Page 2 of Never Submit (Bad Wolves #2)

Chapter 2

Ren

I slowly pry my eyes open and immediately regret it.

A sharp pain throbs at the back of my skull, sending waves of nausea through my body. I clench, curling into myself, my skin breaking out in a terrible cold sweat.

I try to sit up and an immediate dizziness slumps me back down.

My fingertips brush the back of my head, coming away smeared with a sticky wetness.

Blood.

Ah, fuck. That’s not good. But it explains the killer headache.

What happened?

Closing my eyes again, I rewind my memory for any clues. There’s nothing but a huge blank space and more pain waiting for me. Grinding my teeth, I push through the blankness, searching—but the last thing that comes to me is reaching the top of Grey Mountain.

With the wolves and the Moonstone. Only to find the goddess’s temple destroyed, smashed to rubble .

Another flare of pain stops me, and I hiss, pressing a hand to my roiling gut.

It feels like someone hit me with a brick or something.

Wait— the wolves .

Torin, Mathis, Noble, and Dax… Where are they?

My eyes fly open, and I’m greeted by more darkness. Blinking rapidly, my vision finally adjusts, sharpens, and I look around to get my bearings. Okay, not good is an understatement.

Metal bars surround me, and my heart gives a little flip-flop, chest tightening. I'm in a cage. An actual fucking cage. Like something they’d put an animal in.

There isn’t much room in here either. Enough to stand, but that’s about it. More a cage than a cell, like I don’t deserve even the decency of walking space like any common criminal.

Frantic, I check my red hoodie’s pockets for the Moonstone, but they’re empty.

Shit!

This is getting worse by the second.

Around the cage is jagged rock; the room was carved out of stone. Indents and grooves from pickaxes and shovels scour the walls. Definitely a man-made cave, unlike the one Mathis took me to.

Fear shakes me to my core.

What else do I remember?

My head throbs. Not a whole lot of anything. There's only the constant dull ache where memories should be, and it's driving me crazy.

What happened after we made it to the temple? How did I end up here ?

I breathe deeply to calm myself. I need my wits in-fucking- tact if I’m going to make it out of here—wherever here is—and find a way back to safety.

Back to the werewolves.

Never in my life would I equate werewolves with safety but here we are.

Wait…were they the ones who kidnapped me, threw me in a cage? For a fleeting moment I can’t breathe. I quickly quash the idea.

I’d gone with them willingly up the mountain. Hell, I had sex with two of them and hit third base with another. There’s no need to lock me up. I’m a willing participant.

No . They wouldn’t .

Which means—and I cross my mental fingers—they’re probably looking for me right now.

At least I hope so.

I won’t be waiting to find out, though.

I push myself up and lean against the bars of the cage, testing their strength without exerting too much energy off the bat. When I throw my shoulder against them, they don’t budge. I try again, winning myself a nice bruise but no freedom.

The bars are too strong.

Tugging each one to test for weaknesses, I notice that there's a gap between the bars and the rock wall. I squint, judging the space.

Maybe I can slip through. If I'm careful and suck in my gut.

It’s worth a shot because I’m about ten seconds away from a full-blown panic attack.

Testing my theory, I draw in a breath, pull in my stomach, and try to squeeze myself through. With the rough stone at my back, I wiggle between the wall and the bar, the sharp jagged edges digging into my skin with every move .

Fucking hell, it hurts. I clench my jaw and pretend the pain doesn’t exist.

I know it’ll be nothing compared to what’s coming for me if I stay. People don’t kidnap women and throw them in cages to serve them tea and fucking crumpets.

The thudding of incoming footsteps echoes from the other side of the wall.

Frozen in place, my heart pounds in my chest. The sounds are strangely clear, almost too clear, and my mind hones in on the sound, latching and holding firm.

My head pounds thunderously, in time with my pulse, and my hands shake. I want to run, to hide. I want to disappear.

All I can do is force myself back into the cage, the rocks slicing across my back again, but this time hard enough to draw blood.

The pain is fleeting though.

The voices from the other side of the wall are loud enough for me to make out every syllable. Men’s voices. And they're talking about me.

"She should be awake by now," one of the men says. "You sure you don’t want me to just kill her? I don’t see how she’s any use to us. Better to slit her throat and be done."

Another man mutters something under his breath, and it’s so low I can't make out the words. But the tone of his voice is angry, sending shivers down my spine.

“The Moonstone? Are you sure?” the first asks with a hint of incredulity.

“I know what I saw,” the first barks so harshly I flinch.

I can imagine the other one is flinching, too. There’s power to the second man’s voice, power that makes me want to shy away and make myself as small as possible.

I’m not sure why, but it’s like my body reacts on its own. Just by this stranger’s voice. Like it knows something I don’t and is powerless to do anything but obey.

There’s a scraping noise, and a strip of light cuts through the gloom momentarily before a massive figure snuffs it out again with his shoulders.

The glow leaves the man silhouetted.

He's huge, tall, and intimidating, with long black hair and equally dark eyes. I know I've seen him before—the way fear curls tight in my gut confirms it—but I can't quite place him.

I clamp down on my lower lip to keep from crying out.

"Hello there, darlin’,” he says in a twang of an accent that doesn't match his dangerous appearance. But something rings familiar in my mind, like déjà vu on steroids. “I’m sorry for the… accommodations .” He glances at the bars of the cage before continuing. “But we’re not expecting to stay for long.”

"Who are you?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady. "What do you want with me?"

He simply smiles, a cruel twist of his lips that sends a chill down my spine.

“We want the Goddess’s Moonstone, little one,” he says. “The crystal you stole. Once we have it, you’re free to go.”

Lies .

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The words squeak from my lips, but that’s when I notice his shirt is shredded across the chest, dry blood crusted on the flesh underneath, and all my bravado falters and dies. “I-I didn’t steal a-anything.”

Slowly, he steps forward, pushes his hand through the bars of my cage, and unfurls his fingers, each tipped with a long, pointed nail. “Give it to me.”

“You’re not listening.” My breathing picks up speed .

“I hear you loud and clear. Give us the stone.”

“But…but I don’t have it.”

The change in him is immediate.

He slams his body against the cage, his arm shooting out between the bars and his fingers wrapping around my throat.

Those spiked nails dig into my flesh, biting down, and I gasp.

Spiked nails?

But—

He squeezes so hard he cuts off the air to my lungs, stealing my breath. I struggle and grab at his wrist, pulling as hard as I can.

He doesn't release me. And I’m not strong enough to make him budge.

“Let me go!” I manage to croak out.

He snarls at me, fanged canines on full display, and inside me something curls up and recoils in terror. This man is full of power, authority. Frighteningly so.

He has my life in his hands.

A warning zips up my spine. It’s like my very soul is telling me to do as he says and submit if I want to survive. I’ve never in my life been the type to submit, but something about those black eyes chills me to the core.

His head tilts to the side, studying me, and his nostrils flare as he takes in a deep breath. His eyes roll back, as if whatever he’s smelling brings him to ecstasy. A growl even rumbles in his throat.

“ Shift .”

The command booms inside my head, and my muscles clench as if they want to obey.

“W-what?”

“Shift!” he shouts. “Show me your wolf!” He flashes his teeth at me. “You’ll obey me, little one. Or you won’t like the consequences.”

Okay, this guy is not only dangerous, but he’s completely and utterly insane.

“I’m–I’m not…like you! I’m not a wolf! I’m human! Human!” Somehow the knowledge flickers in my gutted senses.

This dude is a wolf, just like Mathis or Torin.

With equal power—if not more.

His grip on my throat hasn’t loosened, and I’m starting to get dizzy from the lack of oxygen to my brain. Black spots dance in front of my eyes.

“Don’t play with me, you fucking bitch,” he snarls, and grips the tatters of his shirt as if he blames me for it. “I watched the Moonstone disappear into you. I saw your wolf. I can smell it on you.”

I cough, wheezing. “I don’t know what you?—”

He squeezes my throat even harder, cutting off the rest of my sentence. My eyes bulge and terror spikes. This monster is going to kill me. Right here. Right now.

“P-Please,” I beg. “Let…me…”

Then, to my surprise, he releases me. Just like that.

I drop to the ground, choking and sputtering as I force air back into my greedy lungs. Rubbing my throat, I glare up at him, his face half-shadowed by the darkness cloaking the room.

His furious scowl bears down on me.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says harshly. “If the Goddess wants to play these games, then fine, I’ll play. I have patience.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about—games? What games?

“I have you here now, and you’re not going anywhere.” His gaze darts around the cage, as if he’s inspecting it. “Get comfortable, darlin’. This is your home now. With me.”

He says it like he’s never letting me go.

Suddenly, the name wriggles from the deep recesses of my memory.

“You’re…Andras?”

Torin, Mathis, Noble, Dax… One of them had said Andras was the leader of the Blood Moon pack, and that he was power-hungry and completely off his rocker.

Another understatement.

I remember seeing him on the mountain, after his pack attacked us, and then our standoff with the Moonstone. What came next is still a little fuzzy, but he must have knocked me out somehow and brought me here. He must have–

He smiles, slow and wide, showing off those wolfish canines again. It makes me shiver.

Despite the jittery fear shaking me down to my toes, I lift my chin. It might be the biggest mistake of my life, but I don’t want him to see how scared I really am. My pride won’t allow it.

“My wolves… Where are they?” I demand.

“Who? The Steel Claws? Grey Valley?” He raises his shoulder in a half shrug. “They ran off like the cowards they are. With their tails between their legs. You’ll never see them again.”

I don’t believe him. “They’re probably looking for me right now,” I say. “And they’ll–they’ll rescue me and kill you.”

His laughter explodes from him, and I wince at the terrible harshness of it. “You think so?”

I swallow roughly. “Yes, I do. You’ll see. They’re going to come for me. Then you’ll be sorry. ”

“Oh, darlin’,” he says, coming in close to the bars again with that haunting grin still on his face, “I’m counting on it.”

Andras turns and shuts the door behind him so hard the rocks of the cave shudder and dust rains down all around me. The room is swallowed by darkness once again, leaving me blind, terrorized, and running out of hope.