Audrey Holland woke up from sleep with a dying scream in her mouth, echoes of it still ringing through the hollows of her mind.
Breath left her in puffs thanks to the twisted knot in her stomach. A fine sheen of cold sweat covered her skin, making her feel bizarrely warm and chilly at the same time.
Tears pricked her eyes as she held her head in her trembling hands, sobbing quietly.
As was normal, she could only recall fractions of the concluding moments of the nightmare that visited her sleep since as far back as she could remember.
The image of the beastly man, with fangs and razor-sharp claws was forever etched in the walls of her mind, forever present to feed off her comforts.
Try as she might, she was never able to dwell on any other part of the horrible dream. Only the monster chose to stay with her. To torment her almost everyday.
As the aftershocks of the dream faded away, memories began to filter into her mind. The wedding…Nickolas standing on the altar with her…the twin Alphas objecting…darkness.
A torrent of fear sizzled through her chest as she took in the world around her. A world starkly different from the one she knew and cherished.
Quaint. There was no better word to describe the room. The king sized bed beneath her was dressed in a soft duvet as tawny brown as the carpet and bedside cabinets.
Nothing else existed in the room but a single sofa close to the window and a tall shelf crowded with books.
"What in the world?" She could only gasp in unbelief.
You belong to us
Those strange, yes handsome and alluring, but still strange men had uttered those words just before she blacked out. Now she was in an unfamiliar room.
Audrey was sure of one thing. She had been kidnapped on her wedding day.
"No, that's not possible. Not in this age. Surely Aunt Marissa must've taken me somewhere close to the church to recover from shock."
The shock from the prank someone with a sick sense of humor had thought appropriate to pull off on the most important days of her life.
Terrific.
Her feet sank into the thickness of the luxurious carpet as she got out of bed.
Stars sparked in her vision as she stood upright but the wave of nausea passed almost immediately.
She reached the great oak doors, pulled the knob … and pulled again.
The door didn't move even a millimeter.
It was locked. Bolted from the outside.
It all came crashing down like a cold glass of ice water down her spine. No, it hadn't been a prank.
Those men had disrupted her wedding to Nick. Those men had abducted her from the church after she'd passed out. They'd locked her up in here like a prisoner.
As realization set in, adrenaline flooded her veins. She turned back towards the door, balled her fist and pounded on the hard wood.
"Let me out of here! Please!"
Her pounding was hollow and weak. Her arm hurt. Tears stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
"Let me out!"
She thought of Nickolas, her love. She should be with him right now. Not here alone and frightened.
I am human, right?
No.
That simple answer from Marissa set off fireworks of confusion in her head. There was no lie there. The lie was the one she had lived since the day she was born.
No, she wasn't human. She was something else.
Her mind filled up with the snarly face of the beastly man in her dream, and she choked, gasping for air.
Werewolf.
"I am a werewolf…"
She had nothing against them. Two of her closest friends were werewolves. She'd fallen for one and had been ready to unite with him forever.
It was the lie that hurt. The deception. She'd trusted Marissa, considered her the mother and father she never knew.
"But why have I never transformed?"
The lore about werewolves was no secret. When the moon stood at its fullest and brightest in the sky, their inner wolves were automatically unchained in the truest form, the thin line between mind and matter stretched so thin that the human nature would be completely shed off in favor of the animal.
The wolf.
Audrey couldn't recall any time when that sort of thing happened. She would remember. In fact, she didn't have the enhanced reflexes and strength, the durability and dexterity that werewolves possessed.
No, she couldn't be a werewolf.
Then what am I?
Only one person in the world would be able to clarify things for her. The answers she needed were outside this room.
Feeling renewed strength of purpose, she returned to the door and had just lifted her arm to pound on it when the lock clicked.
She stumbled back in surprise..
The door swept open and he sauntered in. One of the twins. The relatively slimmer one with the devilish grin and bad boy vibes.
Still dressed in the same suit from earlier and from the tousled look of his dark hair, he'd obviously just rolled out of bed.
A long eyelash lifted at the sight of her before those dark eyes caressed her from head to foot, lingering longer on her chest.
"You are quite a sight for sore eyes."
She took another step back, wrapping slender arms around herself. "Stay away from me."
"Now that's new. Normally when I'm with a woman in a room they beg for me to come closer." The signature smile returned. "They beg for so many other things, too."
She said nothing, just continued watching his every move. She couldn't stop thinking of him as a cat, one of the big ones, teasing her just before pouncing.
Yawning broadly, he flung himself into the couch and relaxed. He propped his long legs on the table with ease.
Audrey eyed him before glancing at the door. She looked back at him to find him watching. He followed her line of sight to the open door.
He smirked. "Have at it."
"You're toiling with me, right?"
He shrugged. "You want to go outside. Who am I to stop you? I'll be here when you return."
Surely he couldn't let her just go? They'd gone through the trouble of ruining her wedding for a viable reason, right?
"Are you having second thoughts or you simply enjoy my company?" He licked his luscious lips. "I can be quiet…interesting."
Her limbs automatically hastened towards the door…
"Word of warning, love."
She halted and faced him again. Looking at the length of his legs and his obvious athletic build, she would never be able to outrun him.
"My brother's always in a foul mood. Today at least it's warranted. You won't want to cross paths with him." He said without an ounce of care. "People have been known to loose their teeth or a limb on such occasions."
His eyes closed and he yawned again.
Despite his sly words, the open door beckoned to her. Beyond it, she could see a dimly lit passage. That passage certainly led to a door that would free her from this nightmare.
His brother. The broody one. Alpha Deckard. Even on a good day, she would never wish to meet him. He was achingly handsome and had an attractive pull to him, but there was something about him that creeped her out. His eyes…his very presence…even his voice set her on edge.
The thought of seeing Nickolas, of getting answers from Marissa and freedom was just too potent a craving to ignore.
There was no overthinking things now.
Audrey inched towards the door.