My heart felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest, it was pounding so hard.
Why had this man shown up instead of Roman?
Why was he wearing a mask to cover his face?
Why did he turn off all the lights after coming in?
What did he want?
My mind was a mess, and I had no idea what to do.
Dealing with Roman was one thing. But this changed everything.
I gritted my teeth and tried to force my body into compliance -I need to seem strong and sure of myself.
No matter who this was, I would find a way to deal with him. I HAD to.
I released my tightly clenched fists and played du mb.
“Beta Starke,” I said, “if you wanted to roleplay, you shouldn’t have turned off the lights. It’s too dark to see anything.”
As I spoke, I picked up the gla*s on the table next to me and discreetly filled it with a little bit of the crushed sleeping pills. I poured wine into it, and then walked over to the man to hand the gla*s to him.
“Why don’t you have a drink to relax?”
”
I’d originally intended to give Roman the contract when he arrived. I expected only after he had the contract in hand would he be interested in having se x.
Then, I’d give him a drink to liven up the mood and relax. When the sleeping pills took effect, I would kil l him with my dagger.
Finally, I would record a video to expose all of Roman’s crimes and show that I was forced to ki ll him to put an end to his evil.
As for myself? After I uploaded the video, I would slit her wrists, ending my own life.
The Starke pack and the police would a*sume our deaths were due to a lovers’ quarrel. This way, they wouldn’t involve Harper in my mess.
However, despite how carefully I’d planned, there was no way I could have foreseen a stranger coming in Roman’s place.
I couldn’t ki ll this person.
I couldn’t end up with two bodies on my hands.
The smaller amount of crushed pills I added to the wine I held out could make people temporarily lose consciousness, but it would not ki ll them.
Provided my calculations were correct and these amounts would work on wolf shifters like I thought it would. They metabolized everything so much more quickly.
I was going to drug this man, and then quickly book another room to send the address to Roman, leaving this guy here to sleep it off.
Otherwise, if I didn’t meet with Roman tonight, he would send someone to Harper and Damian.
I held the gla*s up to the man, urging him to take it, but he didn’t accept it.
He just stared at me with his otherworldly, shining wolf eyes, his mask hiding any expression on his face.
It was as if he could see through me, see all of my thoughts.
The aura emanating from him was comparable to Griffon-
powerful and commanding.
He hadn’t said a word since he came in. Just lowered his head and stared at me.
I would have thought he was a zombie if it weren’t for seeing his chest’s slight rise and fall.
He was much larger than me, strong and tall-he reminded me of a mountain. This wasn’t a shifter to be trifled with.
Despite how scared I was, my mind was racing with thoughts of how to deal with him.
Suddenly, he pressed me against the wall Do you like to roleplay?”
He spoke very low, as if deliberately hiding his voice. It was so low and rough, it was as if his wolf were speaking to me.
It was impossible to tell who he was. I had to find a way to take off his mask.
Plus, he wasn’t buying my act. I was already in danger, so I switched tactics.
I mustered up all of the confidence and sternness I could.
“You’re not Beta Starke. Who are you? Why won’t you show your face?”
The man did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand-wearing a black glove-and touched my cheek softly. The leather was cool on my skin. “Answer my question first.”
While he was touching my face, I quickly reached out to pull off his mask.
However, he reacted quicker and grabbed my wrist.
I still held the wine in my other hand. Unless I dropped the wine, which I didn’t want to do because of the sleeping pills in it, I was trapped.
The man saw that I was still tightly gripping the winegla*s, and his eyes narrowed.
He snatched it from my hand, held it under his nose, and sniffed.
I nervously sweated as I watched him, and my brain stopped working instantly.
This was a shifter. How could he NOT smell the drugs in there?
I held my breath and waited for his reaction.
But he said nothing and put the gla*s aside.
Perhaps the smell of the wine overpowered anything else? I prayed that was the case.
He then took out a wh ite cotton rope and grabbed both my hands.
Frightened, I screamed, “B astard!”
I struggled and resisted desperately, but the wolf’s hold was too strong.
He tightened his grip on my wrists and tied them up with the rope.
Then, he pulled a piece of cloth from his pocket and covered my eyes.
Blindfolded, I was completely surrounded by darkness.
I felt like I had fallen into an endless abyss, unable to escape no matter how hard I struggled.
If I’d thought Roman was terrifying…I was learning there was someone even more terrifying than him.
Nervous sweat drenched my body, and I couldn’t keep my legs from trembling.
Tied, blindfolded… I was helpless.
The only thing I could do now was try to calm down, to figure out what to say for him to let me go.
“Sir.” My voice was just as shaky as I felt. “Wh-What are you doing?”
The man did not answer. Instead, he picked me up.
I yelped as I was lifted and then was thrown onto the soft hotel bed.
I was positive he was going to ra pe me, but he didn’t touch me. Instead, I felt the bed shift as he sat down beside me.
My dagger.
It was beneath the pillows.
If I could get just a little bit closer, I could use it to cut the ropes off my wrists.
Wiggling around under the pretense of getting away from him, I managed to push my body closer to where the dagger was. But just as my hands were about to touch the pillows, the man suddenly pressed down on top of me.
Then his rough voice was in my ear, so close I could feel the warmth of his breath.
“You asked Roman to come to this hotel, and you drugged the wine. What were you planning?”
I froze.
Why was he asking about something that had nothing to do with him?
Could Roman have seen through my plan and sent this man to sniff out my true intentions?
No, that was impossible.
This wasn’t Roman’s style. If he had known I wanted to k ill him,
he would have sent someone to chop me up and feed me to his hogs.
“It’s…it’s just a kind of drug to get someone excited. Like an aphrodisiac.” I pretended to be calm and spoke quietly.