Wolf's Den - A BBW Shifter Romance Novel (21 page)

“Like Agnes?” I asked.  I tried hard to remain calm, just like back at the diner when the bikers got mouthy or when Dolan made trouble.  I had no choice.  I could run but I wouldn’t make it far.  I wasn’t fast or nimble and I was far outnumbered.  Without becoming a wolf, trying to escape was futile.

“Why, yes.  We did use it on her.  Once Violet had coaxed the girl into her human form, we administered the hormone to keep her that way until we could reason with the girl,” Phillip told me as he pulled the vile free of the syringe and inserted another.

“How is it administered?” I asked innocently.  Phillip was onto me, however.

“Sorry, can’t tell you that.  Nice try, however.  We’re finished.  See?  Painless just like I promised,” Phillip replied still trying to be my friend.

“Why do you follow her?  Why do you want to hurt me?” I asked him as he bandaged my arm.

“I don’t want to hurt you.  Neither does Violet,” he told me.  I didn’t believe him.  Philip stood and went to the door.  “She’s finished.  You can escort her to her room,” he told the guards.  They came inside and waited for me to follow.  I did so dutifully but I expected to be taken to the room I had been given the night before.  Instead, I was taken to a room on the third floor, a room that was nicely decorated but had bars on the window and a lock on the door.  They shut me inside but I didn’t hear them leave.  They were probably standing guard at my door.

The minutes passed and I finally lay on the bed and tried to reason through the situation I found myself in.  Yeager was gone along with Edie.  But now I suspected Yeager was either forced to leave, which was doubtful, he wanted to leave, which didn’t seem right either, or he was tricked into leaving.  That sounded like Lady Violet.  I was sure she had arranged it somehow.  The question was would Yeager come back for me?  That I couldn’t know but if he’d seen me kissing Gerard, or heard of it, it was likely he was gone for good.

If only I could change into a wolf, I’d have a chance, albeit a small one, of escaping.  Pheromones?  I got Phillip to reveal the method they used to prevent me from shifting but not how it was administered.  He wouldn’t tell me and that made me wonder.  If he wouldn’t tell me, did that mean I could somehow stop the effect?  Several ways of exposing me to the pheromones came to mind but each was either implausible or would have affected others around me.  Obviously, the others could shift.  If only I could reason how Violet had managed to expose me to the pheromones, maybe I could reverse the effects.

For now, however, I was stuck in my human form.  I tried to shift again to make sure and once again, nothing happened.  The wolf inside of me was eager to be free, as always, but I couldn’t do anything about it.  Suddenly, a sadness and hopelessness crept over me.  I resisted the temptation at first but soon it was overwhelming.  I turned over, curled up into a ball and began to sob.  Reality was setting in.  I was a prisoner, a captive, and there was nothing I could do to change that.

As my emotions flowed freely, I began to wonder what might become of me.  Dreadful and horrific scenes played out in my head, Violet and Phillip doing unspeakable things to me.  All of it was fantasy and conjecture but I somehow knew this wouldn’t end pleasantly despite assurances to the contrary.  But more than anything, losing Yeager and Edie hurt the most.  That thought, that reality, tore me up inside and left me raw and exposed.

My mate and I were separated and we may never be reunited.  Yeager had said something about that, about what happens when one mate loses the other.  He described it as a life of longing and pain.  I knew what he meant now.  Already, the thought of it made me feel sick.  I knew I loved Yeager.  I had from the beginning, despite what Violet claimed.  I was even surer of it now.  Without him by my side, I was lost.  But the worst part was that it was all my own doing.  I insisted on coming here, though I was sure now that I would have been dragged here one way or another if Lady Violet had anything to do with it.  I betrayed Yeager’s trust, kissed Gerard and enjoyed it.

I broke down at the thought, the sadness enveloping me completely.  For how long I lay there in my makeshift prison cell sobbing, I wasn’t sure but I was woken by the lock being turned and the door being opened.  I must’ve have fallen asleep and the fact it was obviously late afternoon meant I’d been sleeping for hours.  Lady Violet came in and she closed the door behind her.  The lock clicked again.

“There are clothes in the closet, child,” she told me.  I still wore the wool coat and shoes she had brought for me that morning.

“Don’t call me that.  I’m not your child and we’re not friends.  Cassie will do,” I said flatly.  I still felt raw but I had cried it out.  I was in control of my emotions though they still ran deep.

“All right, fine.  I don’t ask that you like me.  I only ask that you do as I want,” she said.

“You didn’t ask.  You kind of kidnapped me and sent my mate and best friend away.  You’ve stolen my ability to become a wolf.  I’ll do as you please but it’s not as if you left me any choice,” I replied coldly.

“That...man left of his own volition.  He was rather angry when he caught you with Gerard.  I can’t say as I blame him.  It didn’t take long for you to betray him around another shifter,” she told me.  I tried not to let it bother me.  I knew now that she was lying but I couldn’t help it.

“You’re a bitch, you know that?” I spat out at her.

“Yes, I do.  I get what I want, what is good for our kind.  I’m not out to hurt you but it has become obvious you aren’t as submissive as I’d hoped.  So be it.  I’ll do whatever I need to ensure our survival, Cassie.  Besides, I couldn’t let the fabled Wolf Mother live, now could I? Not one as dominant as you are.  I won’t give up my position that easily,” she said and I gasped as she did.

“So that’s it.  You mean to kill me?” I pressed.

“Once I’ve gotten what I need from you, yes.  In fact, that’s a necessary part of my plan, not to mention part of the fun.  I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore what you think of me.  You’re trapped here and no one is going to save you.  I hate your kind.  Rogues!  They disgust me.  Wolves are made to submit but some of you just refuse to acknowledge my dominance.  I can’t wait to see you die, Cassie.  One less troublesome rogue wolf to have to bring into the fold or kill trying.  And by the way, know that when I’ve taken what I need from you and you’re dead, I’ll track down your mate and that boyish girl and kill them too,” Violet said coldly.

“Good luck with that, Yeager’s twice the wolf you’ll ever be.  I take it back.  You’re not a bitch, you’re insane.  As long as we’re tossing threats about, let me add my own.  I will get out of this.  I will hunt you down and when I have you on your back, your eyes wide with fear and begging me for mercy, I will tear your still beating heart from your mangy chest and the last thing you’ll see before it all goes black will be me devouring it,” I said calmly but with an unmistakable edge of menace.

“An empty threat seeing as you can’t even become a wolf, child,” Violet said as she turned and left me alone in the room.  So, she meant to kill me.  What exactly she needed from me, I had no idea but whatever it was, it would leave me dead.  That reality, however, didn’t scare me.  Just the opposite.  It motivated me.  I was determined to make good on my promise, to kill that old bitch and eat her heart.  How was the only question?  That I had yet to figure out.

~~O~~

Yeager and Edie sat finishing their dinner in a small diner somewhere in Utah.  Edie picked at her meal, chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes.  “Not hungry?” Yeager asked with half of his own flat iron steak getting cold on his plate.

“Not really.  I thought we’d find her by now,” Edie said.  Yeager hoped they might too but they hadn’t seen any sign of her.  They had asked at just about every gas station, restaurant and truck stop along the way but nobody had seen the girl with the shock of white hair among her otherwise black locks.  Yeager was beginning to wonder if Cassie had gone another way.  He couldn’t scent her at all and considering she left her phone in the motorhome, he worried they might not ever find her.

“We’ll find her,” he assured Edie though he needed some reassuring himself.

“I can drive if you need to sleep,” Edie offered.  Yeager had been up for over thirty-six hours.

“No, I’m good.  I might take a little run.  That always kind of resets my body clock,” he said.  Edie opened her mouth to reply but she didn’t say a word.  Instead, she stared past Yeager as her jaw fell open.  When he heard the bell on the door of the diner ring, he turned.  Agnes strolled in, all in black as usual.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Yeager asked with both surprise and anger in his voice.

“Please, you must listen to me,” Agnes pleaded.  Yeager looked at Edie but the girl was in no shape to answer.  She just stared at Agnes.  “Please. I know where Cassie is,” Agnes added.  Yeager turned towards her again.

“Where?” he demanded.

“She never left Wolfsbane,” Agnes said.  Yeager nodded towards the booth they occupied and Agnes took a seat next to Edie.

“So you lied to us?” Edie asked.

“No, I told you what Lady Violet said to me.  I’m taking a huge risk being here, just like I did to be with you last night,” Agnes replied.  That took Yeager by surprise for a moment but he dismissed it and focused on Agnes.

“She had you send us on a wild goose chase? Why?” Yeager asked.

“From what I gather, Cassie ran off after Gerard pushed himself on her.  She was out all night in the mountains above the ranch.  Violet found her and brought her back this morning after you left.  She’s going to hurt Cassie.  They took blood for some tests but I don’t know why,” Agnes explained.  Yeager growled.

“So, why should we trust you?” Yeager asked the girl.

“Because I hate Lady Violet.  Because she’s kept me under her thumb for years.  Because she’s kept me from changing so I couldn't leave or challenge her.  I want to help you get Cassie back,” Agnes said and looked at Edie.  Yeager waited until Edie looked at him and nodded.

“I believe her,” Edie told the big biker.

“All right.  Fine.  So why can’t you change?” Yeager wondered.

“I didn’t know for the longest time but I figured it out.  Violet and Phillip developed some kind of hormone that prevents it.  When we breathe it, our ability is turned off.  They’ve found some kind of antidote that prevents the hormone from affecting them.  I doubt you can change right now,” Agnes told Yeager.  He tried to change subtly, just his fangs.  Nothing.

“Shit! Is it permanent?” he demanded.

“No!  It’s in our clothes.  Violet has always provided everything for me.  My clothes have always been covered in it.  I’m sure she did the same to yours.  Even though you didn’t wear that suit, the hormones were all over your bed.  But it wears off quickly.  I’ve snuck out of the house at night, taken off the clothes and within an hour or two, I can shift,” the girl told Yeager and Edie.

“Why didn’t you leave when you found out?” Edie asked.

“I was afraid.  I was on my own when I was little and beyond that, Wolfsbane Ranch is all I know.  I’m not afraid anymore.  I want to get away and help Cassie too.  Violet isn’t the alpha she pretends to be.  She’s strong but she uses the hormone to prevent the pack from changing until it suits her needs.  She uses it to ensure she stays in charge and only the most trusted members are allowed to change freely.  Well, them and the thugs she pays to keep the rest of us in line,”

“Like Dolan?” Yeager asked.

“Like Dolan,” Agnes confirmed.

“What are we going to do?” Edie asked.

“We’re going to head west, after a trip to Wal-Mart for new clothes,” Yeager said.

“West?” Agnes wondered.  The ranch lay to the east.

“Yeager, you can’t give up on Cassie,” Edie exclaimed.  Yeager frowned at her.

“Really?  C’mon, Edie.  I’m not abandoning her but we need help and I know where we can find plenty,” Yeager assured Edie.

“Murphy?” Edie asked.

“And many, many more.  Agnes, you need to go back,” Yeager said but Agnes was already shaking her head.