Chapter 23: TWENTY-THREE

Escape plan Ava got up from the bed, dried-up tears lined her eyes. She’d slept off and she cried her eyes out before she did. Looking around the room; she spotted a tray on the table. Nani had probably left her food after noticing she had slept. She recalled the reason why she had been crying in the first place, and if it weren’t for the terrible headache raging her head right now, she would have resumed weeping.

‘Layla!’ She called. It had been a while since she spoke with her wolf, there’s just been so much going on lately.

Layla responded.

‘I’m so sorry for what happened Ava, I should’ve detected them on time, probably when Nicole was still in your room.’

‘It’s fine dear, it wasn’t your fault.’ It was neither of their fault. The only person who was at fault, the only person who was to blame for all this was the person who abducted her and brought her here, she still didn’t even know what plans he had for her but she wasn’t going to wait here to find out. The thought to escape hadn’t come to her before until now, and after all she had experienced, she wanted to be anywhere else in the world but this place.

‘Do you think we can leave? Do you think you can make it out of here undetected?’ She asked her.

Ava wanted to know if Layla could sneak them out of here, Layla’s wolf form was much smaller than her human form and harder to spot in the night, therefore easier to escape.

‘I can try.’

‘Ok then,’ she got down from the bed, stripped off her clothes, bent and took her wolf form. Layla’s nose then twitched and smelled the aroma from the food on the table, she wanted some.

‘Not now Layla!’ Ava cautioned. This was a time to escape and not to be filling their stomachs.

“Fine,” Layla grunted left the food.

Her wolf walked on four legs to the door. Shit, she forgot to turn the knob before shifting. She made Layla reach up and turn the knob with great difficulty, the wolf struggled with her two paws and then her teeth but she did it. Walking with four hairy feet through the door and into the halls, she spotted a few wolf guards passing by and hid in a corner, letting them pass before she continued.

She strode further until she passed different halls, the courtyard and reached the exit, and then the big gates. If she were in her human form, she would have probably noticed the security system but poor wolf Layla didn’t notice until passing the barrier, and as she passed, her feet touching the ground triggered loud sirens that began ringing through the entire packhouse.

Why would he enable a security system in a goddamn pack house? What did he need it for when there were wolf guards all around? She wondered, but now she’d been caught, she needed to run fast before the guards came for her; but it was too late. They’d all taken their wolf forms and surrounded the poor defenseless creature, there was no way she could stand against them all.

**********

“How smart do you think you are precious? What kind of wolf kidnaps his mate and makes it easy for her to escape?”

Ava knelt in chains in Lucas’s bedroom, she was still naked after shifting back to her human state, the guards she struggled with had brought her here after she was caught.

“I still don’t understand why you keep me here Lucas, after all you derive your pleasures from somewhere else, what then do you need me for?”

Lucas let out a chuckle hearing the sound of her jealousy, he came closer to her until he was on eye level with her, and then answered her question.

“You are here Ava, because you are my mate, and you are meant to be here. If you didn’t misbehave, you would have been the one giving me pleasure,” he whispered seductively, his eyes snaked down to her breasts. “You would have been the one screaming my name in my bedroom that day.”

“Well, in that case, I’m glad I misbehaved,” she answered with so much courage written in her eyes.

Ava didn’t miss the scowl on his face upon hearing her words. She was glad she made him angry, serves him right, she thought.

This girl was too bold, just too bold. “You’ve been very bad Ava, first you cheat on me, giving another man my property, something that belongs to me, and now you try to escape from me, after causing me pain, you choose to leave me alone in this state.”

Ava didn’t respond, she just stared at him squarely.

“I’m not going to leave you alone this time, you won’t be spared. I will teach you to behave yourself since you refuse to do so. You should’ve have been happy I didn’t kill you since death was what you asked for. Instead, I left you alone and then you try to escape from me, you try to make me search for you again. I am going to punish you this time around Ava.”

He reached forward and grabbed her left breast in his hand, squeezing it in his claws with so much force she winced knowing that was going to leave a mark, but refused to let it show on her face. She would not give him the pleasure of seeing how much pain he caused her.

He continued whispering, locking her gaze with his big blue eyes. “I am going to starve you, Ava. I am going to deprive you of the one thing your heart beats for, and I am going to give you the least of the things you desire in its place.”

Ava’s heart started quickening, why was he speaking in parables? What did he mean by what he said? What was he going to do to her now? No doubt she was in for a whole lot tonight.

Lucas let go of her breast and turned his back on her.

“Kiron!” he called, his voice radiating nothing short of dominance.

“Yes master,” the trembling guard walked into the room bowing.

“Call Vivian and Ria.”