but Daemon was different. As he reached for her, she couldn’t help but raise her arms. Still torn between punching him or just protecting herself. The decision was ripped from her as she was hauled across the seat. In a move that was too fast and required too much strength, Daemon had her spun and plastered against his body, her back to his front. His shoulders were pressed against the door. One of his legs ran the length of the back bench seat while the other rested on the floor with Narae’s body between his legs. He didn’t say anything, but Narae could feel his heart hammering against her back. Hers was hammering too. Body tense, she waited.
After a few moments, Daemon’s hand lifted to gently smooth down her arm before stopping to rest on her forearm. At her ear, he breathed, “Relax. It’s a long drive. Just rest. You’re safe.”
Safe? She didn’t feel safe. She felt like she was in the presence of a highly dominant enemy Alpha while her own sinister Alpha was hot on her heels. Her gaze sliced to where Daemon had ripped the rearview mirror from where it’d hung. Daemon was acting possessive of her, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Bragga had started acting possessive of her, too, once he’d realized that Jury was really gone.
Behind her, Daemon adjusted himself, jostling her body as he got more comfortable, his arms both circling her now.
Narae sat tense. Experience had taught her to expect the other shoe to drop, but behind her, Daemon’s breathing slowed, then evened out. It was soothing, in an odd way, and sitting in his warm embrace had her stiff muscles slowly melting. “You need to let me go,” she said quietly. “If you are who you say you are. If Jury is with your pack, taking me will only lead Bragga straight to her. I can’t have that. She suffered to get free. We both suffered for her freedom.”
Daemon gently ran his hand up and down her arm. “Letting you go won’t make a lick of difference. I left a calling card.”
Her mind flashed back to him leaving his blood at the scene.
