Stop, Cici. Focus.
How the hell did I get out of this room with Simon loitering in the hall? After a brief internal debate, I tiptoed across the room and cracked the door to peek out. No Simon in sight. I momentarily wondered where the hell he’d gone then shook my head. I needed to take advantage of his absence.
I ducked out of the room then immediately slipped into another as voices carried down the hall. It was Madison with another woman.
“Can you believe it?” Madison asked. “A fucking human.”
“So much for using him to get close to the new alpha and his group.” The second woman’s voice was higher pitched, nasal. It grated on my nerves. So did her words. Madison had planned to use Simon?
“Please, if his little infatuation with Belinda James wasn’t going to stop me, do you really think some nothing human will? I’ll have him walking away from her just as quickly as she showed up. What man would choose a woman like her over a wolf like me?”
The other woman snickered. “I feel sorry for him. He must be devastated. Belinda may be crazy, but she’d be better than a human woman.”
“Good news for the pack, though. If Belinda James doesn’t belong with Simon, maybe her new man will take her away from here. With her gone, it’ll be easier to work my way in close to Bastion James.” Madison practically purred when she said the alpha’s name.
I knew who Belinda was. Hannibal’s mate. The idea that these two women were speaking of her in such a hateful manner made me want to knock their heads together. It seemed cattiness was just as blatant in wolf packs as it was with humans. Too bad. I’d expected better from a species that seemed superior in so many other ways. Then there was the way I’d seen Belinda. Beaten, broken, and bloody while my brother fought to protect her. I hated these bitches and was ready to give them an earful when the next sentence stopped me cold.
“You’re forgetting Simon’s bound to that frail, little human woman,” nasal voice reminded. “Human or not, the alphas in the James Pack take their vows to the women they choose seriously.”
“He hasn’t even taken her yet. I didn’t see any marks on her, and I looked when I gave her some freezer burnt ice chips. All I have to do is sprout some claws and fangs, and I bet our tiny little human runs for the hills.”
Nasal tone laughed like a hyena at Madison’s cutting words. Vile bitches. Both of them. I’d dealt with women like them most of my life. I never understood how some people only seemed to be happy with themselves when they were tearing others down.
“She’s definitely no Belinda James,” the other woman offered. “Imagine being in love with a woman as gorgeous as her then finding out you’re mated to something so far beneath you. I’d run away if my partner turned out to be human.”
That’s when it hit me. Simon. Mated. To the frail, little human. What? My brain was having trouble processing, but slowly it hit me. Simon was mated? To me? And Madison had looked for a mark when she’d given me a cup of bad ice chips. Bitch! I touched my hand to my neck again and recalled the feeling that he’d bitten me.
“What do you think Simon will do now?” the other woman continued. “Do you think he’ll send her away?”
“Maybe, he’ll quickly find another? I mean if he’s already committed to another, he can’t be forced to take her, right?”
Madison sounded as if she would be willing to step in. Why that made me want to beat the hell out of her, I wasn’t sure. Then I remembered the bite. Did it have the ability to make me like him? To want him? Good lord! Would it make me obedient to him? Hell fucking no! I wasn’t going to be some mindless little woman who would follow every directive Simon gave me. Especially knowing he didn’t want me to begin with. Stuck with me, was he? I needed to get home. Go to the only source of information I had. Hannibal’s mom. My stepmom, Leslie. She’d be able to answer my questions about mating and what it meant.
First, I needed to see exactly what he’d done. Glancing around the room, I found a mirror and moved as silently as I could toward it, tugging my shirt aside so I could inspect my skin. The evidence was blatant. I clearly saw where his teeth had pierced my flesh. The tissue was red and slightly swollen, but I had a feeling it would calm given time. He’d bitten me. Marked me. Because I was his mate?
Hell, no! You didn’t just claim someone without explaining shit to them first. Especially when it was a woman you didn’t want. When you were in love with someone else. God, Simon was in love with my brother’s mate. Hannibal had been right. I should have stayed home and let him handle things on his own. Then I wouldn’t be in my current predicament. Nothing like finding yourself mated to a wolf—God, a wolf! One who didn’t want you but bit you anyway. My life was a freaking mess of epic proportions. I needed to get home. The sooner the better.
I finally took note of the room I was in. There was a second door. Peering out, I saw it led to an empty hallway with a neon sign at the end that proclaimed my salvation. Exit. Thank you, universe!
Not bothering with anything else, I flew down the hallway and shoved out the
