A brutal hand clenches my chin and gives my head a firm shake. Instinct takes over then and I immediately let Her free. With a roar, she swipes at the hands that try to grab her and I can smell blood in the air, making our mouth water.
“Fuck!” the familiar voice cries out. “Help me get her!”
I feel hands grasping at my fur, my ears and I snarl and snap my teeth, feeling bones break under the power of my jaws. She is fighting and trying to break us free. Victory is within our reach when we cry out from a sharp sting and almost immediately; we drop, unable to move.
“Took you long enough,” the familiar voice growls, “Get that collar on her. I’m not going to chance this happening again when she wakes up.”
“No!” my cat screams as a pronged collar cuts into our throat. An electric current runs through us and I feel my human body return.
“Haught!” I whimper before the growing fog envelops me and I fall back into the darkness.
The next time I wake, my head feels even foggier.
“Wake up, you little bitch!” the familiar voice says as a sharp slap is delivered to my face.
Trying to raise my bound hand to my cheek, I realize I’m lying on a bare mattress on a small metal-framed bed, and wince in pain more excruciating than I’ve ever felt in my life; more intense than my first change as a child. “Unh,” I groan as tears form in the corner of my closed eyes.
“There she is,” the voice purrs in words filled with delight and something more evil. Henri? It can’t be him. I must have been hit harder than I think.
“We will rip him to pieces,” She vows as I become more aware of just what’s happened to me.
Blinking a few times I am finally able to open my eyes and look into those of an enemy I was unaware of.
“You,” I snarl shakily as anger sweeps through me. My first instinct is to lunge at him and rip his head off, but I hurt too badly at the moment. “What is going on, Henri? Why are you doing this to me?”
He puts his hands on either side of my head and leans in, his nose nearly touching mine, and the warmth from his breath makes my skin crawl. The more awake I become, the feelings of the two men grow clearer, the stranger’s uneasiness clear.
“You had to go and run away, didn’t you?” He runs his nose along mine and I turn the opposite direction, but his hand holds my head in place with a strong grip on my chin. “We were going to get married. You were my way to secure financial backing for my next development project, but that’s ruined now.” He squeezes my chin harder and puts more of his weight on me, preventing any movement I may try. He wants my attention and he has it.
“I never agreed to marry you,” I grit between clenched teeth, letting out an angry growl from deep within.
“That was never an issue,” he scoffs. “Now, you’ve given yourself to that biker trash, let him claim you. You’re tainted; a disgrace to your family and me,” he spits in hatred.
“You’re the disgrace,” I counter, matching his glare. “My mate has more honor than you could ever acquire. He and his club will always be better than you,” I snarl, surprising myself. I’ve never been one to be so boldly defiant. Maybe finding my soulmate has made me stronger than I think.
“You bitch!” Rising his torso slightly, he releases my chin only to slap me harshly.
Tears sting my eyes and my head throbs even more. I’m vulnerable with my wrists and ankles bound to the bed posts, and even more so with the collar around my throat that prevents me from shifting. His hand grips my breast and squeezes hard. It’s then that I notice my clothes are dirty and torn.
“You’ll pay for betraying me,” he declares then pushes off the mattress to stand and glare at me. “And so will he.” I try my hardest not to let him see my pain and fear. His threat toward Haught doesn’t scare me as much, however. He is no match for my mate, not in human form and definitely not in his shifter lynx form. Haught will eat him alive.
A cough catches his attention and he looks to the doorway where a man in uniform stands nervously. They exchange a look and Henri turns back to me.
“Don’t get too comfortable, sweetheart. I’ll be back for you,” he declares with an evil grin before a sharp pain in my neck distracts me. The other man has come to my side unnoticed and stuck me with a needle. He’s full of guilt as he walks away with Henri, leaving me locked up in this dark, god-forsaken room.
“It hurts! Take it off! Please! It hurts!” my cat cries out, causing tears to slip down my cheeks. The collar is uncomfortable for me but it is torture for her. If I try to shift, it sends an electric shock through us that is more painful than anything I’ve ever felt.
“I know it hurts, I’m sorry,” I whisper, trying to soothe her.
Want Haught. Please. He’ll make them stop.
He must not know where we are.
Whatever the man injected me with is messing with my control over the shift and it begins even though we don’t want it to.
No, no, no! Stop! Stop! It hurts!
The shift happens before I can summon the strength to stop it. Electricity shoots through our system, causing us to be caught in a cruel, unending cycle of shifts that sends that horrible current shooting almost nonstop through us. My screams intertwine with my cats screams until finally, the pain makes us pass out completely.
Our last thought before the darkness takes us is the one fear that scares me the most: I may never see my beloved Haught again.
