Chapter 3

My first ever ride in a luxury car and I was too paralysed by fear to properly enjoy it. They could have flung me on the back of a donkey, and I wouldn’t have noticed the difference. I didn’t register the buttery-soft leather seats, or the gentle purr of the engine. My attention was too focused on the two male wolves in the front seats of the car.

I’d been escorted out of the bar by the King’s lackey and shoved into the backseat. No one spoke a word to me, and his royal arrogant-ness was nowhere to be seen, instead, it was just me, the driver and the blonde-haired servant.

“Where are we going?” An obvious question, but relevant I thought.

“Not your business,” my new nemesis answered.

“Of course not,” I muttered under my breath, although with their enhanced hearing I was pretty sure the two men heard me loud and clear. “Why am I here?”

“Not your business.” I hated him with a burning passion.

“When can I go home? Wait,” I held up a hand, “don’t tell me, it’s not my business.”

The wolf in the passenger seat didn’t bother to say anything and at this point I wasn’t even sure the driver could speak. Rather than focus on what was happening inside the car, I instead turned to look out of the darkly tinted window. In the watery light of the early morning I could see the pristine streets and well-maintained buildings. Every few blocks there was open green space, dotted with trees and plants. It looked like the perfect city, the light to the human side’s dark. The familiar anger at the inequality between the two races began to burn inside me. Everything I was seeing just reinforced my view that wolves were selfish, uncaring monsters.

The journey seemed to last forever, and as the car finally began to slow the first rays of sun broke through the clouds. I had just begun to nod off, exhaustion overriding my fear, when the car turned up a long driveway, we’d reached our destination. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or terrified by that, yes I should finally find out what was going on, but it may mean that I’d have to be in the same room as the King again, and the idea of that was indescribable. I wasn’t sure my sanity would survive it.

The car gently pulled to a stop in front of the biggest house I had ever seen. House was the wrong word; it was a mansion. The massive front door was bracketed by graceful columns and perfectly sculpted bushes. It seemed like such an elegant entrance into hell.

“Out.” The blonde-haired wolf stood by a now open car door. I hadn’t even noticed him move, I was too caught up in studying the grand surroundings.

I slid slowly out of the car, careful to avoid getting too close to my escort. He walked off towards the front door, clearly expecting me to follow along like a good little human. Sadly that was exactly what I did as I couldn’t really see any other option, besides the sooner whatever this was got sorted out the sooner I could go home.

*************

“You’re human.” The mighty King sat behind a large wooden desk, in a room I guessed was his study.

“Last I checked.” Sarcasm may not be the smartest move right now, given that was alone in a room with the scariest man I’d ever met, but fear made me snarky.

“Then what use are you to me?” Derision laced his tone as he dismissively scanned my body.

I wasn’t an insecure person, far from it, but under the weight of the Alpha’s stare, suddenly the extra bit of fat I carried around my middle made me feel like I should have stuck to my new year’s resolution and cut out the chocolate. Darn my lack of willpower.

“Absolutely no use at all. You may as well toss me back with the rest of the lowly humans.” I had no idea what the man was talking about, why he would need to have any use for me at all. So far answers hadn’t exactly been forthcoming.

In a movement almost too quick for my eyes to track he was in front of me, anger rolling off him in waves, sucking all the oxygen from my lungs. My body froze, I knew I was the prey here, of that there was no doubt.

“Much as I would like to ‘toss you back’, little human, unfortunately for me that isn’t how this works.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying to block out the broad chest that now obscured my view of the room. The Alpha King may be a complete monster, but he looked good doing it. Why couldn’t the Devil look like the Devil? As those thoughts ran through my head I felt a warm hand hook under my chin, forcing my head upwards.

“Look at me when I speak to you.”

Standing this close to him I could feel the words rumble in his chest. I slowly cracked my eyes open, unable to resist the absolute authority in his voice. Suddenly I was drowning in a sea of sparkling blue. The man really had no right to have such beautiful eyes, eyes that were currently snapping fire at me.

“You will not be returning to your home, this is now your home. I may not have any use for you, but you are my mate, and you will stay with me.” Those deep blue eyes held a steely promise; defiance would not be tolerated.

“Mate?” I just about managed to squeak out.

Ignoring me he continued, “Keep quiet and do not cause any trouble. Obey me and perhaps I will reconsider your usefulness to me.”

He released his iron grip on my chin and returned to his desk, effectively dismissing me. I didn’t move, my body suddenly cold in the absence of the heat that radiated from him. My brain on the other hand was racing with confusion and outrage.

“Jace.” I jumped about a foot in the air as the idiot Alpha called for his man.

My second least favourite wolf blonde-haired wolf stuck his head around the door. “Yes, sire?”

“Take her away.”

And just like that I was forgotten, the papers in front of him were apparently infinitely more interesting that his useless human mate.

As I followed Jace from the room my stupid stubborn streak reared its annoying head, “Trust me, oh great Alpha, I will never be useful to use. That I can promise.”

That said I flounced from the room, desperately trying to cling onto some kind of dignity in the face of what had quickly become the worst day of my life.