Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
This… whatever this is.
Something heavily floral in the air knocked me unconscious in that car and it obviously did the same to Jase by the current evidence that suggests we were brought here and restrained.
His chest expands even bigger underneath his chocolate-colored button-down shirt as he blows out another angry breath.
“Wh-what the fuck” I whisper, taking in that the support he’s attached to has a diameter of at least a foot. I look up and can see the one I’m attached to, which is metal and around the thickness of a broomstick. Attached to the wooden ceiling beams directly over me hangs an aromatic tree bough with charms and crystals dangling from it.
Witchcraft.
Wide-eyed now, I’m panicking as my eyes pivot around the large space that’s obviously an unfinished basement in a house, I’m guessing by the furnace and water heater in the corner. The floors and walls are concrete and there are exposed beams overhead. The concrete floor is dusty and the air smells stale and a little musty. Near the window, which is about halfway up the wall, there are around half a dozen paint cans.
My eyes examine Jase more thoroughly and I note his support beam has a light green trumpet bloom ivy wound around it. Some of those same flowers are attached to ivy that’s wound around his cuffed ankles.
He’s got a thick silver ring around his neck, attached to the post behind him. No flowers are attached to me; there’s nothing around my neck. And I think my wrists might have cable ties around them, though I’m not sure. It feels like something thin is slightly cutting in, which might mean I can get out of this.
I can’t see what Jase’s arms are attached to the other beam with but judging by the ring around his neck and the thick cuffs around his ankles, I suspect he’s more carefully restrained than I am, likely with metal cuffs.
His eyes work over me and his nostrils flare again as he pulls in a big breath and lets it out slowly, like he’s trying to calm himself.
I retrace my steps starting from the time I left the hotel. That car was supposed to take us to the airport, but I didn’t check the car make and model against the app. I was fuming so hard, I just got in, assuming it was our rideshare.
So, this is my fault.
But whoever abducted us prepared for this. This was intentional, not random, and it’s likely they prepared for this with plans that it would be a wolf shifter and a witch, not wolf with a half-shifter/half-human.
So, yeah, I put us in the wrong car, but it’s not my fault. I just made it easy, I guess, because this was premeditated and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who’s behind this.
“What in the–” I clamp my mouth shut as I hear footsteps overhead. He’s looking up as well. And the way his lip curls as he aims a glare at the ceiling, I’d hate to be the owner of those footsteps. Jase is flippin’ scary right now.
The door squeaks and my eyes bug out as I brace.
Jase’s eyes focus on me in a way that makes me feel strange. Almost like he’s communicating and I should know what he’s thinking.
“Shift?” I inquire by mouthing it.
He gives a sharp no shake of his head in answer and jiggles his feet to draw my attention there. The vines wrapped around his ankles – are they stopping him from shifting?
I don’t know a whole lot about the inner workings of witchcraft or what these can do to a wolf shifter, but I do know nightshade plants that look like this trumpet flower can be very toxic to all beings; definitely us. I know there are angel’s trumpets and devil trumpets and I can’t remember right now which is which, but I do know I’ve never seen one this shade of green before.
The wand… the cauldron…
The danger Vivica and Erica spoke of.
My mouth is a desert while my heartrate gallops even harder.
I hope Danica, wherever she had to run off to, is okay.
I hope this, whatever this is that’s stopping Jase from being able to simply shift to break free, that it’s not going to do more than keep him attached to that pole. Will it harm him?
Jase has a high level of brute strength. While Linc might be the buffest of the council (maybe not so much now that Tyson is home as Ty’s muscles are pretty massive, too) Jase is undoubtedly 100% super alpha. He’s six foot four, muscled, and I’ve seen him show his strength many times including when he wrestles or competes in pack games. I’ve had so many fantasies about losing a wrestling match to Jase…
When Linc and Jase wrestle, Jase can certainly hold his own. He loves to roughhouse in both his wolf and human states nearly as much as Linc. I’ve seen Jase throw a giant tree trunk farther than everyone in the annual pack games year after year. I’ve seen him heave big, heavy things like they weigh nothing. Breaking out of these binds would be a piece of cake for someone as athletic and competitive as he is, except for the fact that he’s obviously been disabled.