CHAPTER 2
1128 Words
"Who are you?"
I jolt awake, my heart racing. Disorientation hits first, then awareness – a heavy male body beside me, both of us naked save for a thin sheet. Heat creeps up my neck as fragments of last night flash through my mind.
'Don't move,' I tell myself, trying to control my breathing. 'Think.'
I attempt to wrap the sheet around myself but stop, realizing it would leave him exposed. My skin burns, every nerve ending alive with embarrassment. The situation feels surreal – like something from a romance novel, not my real life.
'Propriety matters,' my mother's voice echoes in my head. Despite what humans think about werewolves, we're not animals. We have standards!
But then memories flood back: my voice, desperate and breathy, repeating over and over, "I'm your mate!"
'Oh god.'
I ease myself off the bed, moving with exaggerated care. His scent envelops me – forest after rain, rich wood, and something spicy I can't name. It makes my head spin, pulls at something primal inside me.
'We shouldn't leave!' Rayne's voice is urgent in my mind. 'He is our mate!'
An open suitcase catches my eye. I grab a white button-down shirt, grateful when it falls almost to my knees. A necktie works as a makeshift belt.
'Ethan needs us,' I argue with my wolf. 'He's fourteen and alone with Patrick. What if those men come after him next?'
'Our mate matters more!' Rayne insists. 'Can't you smell his power? He's the strongest Alpha we've ever encountered!'
I freeze, turning slowly to look at the sleeping man. "Alpha?" I whisper aloud.
'Of course he's Alpha!' Rayne practically preens. 'His scent marks us as his now. No one would dare harm us.'
My eyes scan the dresser, landing on a gold card case. The initials "TW" gleam in the morning light. Inside, I find business cards: Tyler Wright, Moonrise Entertainment.
The air leaves my lungs. House Wright. The Moonrise Pack. Every wolf in America knows that name – the largest, wealthiest pack in the country. Their influence stretches coast to coast.
'But this can't be their Alpha,' I reason. 'He's too young. Must be family...'
My hands won't stop shaking as I steal one of his cards. Rayne howls in protest as I edge toward the door.
'Stay! Our mate needs us!'
'Ethan needs us more,' I counter, though every step away feels wrong.
The hallway is mercifully empty. In the elevator, I catch my reflection – wild hair, swollen lips, wearing nothing but his shirt. The word 'LUST' emblazoned on the lobby wall makes me blush fiercer.
A woman in a fitted black dress approaches, tablet in hand. "May I be of service?" Her professional tone somehow makes this more mortifying.
"Yes, please." My voice cracks. "I need a ride."
"Of course. Address?"
I open my mouth to give her my home address, then stop. After what Patrick did... home might not be safe anymore.
'Think,' I tell myself. 'Where can we go that they won't look for us?'
The borrowed shirt still carries his scent – my mate, my Alpha. Part of me aches to go back upstairs, to curl into his warmth and let him handle everything. But Ethan's face flashes in my mind, and I know I can't.
I have to protect what's left of my family, even if it means running from my own mate.
I give Bella's address to the concierge. After four years of friendship since freshman year, Bella's more family than friend – more sister than Patrick ever was father.
'We're going the wrong way!' Rayne's agitation pulses through me. 'Our mate will think we're rejecting him! What Alpha would want an unmated female who runs?'
"He'll survive," I mutter under my breath. "Ethan might not."
The ride feels endless, my skin still burning with the memory of my mate's touch, his scent lingering on his borrowed shirt.
Bella's waiting at her door, my phone clutched in her hand. "Found it with your backpack outside school," she says, pulling me into a fierce hug. "We called your father and he—" She stops, face darkening.
"What did he say?" The words taste bitter.
She shakes her head. "Nothing worth repeating."
My hands tremble as I dial Ethan's number. One ring, then—
"About time you called!" Patrick's voice hits me like a slap.
"Ethan—"
"Gone!" he snarls. "They took him after you ran off to play w***e with some Alpha. If you'd just done what you were told—"
"Done what I was told?" Ice spreads through my veins. "You mean let them r**e me?"
"They said you ran straight to an Alpha. Had your fun, did you? Well, hope it was worth it. They're going to kill your brother if they don't get their money."
Rayne's growl vibrates through my skull. "Their money? Your debt, you mean!"
"Not anymore! Five hundred grand, or Ethan dies. Your debt now, princess."
My laugh sounds hysterical even to my own ears. "How am I supposed to get that kind of money?"
"Ask your new Alpha boyfriend. What's his name? Or didn't you bother to ask while you were—"
"Tyler Wright," I snap before I can stop myself.
The line goes silent. Then: "Tyler Wright? THE Tyler Wright?" He barks out a laugh. "Well, well. Maybe you're not completely useless. The Wrights can afford—"
"No!" The word tears from my throat. "Ethan is YOUR son!"
"And I can make another! Check your messages. Good f*****g luck."
The line goes dead. My phone buzzes immediately.
"Are they really claiming they have Ethan?" Bella's voice seems far away.
I open the messages. The video thumbnail shows a dark room.
"I can't—" My hands won't stop shaking.
Bella takes the phone, holds it steady between us. The video plays.
Ethan's tied to a chair, blood matting his dark hair. His face is swollen, purple bruises stark against pale skin. Duct tape covers his mouth, but his eyes – God, his eyes are wild with terror.
A masked figure steps into frame. "One week," the voice announces. "Then we start sending... different kinds of videos. Two weeks total, Pat. Tick tock."
The screen goes black.
Bella's parents find us like that, still staring at the dark screen, tears streaming down our faces.
"What happened?" Mrs. Chen's voice is gentle but firm.
I look up at them, these people who've been more parents to me than my own. "They have Ethan," my voice cracks. "I need half a million dollars or they'll kill him."
The silence that follows is deafening. Then Mr. Chen asks quietly, "Start from the beginning. Tell us everything."
And for the first time since this nightmare began, I do.
- Writer
