CHAPTER ELEVEN
1065 Words
Arielle's POV
The cloth tied around my wrists was starting to burn against my skin.
I shifted slightly in the backseat and tried to loosen my hands again, but it was useless.
The man beside me immediately grabbed my arm harder.
“Sit still.”
I glared at him, unable to say anything since my mouth was stuffed with a cloth.
The car kept speeding down the road and I quietly tried memorizing everything around me through the tinted window.
I didn't allow myself to think too much on why they didn't blindfold me.
Instead I tried to make use of the slip up.
My father always said staying calm could save your life.
Back then I thought he was just being paranoid again.
Now I finally understood.
One of the men in front suddenly laughed while scrolling through his phone.
“Boss said Hunt is already going crazy.”
Another one smirked. “So soon? Good. That's what happens when rich men think they can ruin people.”
I slowly looked up.
So this was about my father.
My stomach tightened.
The car finally stopped after what felt like forever.
One of the men dragged me out roughly and I almost stumbled forward.
My wrists hurt badly from how tightly they held me.
Cold wind brushed against my skin immediately.
I looked around quickly.
It looked to be an abandoned warehouse.
There were no cars nearby. No people. Just darkness and rusted buildings stretching endlessly.
The only car there was the one I came out from and another surrounded by two more masked men.
“Move,” one of them snapped
I complied because I wasn't stupid enough to pull a tantrum at this moment. Not after knowing that they planned to hurt my father through me.
Inside the warehouse, the smell hit me immediately.
Dust and dampness.
The place looked abandoned for years.
Broken windows covered the walls while old machines sat covered in dirt. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped slowly.
They pushed me roughly into a chair and tied my hands behind me tighter.
Then the cloth in my mouth was taken away
“You're making a mistake,” I said immediately even though my heart was pounding now. “My father will find me.”
One of the men crouched in front of me with a grin.
“That's exactly the point, beautiful.”
I swallowed hard.
The men moved away afterward and started talking quietly among themselves while I looked around carefully.
The walls were dirty and rusted pipes filled the room.
There was one exit door.
I forced myself to breathe slowly.
For the first time since they grabbed me, real fear settled inside me.
And suddenly, my mind drifted somewhere else completely.
Victor.
I closed my eyes tightly.
Why him?
Why now?
But the memories came anyway.
His deep voice.
Those piercing blue eyes that looked at me like he was trying not to lose control.
The warmth of his apartment.
The way his large hands gripped my waist that night.
The way he kissed me like he had been starving for it.
Heat rushed embarrassingly through my body despite the situation.
God.
What was wrong with me?
I had a boyfriend. A cheating boyfriend.
My chest tightened painfully as the memory of the restaurant returned.
That woman screaming and David standing there speechless.
Six months.
He had lied to me for six whole months while pretending to love me.
And somehow the betrayal hurt even worse now that I was sitting tied up in some abandoned warehouse.
Because despite everything, part of me knew David would never come looking for me himself.
Victor would.
The thought appeared suddenly inside my head.
Why did I think that?
A loud metal sound interrupted my thoughts as the warehouse door was pushed open.
A tall man walked in and whispered something into one of the kidnappers' ears.
I strained my ears carefully.
But it wasn't enough. I couldn't make out what he said.
Before leaving the man glanced at me a smirk on his face and soon enough all the other men were staring.
Was it time for them to dispose me off already?
Fear crawled deeper into my stomach at that moment.
Victor’s POV
The dreams started days after Arielle left my apartment.
At first, I ignored them.
I told myself it was just guilt mixed with lust and whatever stupid attachment had formed between us after that night. But the dreams kept getting worse.
Every single night, I saw her.
Sometimes she was standing in my kitchen wearing one of my shirts, smiling softly while pouring coffee like she belonged there.
Other times she was underneath me in bed, red hair spread across my pillow while she moaned my name breathlessly.
But lately, the dreams had changed.
Now I saw Arielle running somewhere while crying.
Hands grabbing her.
A loud scream echoing around me before I woke up sweating heavily.
It didn't make sense.
Wolves could sense danger sometimes, especially from people they were deeply connected to. But Arielle wasn't my mate.
At least she wasn't supposed to be.
Still, my wolf had become impossible lately.
I barely slept anymore because every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face again.
That evening, I stood by the window of my apartment staring at the city while rain poured heavily outside.
Something was definitely wrong.
The feeling sat heavily in my chest all day.
I tried distracting myself by making coffee, but it didn't help.
I turned the television on eventually just to drown out the silence.
And that was when I saw her face.
Breaking News flashed across the screen.
Heiress Arielle Hunt Reported Missing.
I froze instantly.
The news reporter kept talking but I barely heard anything after that.
Missing after leaving a restaurant.
Police investigation ongoing.
The vehicle recovered.
My grip tightened painfully around the coffee mug.
The wolf inside me suddenly went completely wild.
At that moment fear slammed hard into my chest.
But it wasn't mine.
At the realization that it was Arielle's the mug shattered in my hand.
Coffee spilled across the floor while blood dripped slowly from my palm.
But I barely felt it.
All I could think about was Arielle somewhere out there afraid and alone.
And before I could even properly think things through I was already moving.
- Writer
