"I don't know. I didn't write down their names," she stammered before retaking command of her voice. "The alphas who came to trade in the camp."
Her response only seemed to anger him further, his hands clenching into fists.
"You, for one," Stacy hurriedly pointed out, anxious to change the subject. "You had your hands on me earlier, and nothing happened."
Vonn stared at her for a moment longer before slowly relaxing, some of the fury draining from his expression. "About that."
He picked something up off the bed, a length of thick hemp rope that she hadn't noticed him placing there. A strange thing to keep under a bed and Stacy's blood chilled at the thought of what he planned to do with it.
"That's a new trick. You're going to tell me how you did it."
Stacy tensed as Vonn came around the bed toward her with the rope in his hand. "You're an idiot if you think that strangling me is a good way to get me to talk."
Vonn gave a bitter laugh, his eyes mocking. "If I wanted to crush your windpipe, all I'd need is this." He held up the thumb and forefinger of his free hand in a semicircle that would easily fit around her neck. "And I wouldn't even break a sweat."
Stacy forced down the knot of fear in her throat. "Then what's the rope for?"
"To tie you to my bed."
Hearing him say it out loud unleashed the panic Stacy had been trying so hard to push down. She tried to ready herself for a fight, but her rhythm was off. Besides, there was no room to move. Her back was literally already against the wall; she was cornered with no hope of getting past him.
Stacy's method of fighting was made for bigger, stronger opponents, but it depended on using their weight and speed against them. She needed them to come at her with speed in order to throw them off balance. They needed to expend their energy while she conserved hers and let gravity do the work.
Vonn's slow, methodic approach left her defenseless.
"I won't let you." It was all Stacy could think of to say, but she sounded more like a petulant child than a seasoned fighter.
"Let me?" She could hear the amusement in his tone. He was too close for her to do anything to him now; she could feel his breath against her shoulder. She stared straight ahead at the threads that secured one of the buttons of his shirt as his torso pressed against her and tried not to think about what was about to happen.
"You're the one that wanted to play captor and captive," he said in a dangerously soft voice. "You're the one who was begging for me to treat you as a prisoner."
"I didn't beg you for anything," Stacy spat. She couldn't control her fury. Uncontrolled anger was dangerous—how many times had she said that to recruits? "If I'm not a prisoner, then let me go."
Vonn cupped her chin, his touch like the kiss of a lighter's flame on a careless hand, shocking and electric. "Let you go where? An omega's place is at her alpha's side."
"I am not an omega." Stacy shouted the words, not caring if he wrapped the rope around her neck and did her in right then. Better to die a dignified beta than live as a cowering omega.
But his reaction, after a quick flash of anger, was…disappointment. Or at least that's what it looked like, though in seconds, both emotions gave way to an inscrutable expression.
"Then I suppose I've got no choice. You get your wish, Sergeant Clarke." He grabbed both her wrists roughly in one big hand and started wrapping the rope around them. "You're my prisoner."
He'd said her name. That was Stacy's first reaction as the rope tightened around her hands, and he began tying a constrictor knot, one that was next to impossible to untie once tightened.
She didn't fight or struggle as he finished tying her, knowing that not only would it be a futile waste of energy, it could easily provoke him to add more restraints.
Finally, her training kicked in again. The disciplined thing to do was to accept this new development and wait. Wait for a moment when the conditions shifted back in her favor, when she had a chance to regain the upper hand. The fact that such a moment seemed so unlikely as to be impossible didn't matter. She would keep fighting until…until she couldn't.
Vonn led her by the rope as if she was a calf headed for slaughter, then ran it through the footboard in a series of half hitches before tying it to the post out of her reach. Then he left the room.
Immediately, Stacy tested the knots—too tight for any maneuvering, as she expected. There was just enough slack in the rope to move a few feet in either direction of the footboard, giving her the choice of curling up on the corner of the mattress or sitting on the floor directly below. Or standing up all night, though as the adrenaline drained from her system, it left exhaustion in its wake.
Stacy sank down until she was sitting cross-legged on the wood floor with her bound arms suspended above her head. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it beat lying on an alpha's bed.
It would be impossible to stay in this position all night, the blood draining from her hands, her arms aching from the position. For now, Stacy breathed through the pain.
She had known the alpha would return, but he was back in mere moments, carrying her pack by the leather loop. Stacy hid her relief as he dropped it on the floor, just out of her reach.
Inside that pack were solutions to her problems, though some, like the cyanide tablet, were more final than others.
Vonn stood looking down at her,
