Roleplaying and drugs. You two sure do like to live on the edge.”
I kept my mo th shu t. He seemed to believe me for now.
My silence must have angered him because he grabbed my chin forcefully.
Just when I was expecting him to strangle me to death, my phone rang.
The quiet and terrifying atmosphere in the room was instantly broken.
The man let go of my chin, and his weight on the bed was gone. He must have gotten up to get my phone.
“It’s Beta Starke! He needs something from me. Let me answer!”
The man’s hoarse voice suddenly became colder. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid he’ll find you in bed with another man?”
“No!” I tried my best to control my panic. “Please. Let me answer. If I don’t, something bad will happen to my friend. I’ll do anything you want!”
I begged shamelessly. What did I have to lose?
I thought maybe he would untie me; I felt no movement on the bed. Instead, he answered the phone and put it on speaker.
Before I could say anything, Roman’s loud, growling voice came yelling from the other end.
“Taya, you b*tch, how dare you lie to me? I told you what would happen. Remember, this is your fault. I want you to imagine your little friend screaming for help as my men defile her, while her mate looks on, wrapped in silver.”
I was so scared I could barely breathe, but if I didn’t act fast,
Harper and Damian were the ones most at risk. I didn’t matter anymore.
“Beta Starke, please! I was just about to send you the address when you called. I’ll be waiting for you in Room 2088 at the Windmere Hotel. Please, come now!”
I could hear Roman gnashing his teeth in anger, hear his low growls deep in his chest before he said, “I’ve already sent my men to your friend’s location. When I get to the hotel, if I don’t see the contract, the she-wolf will be raped, and the man will be wrapped in silver and forced to watch, and then they’ll both be chopped into pieces. Do you hear me?”
“I understand.”
I heard a beep as the masked man ended the call.
I couldn’t see him, so I could only beg him anxiously.
“Sir, you heard him. It’s a matter of life and death. You can do whatever you want to me by pretending to be Roman, but please allow me to save them first. I must see him tonight and give him the contract, or he will k ill my friend!”
It was a long while before the man answered. I wished I could see him, wished I could get this awful blindfold off.
When he finally spoke, he asked, “What contract?”
There was no world in which I was actually going to tell him anything tangible. “It’s just a project contract.”
I heard the clicks of what sounded like him dialing a number on his phone, and then he said unhurriedly, “No worries. I can just call Roman back to go over the specifics.”
S h it.
Double s hit.
Dam n these wolf shifters and their uncanny ability to sniff out half-truths. I was forever at a disadvantage without abilities of my own.
I let all of it out in a whoosh of breath-minus the part about my plan to k ill Roman.
“I had no choice but to lie to him that I could get the Westen. City project for the Starke pack. My purpose was to hold him back in this way so that my friend could get mated smoothly,
but he hasn’t been easy to deal with. I had to make a fake contract.”
After I spoke, the man was silent for a while.
Da mn it, dam n it, da mn it. I wished I could see him. Tears.
welled up in my eyes behind the blindfold. “Sir, I’m telling the truth. Please…let me go,” I whispered.
“Haven’t you slept with Roman?”
“Of course not! He’s a monster. How could I sleep with him?”
Seemingly endless time pa*sed, though it was only a matter of seconds, and then I felt the ties being cut off of my wrists.
Once I was freed, I immediately tore off the blindfold.
The lights in the room were still off, and the man still wore his mask.
At this point, I couldn’t care less about what he looked like. All I cared about was getting him out of here so I could deal with Roman when he arrived.
If I could get this man to leave, I could still deal with Roman according to my original plan.
“Sir, please. Leave now. Beta Starke is a tough person to deal with. If he sees you here, he will ki ll you! I don’t want to be responsible for your death at the hands of a powerful pack.”
The man snorted as if he’d heard a joke. “Why would I be afraid of him? What makes you think his pack is more powerful than mine? That HE is more powerful than me?”
As he spoke, he put his hands in his pants pockets and looked down at me.
He exuded Alpha vibes. They were practically radiating off of him, and I was surprised that hadn’t occurred to me before.
Goddess, he really looked like Griffon…
While I was staring at him, thoughts racing through my mind,
the man sat on the sofa and played with the small golden knife in his hand that he must have used to cut me free.
He didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon…
Rising from the bed, I started walking toward him, wracking my brain for anything I could do to get him to leave.
I had almost reached him when there was a forceful pounding on the door. I instantly froze.
With pleading eyes, I stared into the man’s glowing eyes behind the mask. “Please. I’m begging you,” I said softly. “My friend’s life depends on it.”
My voice trembled and broke. I struggled to hold back a sob,
my ears buzzing and my heart racing far faster than its poor damaged tissue should be able to.
Something I couldn’t place flashed in his eyes for a brief second, but he still got up and went to the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind him.
I heaved a sigh of relief, trying to keep from breaking down.
You can do this, I told myself. You got this.
I quickly turned on the light, removed the fake contract from my bag, and walked to the door.
As soon as the door opened, Roman stormed in. His face was twisted in a snarl, and his wolf had started to take over. His claws were out, his eyes glowed red, and the tips of his ears. were pointed.
If I’d thought he was scary before, he was even more so now.
He advanced on me until I was backed up against the bed, his hand raised as if he were about to strike me. Fighting the urge to cower, I kept my back straight, shoulders square, and maintained eye contact.
“You bi tch, how dare you-”
“Beta Starke, the contract!”
Before he could slap me, I raised the contract between us.
When he saw it, he slowly lowered his hand, then snatched the contract away from.
I didn’t breathe while Roman read it carefully.
“Well, it seems you’re not useless after all.”
Oh, thank the goddess.
Roman wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me hard on the cheek. “Tell me, baby, what reward do you want?”
I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat.
With a calmness I didn’t feel, I said, “Beta Starke, I don’t need any reward other than you telling your men to leave Harper and Damian alone.”