Chapter 45

Shemika awoke with a sense of unease. Her stomach churned and the sunlight filtering through the blinds was blinding. She clutched her head, burrowing deeper under her blanket. Her body throbbed with a familiar pain. What the hell had transpired last night? She peeked from beneath her blanket, finding herself in her bedroom in Rurik. Wait…why was she here? She was…at the club? What had occurred?

“Mika, how are you feeling?” a soothing voice inquired. Soothing, yet too loud. Far too loud.

“Awful,” she mumbled.

“I figured as much,” he retorted, his tone laced with irritation.

The room descended into silence once more. Thank the Goddess. Shemika was on the brink of drifting back to sleep when the bed jolted under Caturix’s sudden weight.

“Mika,” he began.

She grunted in response, lacking the energy for anything more.

“What happened last night?” he questioned.

“I don’t know.”

“Try to remember,” he commanded. “I need you to recall as much as you can.”

She groaned as he pulled back the blanket and assisted her into a sitting position.

“I need to know, Mika. Please, just try,” he urged.

She drew her legs in, resting her chin on her knees. “All right.”

He seemed satisfied with her response. “We went to the club and I started drinking whatever was handed to me. The green one in the cocktail glass was the best. It was sweet and slightly sour. It had pieces of—”

“Mika, my love,” he interrupted.

She would’ve been annoyed if he hadn’t referred to her as his love. The words echoed in her mind, bouncing around like a pinball. ~My love, my love, my love~. He couldn’t have meant it. It was just a figure of speech.

“Something happened last night and I don’t know what,” he confessed.

“So…you want me to stick to the important details. Not everything?”

He nodded once.

Where was she? Right. “I was dancing with a bunch of women. I went back for drinks and men were buying them for me, but…one man. He…he brought me one. A Piña colada. I downed it quickly to get back to the dance floor for the song. He joined me on the dance floor later, after I started feeling sick. He asked if I drank it.” Suddenly, everything clicked into place and the words tumbled out. “I could barely stand or speak and he said he would take me somewhere quiet to drink water. I couldn’t walk, he dragged me outside. The bouncer stopped us but I couldn’t say a word. He told the bouncer I was his wife, that we were newlyweds. I couldn’t deny him, I couldn’t say anything. I was so nauseous and…dizzy. He took me to a big black van and shoved me in with all these men.”

“What else, my love. Did they hurt you?” he demanded. “Tell me, please.”

“I don’t remember much. The man with a knife…he wanted the others to change my clothes and cut my hair. I didn’t understand why. They pushed me onto my back and held me down. I tried to fight, I really did.” Suddenly, tears began to stream down her face. How humiliating.

“Tell me everything,” he softly commanded, moving closer across the bed.

“I really don’t remember much, Cat,” she sobbed. “I remember how cold the knife was against my skin. They cut the laces from the sides of my dress.” Her voice was high-pitched and terrified. She’d always given herself willingly so she wouldn’t be taken against her will.

“Is that all?” he asked cautiously.

“I…I screamed in my head, because I couldn’t speak. Then everything went black. I was so scared,” she wept. “I was so scared.”

Without needing to ask, Caturix wrapped his arms around her, holding her until her shaking and crying subsided. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Mika.”

“Are you going to hurt them?” she asked quietly.

Caturix pulled away, straightening his clothes. “No.”

Shemika paled. “Why?” Didn’t he care enough about her to defend her?

“I can’t,” he replied. “You killed them.”

She…killed them? What? She had blacked out and slaughtered those bastards? Impossible! She wasn’t capable of something like that. “There’s no way in hell I did that.” Was he lying to avoid defending her honor?

“You shifted and tore them apart, Shemika. They were just mutilated, bloody pulp by the time I got there,” he explained.

She shifted?! No. No. No! That wasn’t possible, but…the familiar ache in her bones suggested otherwise. She’d gone years without shifting and yet, her inner she-wolf had emerged to save her. It was almost…touching. Almost.

“Wait, where are you going?” she finally asked, noticing he was dressed and gathering his things.

“We’re not allowed to be together. Remember? Not until late at night. I’ll be back tonight. Don’t worry,” he said, leaning in to kiss her…on the forehead? “Eat something and drink plenty of water.”

He gave her one last pitying look before exiting through the window.

Huh, well, he hadn’t told her what he knew. Somehow they had gone from the parking garage back to Rurik. They’d had such a hard time leaving Rurik but somehow he’d managed to sneak back in perfectly fine on his own.

Shemika spent several hours in bed resting before she even attempted a snack or a sip of water. That slimy human had drugged her. Devious, wicked human. Eventually, she got up, dressed, showered, and followed Caturix’s instructions before heading to Lyosha to show him that she was okay. His annoying guards informed her that he was busy.

She’d planned to return to her room and wait patiently to see Caturix, but ran into Nikandr, who just so happened to be passing by.

“Shemika,” he greeted cheerfully.

“Nikandr,” she attempted to respond sweetly, but failed miserably.

“I haven’t seen you for the last couple of days,” he noted.

“Yeah,” she responded, offering no further explanation.

“So,” he prodded, “where have you been?”

“Aunt Flo came to visit,” she grumbled back. It was none of his business.

“You had to stay in your room because of your period?” he asked skeptically.

That gave her pause. Lyosha had just believed her implicitly, but Nikandr didn’t. Hmm…not good. He might go to Lyosha with his suspicions and turn him against her.

“Yes,” she said as confidently as she could muster. “I get really sick and cramp really badly. So I just stay in and rest. As is my right as a lady.”

He stepped forward, closing the distance between them until his nose was touching hers. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, little wolf?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm.

She straightened her shoulders and looked up at him defiantly. “Not at all, Nikandr. Why would you ~ever~ suggest such a thing?” she asked, her voice dripping with false sweetness.

He leaned down until his lips were against her ear. “Be careful, little wolf. You don’t want to disrespect your future mate. Especially when I can still smell ~him~ on you,” he whispered. “Just be glad I want to win you fairly, instead of ratting you out.”

A gasp escaped her lips, torn from her chest.

He brushed her hair behind her shoulder as he continued, “I know you’re still seeing each other, my sweet. His scent is embedded in your skin. I’ll let you have your little affair. I just know you’ll tire of the brute and finally see what I can offer you. I’m the heir to this pack. You can have an alpha.”

He brushed his lips against her skin, where her neck met her shoulder. The place where her mate would mark her, sending a shiver of repulsion down her spine.

“I bid you good day, little wolf,” he said, moving past her to continue down the hall.

But Shemika didn’t leave. In fact, she remained rooted to the spot for who knew how long. Nikandr knew she was still sleeping with Caturix. He said he could smell him on her. It…it wasn’t possible. She’d scrubbed every inch of herself before she’d left her room. Thankfully, he seemed perfectly content in “winning her hand” and seemed to believe she’d actually choose him.

She was so stupid. So stupid, in fact, that even after her encounter with Nikandr that spooked her, she went to Caturix’s room.