Chapter 51
Cassie
Standing at the hospital entrance I wrapped my arms around myself. Ducking my head so the heavy rain didn’t hit me in the face. But even with my face down and my hair covering me I already knew that I looked like a drowned rat after a minute. And I knew Julian would notice and have something to say about it because he always did.
Or, a small voice seemed to whisper in my head. Maybe he won’t say anything. Maybe he will apologise for being late.
And he was late. Lifting my wrist I squinted through the rain to my watch. It was well past six o’clock now and that was the time he had said.
Not that I was surprised he was late. He probably wasn’t coming at all.
Julian’s mood were like the weather , ever changeable. So no doubt he had decided he didn’t like me again.
So really the only choice I had was what to do now. I could go back into the hospital, dry off in my office and wait for someone to pick me up or I could take myself out for dinner and call an Uber to take me home. And really there was no options really. I wasn’t going to wait around for him. Not now and not ever.
Plus I was starving. Today had been rough and I had barely stopped. I needed to eat and so did the babies I was growing in my belly. Everyone kept telling me that I had to look after myself better and I needed to do better at it.
Wrapping my arms around my midriff I stepped onto the pavement and headed towards downtown where I knew some of my favourite places to eat were. It was a long walk but not impossible and the promise of food at the end of it would be well worth it.
Keeping my head down and my arms around myself I melted into the crowd of people rushing home from work. And it was so easy to blend in. In this crowd I was just another woman. I wasn’t a wolf shifter who just so happened to be in a loveless marriage to the prince who would one day rule. I liked the fact that I could just be a normal woman , I missed feeling like that.
I kept walking and with every step my stomach rumbled.
Groaning I paused and a man who wasn’t looking where he was going bumped straight into my shoulder.
“Watch where you are going.” He turned back to me angrily. “Bitch.”
Shocked at the animosity in his voice I pulled my lips back from my teeth in a low growl. But it wasn’t the growl that stopped him in his tracks it was my eyes. I knew they had shifted and my wolf was looking out of my human face. Most humans didn’t know people like me existed and we liked it that way but there were times like these that they needed to be reminded.
“You walked into me.” I said softly but somehow my voice carried.
His eyes widened even more and his mouth opened and closed like a fish that had been dragged up onto land. “S- sorry miss.” He muttered as he rushed away.
Shaking my head I began to walk again and then thought twice of it. I was cranky and hungry and my control had slipped in a blink of an eye.
Hangry- that was the word the humans used. I was hangry and it made keeping my human side in control.
I needed to eat.
Looking around to get my bearings I smiled to myself. I knew where I was and I knew there was a little burger place not far from here. Grinning because I could already taste the juicy meat against my tongue I headed down an alleyway and then onto a much quieter street.
Picking up my pace i barely noticed the delivery truck that pulled up ahead. There were several of them parked at the curb.
“Evening-“ I nodded my head politely to the men unloading from the back because now I could almost smell the food I was about to eat. I was feeling so much better.
The hair on the back of my neck shot up and some primal instinct told me that something was wrong. It wasn’t unheard of that people were unfriendly here in the city but they usually at least acknowledged a greeting plus the way I could feel their eyes on me.
My feet slowed and I half turned when-
Someone grabbed me around the waist. A muscled arm that felt like a metal band around my stomach. My feet left the ground and I let out a scream that was cut off as a hand clamped over my mouth and cut it off.
Kicking my legs I struggled but I couldn’t get out of the grip as I was tossed bodily into the back of the truck. I landed heavily, my head cracking off the metal truck bed and for a second I could do nothing but just lay there stunned.
“What-“ I didn’t get a chance to finish ask my question because the doors were slammed and I was plunged into darkness.
Did I really have to ask what was going on though?
It was pretty obvious I had just been kidnapped.
***
It wasn’t the darkness that bothered me. I wasn’t afraid of the dark. It was the cold silence. Yes I could hear the rumble of the engine but in no way was it a soothing purr like Julian’s sports car had been. This was the roar of a monster and I was in its stomach. Eaten alive.
Or at least that’s how it felt.
That I was in the bowels of the beast. But I even knew that wasn’t true. I had been kidnapped so that meant that I was about to meat the real monster. The one who’d had me taken from the street.
It was almost comical and if I hadn’t of been in a life or death situation then I would have laughed because so much for being just a regular girl walking to dinner in the rain. Regular women didn’t let taken.
Well they did but I knew deep down that this wasn’t that. This was personal. Probably something to do with who I was married to. There were always assasiantion attempts on the royal family. It was one of the reasons they didn’t go anywhere without their enforcer. I didn’t have security though. Most likely Julian didn’t care enough about my safety to assign me any.
If whoever had taken me meant to ransom me back to my husband they were going to be in for a massive disappointment because Julian didn’t care one bit about me and he never had.
Still the silence was unnerving and in my weirdly heightened state I began to laugh uncontrollably. Even that manically sound was better than the noise of the engine and my own thoughts.
It gave me something to concentrate on.
I laughed so hard and so long that for a second I forgot where I was.
It wasn’t until someone slammed their fist on the heavy mental door that I realised that we had stopped.
My laughter died and this time it really was silent. And the silence was terrifying.
Climbing up to my knees because I couldn’t stand in the cramped confines of the truck bed I waited for the doors to open and I got to see my captors for the first time.
I was going to laugh in their face. In fact I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when I told them that Julian didn’t care about me and would not pay a penny for me to be returned safely and they had wasted their time.
“Turn around.” A gruff voice barked out from the other side of the closed door.
“Never going to happen.” I retorted with more strength in my voice then I felt. At least my voice didn’t shake. I wouldn’t give them any of the fear that I was feeling! I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
“You can either leave this truck on your own two feet or we will knock you out and drag you to the boss unconscious.” Dark laughter filled the air. “I wouldn’t want to be around that monster asleep.” He laughed again and I shuffled back a step. I didn’t know what he meant by that but I didn’t like the sound of it one bit.
I had a sneaky suspicion that being knocked out now would end very very badly for me. I couldn’t fight back in that state. I couldn’t fight back if I was tied up either a small voice seemed to say and I quickly hushed it.
At least awake I could take stock of my surroundings. I could try and make a plan to escape.
“Fine.” I sighed and this time my voice did break.
“Back to the door and your hands behind your back. There’s a gun on you so if you try anything then you will be dead before you even try.”
“I’m not going to try anything.” Shuffling I did what was asked because what other choice did I have?
The door opened quickly and the lorry itself dropped down an inch as someone jumped inside. Metal cuffs were locked over my wrist. Something rough was plunged over my face but not before I had caught a glimpse behind me. Some kind of alleyway and a neon pink sign for some dingy back street hotel was all I could make out before I was plunged into darkness again.
I was yanked out by the arms. And my shoulders screamed in protest. Lashing out with my feet I tried to find some kind of grip to push myself along so they didn’t pop my arms out of the sockets but it was useless.
“Stop it.” I cried out in agony. “I’m not fighting.”
“Well.” A new smooth voice chuckled darkly and my blood ran cold. “That’s not like you Cassie. That’s not like you at all.”
I froze as fear paralyzed me because I knew that voice and I knew I was in deep deep trouble now.
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