Simple, right?
I hoped so. I hoped everything went according to plan and went off without a hitch. Anna’s life, and my own, both depended on it.
Dropping the locket so that I didn’t draw attention to the all-important item, I took a deep breath and exited my vehicle. I wasn’t even able to take a step in any direction before he appeared, seemingly materializing out of the dark.
Kane’s face held a mix of lust, excitement, and malice, all wrapped up into one very smug expression. “You came alone. Good girl,” he purred, a hum of approval emanating from his powerful chest.
His words disgusted me, but his touch offended me even more. Kane’s fingers reached out and stroked my neck, the calloused pads grazing my necklace. Trying to erase the look of fear from my face that he’d somehow learned about the spellwork cast upon it, I reflexively swallowed when he again grazed the golden chain.
A predator through and through, Kane recognized the wild look in my eyes for what it was: fear. Thankfully, he misunderstood what I was fearful about.
“You look so terrified, Omega. You needn’t be. I’m not going to hurt you. You’re everything I’ve wanted since finding out I was a ware. As long as you do everything I tell you to, you’ll be well taken of,” the cruel man explained without an ounce of compassion or irony.
What he said finally caught up with me then. “You didn’t always know you were a ware?” That fact actually surprised me.
Kane shook his head. “Like you, my lineage was unknown to me for many years. I turned when I was fourteen and living on the streets. Before then, I’d falsely believed I was just a human.”
While I wasn’t about to excuse everything he’d done because of his past, I actually kind of felt bad for Kane. It was hard enoughto learn what I was in the company of people who cared about me. To learn on your own while fending for your life on the streets as a kid must have been brutal.
“I’m sorry that was your experience,” I replied in earnest then. “You must have been in shock and utter disbelief of what was going on.”
“I wasn’t. I had always known I was born for great things. Becoming a ware only confirmed what I already knew,” Kane casually explained. “I was meant to be an alpha. It’s literally in my DNA.”
His cold words only confirmed what I already knew; the man was an absolute psychopath.
“So, are we taking my car to go and release Anna?” I asked, looking about for another vehicle we’d be riding in. “The sooner we got this over and done with, the better. She can have it once you release her. I don’t care.”
I doubted the paranoid man would allow me to drive my own vehicle anywhere. It would be far too recognizable and most likely fail his personal standards for transportation.
Kane’s lips parted in a sinister smile that scared me more than it put me at ease. “No, little one. Where we’re going can only be reached on foot. No cars allowed.”
What the hell? This wasn’t something the pack and I had accounted for. How were the cavalry supposed to ride in when they were down the road waiting for our vehicle to drive by? Shit, I had to think fast, before this situation got even further away from me.
I took a nervous step backward as I glanced over to the woods beyond the tree line. “Um, we’re going inthere. At night?”
Kane tossed his head back and guffawed. “Don’t worry, Kitty Cat. Nothing in there is going to touch you when you’re walking by my side.”
I wasn’t scared of the animals on four legs. Presently, it was the two-legged variety that frightened me the most.
Trying to buy time, I blurted, “Where’s Anna? You promised you’d let her go if I came here tonight. I held up my end of the bargain, now it’s time you held up yours. I want proof that my best friend is free of your club before we go anywhere together, or the deal is off.”
Tilting his head, Kane put a heavy hand on my shoulder, halting me from backing up any further. “You’re not getting anything, Kitty Cat, until I get everything I want. That’s how this works. That’s how it’s going to work from now on. This isn’t a democracy. I’m your alpha now. Your one duty, till death do us part, is toobey me,absolutely and without question. You will give me whatever I want, whenever I want it, wherever I want it.”
Bile crept up my throat and spilled into my mouth. This couldn’t be happening. Anna might already be dead, and Kane was going to rape and kill me in the dark woods of this abandoned gas station. I just knew it.
Like a panicked animal, I turned to run. I made it two steps before the vile shifter grabbed me by the ponytail and dragged me back into his arms.
“You were doing so well, Omega, but now you’ve displeased me. That won’t go unpunished. You need to learn a lesson about respect,” Kane said with a sneer.
Before I could even scream, he wrenched my neck to the side and bit down hard at the soft place between my collarbone and throat.
Because I was a ware, I didn’t pass out, but his high dose of venom still greatly affected me. I instantly grew woozy and weak, and thus, easily pliable, just as Kane wanted me.
Tossing me over his shoulder like a lightweight satchel, he gave my backend a hard swat. “The time for talk is over. I’m ready for our bonding to begin.”
Heading directly for the woods, Kane started to whistle an eerie tune that caused a shiver to run the full length of my weakened body.
CHAPTER 32
