CHAPTER 3: Mr Bulky Ponytail

Alora's POV

My eyes fluttered open to a white ceiling hanging above me. The ceiling didn’t look familiar because my room didn’t have one. I jerked to a sitting position. 

Then I noticed I was sitting on a massive king-sized bed with clean white sheets, and the lingering scent of Mr Bulky Ponytail. I didn’t know why I remembered his scent.

I scanned the quiet room, my heart racing. The floor was polished to perfection. Everything about the room screamed wealth and class and I didn’t have any of that.

I swallowed hard.

Where the hell was I? And why was I here?

Quietly, I slid my legs over the edge of the bed to the cold tiled floor. 

The moment my feet touched the floor, my knees buckled.

“Sh*t!” I gasped, stumbling forward.

The room tilted. My vision blurred, but I caught myself on the bedpost, breath ragged, heart pounding in my ears. 

I staggered to the bedpost for support as I began to think about how I'd gotten there. 

Then everything flashed before my eyes amidst a pounding headache. 

I sat down on the bed as the memory of me coming back from the park and being taken by masked men came tumbling in. 

“Oh God!” I've been kidnapped? 

I didn't know where I was or what they wanted, but every cell in my body screamed for me to get out before they returned, whoever they were. 

I crept toward the door, my heart thudding so loud that it was all I could hear. 

As soon as I got to the door and was about to turn the handle, I heard voices. They were close, and they were walking towards my direction. 

I panicked and hid behind the door but suddenly thought about it. What if they had a weapon? What would I use to defend myself? I looked around the room for a baseball bat, anything to defend myself but found none, so I made the most rational decision that came to my mind. 

To listen in on their conversation and then make my next move. I staggered back to bed and pretended to be asleep in the same position I was when I woke up.  

The door creaked open, and I could make out the voice of Mr bulky ponytail and another that I didn’t recognize. 

“I told you, she had an allergic reaction to the sedative. She might not wake up for hours,” a male voice that sounded clipped said.

I itched to turn and watch, but I couldn’t because I was facing the wall, and trying to control my pounding heart. 

Then came the other voice. Deep, commanding, with a hint of something feral curling at the edge of it.

“How bad?” he asked, sounding worried, and somehow I felt drawn to it, a shiver running down my spine.

“She’ll recover, but she needs rest. The dosage was too high for her body weight.”

The bed dipped behind me.

I stopped breathing.

Then, warm fingers brushed lightly against my forehead. I bit my lower lip, barely holding back a gasp. 

His touch was soothing, and his thumb grazed my cheek absentmindedly, and somehow the headache I felt reduced with each stroke of his fingers on my cheek.

“She’s burning up,” he muttered, almost to himself.

My heart pounded harder. What the hell did they want from me? Why did I feel so good while my abductor was touching me?

“She will be fine, her body is trying to fight it off. Don’t worry alpha. Maybe I could check back later”? The other person, whom I assumed was a doctor, said. 

“Alright,” Mr. Bulky ponytail replied.

I could hear the sound of his retreating footsteps and a door closing.

But the other man stayed.

I could feel him watching me. I imagined those icy-blue eyes boring into the back of my skull. 

What if he knew I was awake? My body was shaking violently. 

Please leave… please leave… I pleaded silently, my heart pounding so loudly I feared he might hear it.

Suddenly, his phone began to ring. The mattress shifted under his weight as he stood up, and felt his footsteps and a door opening and closing. 

I counted from one to twenty before I slowly turned, my eyes darting around the room.

I needed to leave. Now.

I swung my legs off the bed again, slower this time, ignoring the spinning in my head. My limbs still felt like jelly even though the headache was almost gone, but I forced myself up, clinging to the nearby wall for balance. 

I began to move quietly until I reached the door, adrenaline coursing through me like a tidal wave. 

I opened it quietly, and peeked into the hallway. It was empty.

As I took a step forward, I turned to quietly pull the door shut behind me.

And that’s when I saw him.

Mr. Bulky Ponytail.

He leaned against the doorframe leading to what looked like a restroom, with an amused expression, like we were playing a game.

I froze, my lips quivering, and my headache returning a hundred folds. I felt nausea building in my throat.

“Leaving already”? He drawled in that annoying sultry voice. 

I gulped, clutching the door handle until my knuckles turned white.

“Go back to bed little wolf” he rumbled, his voice laced with authority. His eyes fixed on me. 

Little wolf?

What the hell did he mean by that?

I swallowed hard. “Stay away from me.”

One brow arched lazily. “And here I thought you were still unconscious. But look at you, up and running like a thief in the night.”

I backed up a step. “I’m not a thief.”

“No?” He pushed off the frame and began walking toward me slowly. 

“What do you want from me”? I asked, taking more steps back until my back was against the wall.

“Just go back to bed, you’re too weak to leave” 

“I told you I was sorry I crashed your wedding ceremony. You asked me to leave, then why did you turn back and abduct me”? I asked, my voice trembling from fear. He stopped inches away from me. His gaze bored into mine. 

I felt a wave of nausea again and doubled over. 

He made a move to touch me, concern evident in his features. 

“Don’t touch me, you did this to me” I accused, trying to stand again. 

I heard a low growl. 

Something flickered in his eyes. Regret? Confusion? Or anger? I didn’t know. 

Then, without warning, he closed the distance, and swept me off my feet into his arms.

 I gasped in shock.

“Don’t ever say that again” he growled.

I kicked and pushed “let me down now!”

But he didn’t flinch. 

He carried me to the bed and dropped me there, pushing the duvet up to my chin. 

“You need to rest” 

Tears of frustration and anger began to flow from my eyes. He looked away as if it affected him. 

Then he turned away from me, his form rigid and stiff. 

When he turned back, his eyes were black, and he cursed under his breath.

“Don't leave, I’ll be right back, and don’t think for a second that nobody is watching,” he said.

I didn’t say a word. Didn’t nod. I just watched him go. 

The moment he disappeared around the corner, I bolted upright.

I needed a plan.

Because whatever this place was, whoever he was, I knew one thing with terrifying certainty.

I was in deeper than I’d ever imagined.

But I wasn’t going to die here.