Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (5 page)

Something, dark, sleek, and stealthy.

Something that looks
cat-like
, only bigger.
My instincts go on high alert, every nerve ending in my body coming alive as my wolf clamors to take chase.

Ac
utely aware that
my team is
also
out there while
some
unidentifiable
danger
l
urk
s
in the shadows, t
endril
s
of unease
slither
restlessly
through me
.
I
blink
my eyes and
try to
figure out who or what
is
prowling
around
the master’s
private kingdom
.
B
ut before my brain can decipher
what kind of creature
is
stalking
the
vineyard,
I’m led
toward the back stairwell
.

That’s when
it occurs to me that
Lawrence is
taking me to my
former cage in the bowels of the estate
.
My
feet come to a
resounding
halt
,
troubled by
this turn of events.

“
I want to see the master,” I say,
eager
to face him
here and now
,
partly because I want to get
the dreaded meeting over with
and partly because I
don’t
want to be tossed in
to
my
pen
for the
remainder of the
night
,
wondering
about Logan’s fate
.
His future.
The torture he’s about to endure.

One
dark
eyebrow shoots up
, mocking me
.
“
S
ince when do you call the shots around here
,
pet
?
”
He draws out the word pet just to taunt me.
But I can’t let that get to me right now.
I have more important matters to deal with.

Like gaining my enemy’s trust.

I need
the master
to believe my
rehearsed
lies otherwise he might keep me from the courtyard tomorrow.
If I
don’t set my plan into motion
at the proper
time,
there is a good chance I won’t
get another shot at this and
my mission to free the others
and demolish the master
once and for all
could be
over
before it even beg
ins
.

That thought has
anger
rising in my throat
and a
sick
,
nervous
feeling
rushes through my blood
stream
.
B
ut
as Lawrence pins me with a glare,
I
understand
what
the
master is
doing, understand that this is simply another
form of punishment
, a means to
break his rebellious wolf.

I also understand I
’m in no position
to change it.

But I
quickly
remind myself
that the night is young, and the master could still summon me
.
I need to cling to that
crumb of
hope because i
t’s the only way I can face the next few hours
of
solit
ary confinement
.
I swallow down my apprehension and
continue to let
Lawrence l
ead me down the d
imly lit
hallway
.
We reach the cellar door and
I wince when
he
flicks the light on.

I try to keep my breathing steady
a
s
I take in the cold cement floor at the foot of the stairs
.
T
he dank smell of the dirty cellar
, wet and sticky against the inside of my nose,
rises up to assault my senses
and a guttural sound lodges in my throat
.

A
fter experiencing freedom in the mountains
—freedom to climb the ice
-
capped peaks
, to drink from the rivers, and to live off
nature
—
equal measures of
d
read
and
discomfort
careen
through m
y veins
.
T
he last thing
I
want to do is descend those st
eps
, only to
end up
locked up in
that same s
mall, suffocating cage
that imprisoned me for the last seventeen year
s
.

The very place that haunts my memories.

Forcing myself to
stay
calm,
I stand there for a moment, my wolf howling
frantically
inside me
.
While she is fearless in the face of danger, her i
nstinct
s are
telling her to run, to listen to Stone
’s warning
.
I place my hand over my stomach to hush her,
to
remind her that it’s only
a
temporary
situation
and soon enough
we
will be free again.

A
fter I placate her,
she
crouches
nervously
an
d
I
question
myself.
W
ho
am
I’m
really
trying to convince
?
Me or her?

“Move it.”

Lawrence
shoves me
hard
but I manage to brace myself
on the door frame
moments
before I tumble
head first
down the
stairwell
.
My lips curl back
to expose sharp canines
,
and
as my nails elongate
,
nature
urg
es
me to
shift.
To
pounce
.

To
k
ill.

I
draw
in a sharp
, calming
breath
, m
y body burn
ing
from the inside out,
but I know better than to shift with my collar on.
Using every ounce of strength I possess
I
gather my control before it snaps
like a taut bow
and
settle for a low
throaty
growl meant to intimidate.

Ignoring
the
warning
rumble
reverberating off the walls around us
, Lawrence says,
“Normally I’d say ladies first
.
”
He
pauses
mid sentence
to look over my small frame
.
I follow his gaze and note that
over the past few week
s
my
body has filled out
quite considerably
.
Now that I’m no
longer starving, my skin
sports
a
soft pink hue and my ribs don’t protrude
quite as much as they used to
.
Something, I’m sure, the master will quickly correct.

“
Except
you’re anything but
lady
.
Isn’t that right
, kitty cat
?
”
he
scoffs
.
As I glare at him he
adds, “In fact you’re nothing but a runt with the body of a twelve
-
year
-
old boy.”

That comment might have stung a few weeks ago, and while there is no disputing the
fact
that I am a
nd always will be the runt of the litte
r
, Logan
has
taught me to use my size as a strength rather than a weakness.
He also
made me
very
aware of my
female
body
in other ways
.
But
I know
it’s that awareness that is going to make it difficult for me to
pretend I’m the same Pride that left her
e
three weeks ago.

Because I’m not
.

The light dims as
I descend the stairs slowly, wondering who or what is waiting for me at the bottom.
I don’t expect to see Jace or Clover, the elders I’ve bunked with my entire life.
My heart clenches
and I breathe deep to push down my emotions
when I think about them, think about the sacrifices they made to free me.

When stair number five creaks I hear a waking moan a few feet away.
My eyes adjust to the dark and that
’s
when I see Sandy
,
a young fertile female
,
stirring in Cl
over’s old cage.

Her big brown eyes widen
in surprise
when I approach
, but beneath that gleam I catch
a glimpse of something else, something that has my
hackles rising.
I watch her c
arefully
, trying to determine if
I can trust her or if
she’s
been broken
.

As
I look for
some small
telltale sign
that the master has turned her from a playful pup
in
to a killer watchdog
,
Lawrence opens my cage and shoves me in.
When my feet skid to a halt on the dusty cement, I spin around to face him.
I
nstead of closing
the cage
behind me
,
he widens it even more,
t
he hinges groan
ing
like a wounded wolf
.
While
I expect him to hastily retreat, to
run back to the master like the obedient handler he is, he
surprises me by
holding his ground
in the
darkened
shadows
, glaring
down
at me.

Caution aside,
I bare my teeth.
“What?” I
growl,
unnerved
by the way those beady eyes of his are moving over my body
.

He
extends one hand, palm up
and smirks.
“Your clothes.”

My heart drops into my stomach as
I
turn my focus to the
fashionably
ripped jeans and
snug
t-shirt
covering my body
, clothes lent to me by Gem
and worn by every
ordinary
teenage girl on the outside, something I
’ve always
long
ed
to be
.
Had I really expected that I’d be allowed to keep them
inside th
e compound
?

“Now,” he orders
.

I’m smart enough to know that s
tripping me of my clothes is simply another way
of
strip
ping
me of my dignity and
it’s also a
reminder that we’re a
llowed to own nothing
in this prison
.