Page 52 of His Fated Luna

Her expression turned grim. “His father was no friend to our pack. Alice left to live a lone wolf’s life with him, but I don’t know what he’d be capable of. Power-hungry men will do anything for control.” She stepped closer, pressing a hand to my cheek. “Be careful, Aiden. I’m sorry your father isn’t here. You’ve been given so much responsibility, so soon.”

Hold on, Rose.I clenched my fists.We’re coming to save you.

Chapter 19

“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” – Paulo Coelho

Rose's POV

“Boss said we weren’t to touch her!” exclaimed a gruff voice.

My head was pounding as consciousness slowly returned to me.

“Oh come on, Ray. He wouldn't know. We won’t hurt her.” A second, cajoling, voice pierced the fog in my skull.

He sounded like a spoiled child begging for sweets. I focused on keeping my eyes closed and breathing even as everything came flooding back. I’d been kidnapped.

“Bobbin, ya know we won’t get paid if ‘e finds out!” snapped the gruff voice who, I assumed, belonged to Ray.

The pounding in my head just kept increasing. Maybe I had a concussion. The smell of cigarettes and beer was strong. Lights from above were piercing through my closed eyes and adding to the intense pain in my head. I hoped they’d stay away from me as long as they thought I was asleep. My hands were tied behind my back as I lay on my side over a hard mattress.

Bobbin grumbled something indiscernible.

“Go stand guard outside,” Ray demanded. There was more grumbling from Bobbin before there was the slamming of a door.

I distinctly realized that the smell of cigarettes decreased somewhat. I could discern their smells, I realized. Opening my eyes a crack, I saw the kidnapper, who was Ray, standing with his back to me. His back stiffened, and he turned to look at me. I quickly shut my eyes. They needed to think I was still asleep. But I was so scared, it was hard to regulate my breathing into a normal pattern.

Scolding myself to calm down, I tried to think of a viable plan of action. Being afraid wasn’t going to help, and it wasn’t going to get me out of here. I tried to think rationally. I couldn’t open my eyes, but I had developed a keen sense of smell, so I took stock of my surroundings using my nose. The faint smell of dirt and trees hit my nostrils. I didn’t know how much time had elapsed, but I was pretty sure I must still be in the woods next to the road. Oh goddess, were they planning to rape me in these woods and then leave me to die? But no… Boss…they had a boss who wanted me in one piece. But why?

My mind was careening every which way, quaking in fear but at the same time urging me to figure a way out of this. I was no warrior. I wasn’t like Layla. But one thing I knew was that the mind was a powerful thing.

“You can stop pretending to be sleeping. I knew you were awake the moment you started breathing all fast.”

Ray’s voice was matter of fact, slick like oil rolling down a hill. He had no qualms whatsoever over kidnapping a young girl.

I opened my eyes. A middle-aged man with sagging cheeks and a potbelly looked back at me. He didn’t seem like a werewolf. Werewolves were usually fit.

“Please let me go,” I croaked out.

Ray shook his head.

“No can do. Boss said we were to keep you here until he came back.”

Back? So was it their boss that had been the huge wolf who had kidnapped me? He had been so big…bigger than even Aiden or my father’s wolf. I shivered at the memory of the bloodlust in the wolf’s eyes. Whoever he was, he was powerful.

“What’s he going to do to me?” I asked fearfully.

Ray shrugged, as my eyes flicked to a small side table next to my head. It was littered with empty beer bottles…

“Look, we just following orders, girl. Bobbin and I, we need some money and Boss was willing to give it to us in exchange for helping him keep an eye on you. We ain’t supposed to ask Boss any nosy questions.”

I struggled experimentally. I felt a pain shoot up my leg and winced. I’d forgotten about the injury. It seemed to be healing but the werewolf’s teeth had sunk deep into my leg. It would still take time for it to heal completely. That is, of course, if it didn’t get an infection first.

“I’m hurt. I need to see a doctor,” I tried again.

Ray looked down at my leg warily. My leg was covered in blood. It really did look worse than it was thanks to the fact that no one had bothered to clean me up.

“If I don’t show it to someone, it could get infected. I might need to get it cut off!” I exclaimed earnestly.