Wolf's Captive

by Selena Cross

  “The thought of what they wanted to do to you makes me want to find them and tear them apart,” he continued, his face a hard mask of anger. “That is why you are not allowed to speak their names.”

  Something in her warmed at his words, but she had to harden herself from it if she hoped to get out alive.

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” she responded, noting how she sounded like a petulant child. “I won’t listen.”

  “I can tell you what to do. I am your Alpha,” he stated. “If you don’t listen to what I say, you will be punished.”

  “You are not my Alpha,” she argued. “I am not some dumb wolf, and just try to punish me, buster. See where it gets you.”

  “I am your Alpha because you are my mate,” he said, very quietly and menacingly. “Don’t push me to punish you, Sidney, you won’t like the outcome.”

  “Don’t threaten me,” she shot back.

  He smirked, but it wasn’t the lazy cocky smirk from earlier. This one was more terrifying and cold.

  “It’s not a threat, my dear,” he replied. “It’s a full on promise.”

  Sidney felt the need to bow her head and look away from his eyes, but she refused to give in. She would not show him weakness anymore.

  They stared each other down, each glaring at the other as the tension rose in the air.

  Suddenly after long moments, a knock sounded at the bedroom door making Sidney about jump out of her own skin. Josh didn’t respond to the knock. He just continued to glare at her.

  “Aren’t you going to see who that is?” she asked, looking over his arm toward the door.

  “No, I know who it is,” Josh answered. “It’s Tricia coming to tell us dinner is ready.”

  “Well, shouldn’t you answer her?” Sidney asked, frustrated.

  “She knows I know,” Josh responded. “She knows the rules here. She knows who her Alpha is and she knows how to obey.”

  Sidney glared at him again, but didn’t respond.

  “She’s already gone,” he continued. “We will go down to the dining room in a minute and have dinner. You will behave yourself and there will be no more outbursts like this one.”

  A string of insults lined up on Sidney’s tongue at his domineering attitude, but she kept her mouth closed and expressed her defiance with her eyes.

  “And, Sidney,” he went on, leaning against her and whispering in her ear. “I am going to punish you for this little argument. I’ve already got it planned out. So, don’t think you’ve gotten away with this.”

  With that, he pulled away, grabbing her elbow and pulling her along with him. “Come on,” he commanded. “We need to get ourselves cleaned up and get down to dinner.”

  He dragged her to the pile of clothes she had left on top of the dresser and dug through them, throwing a pair of jeans and a teal blue blouse at her.

  “I don’t know why you decided not to put your clothes away,” he grumbled. “But when we get back from dinner, you will put them all in drawers. Tricia is not here to be your maid/servant.”

  His accusation that she would treat Tricia as a maid pissed her off. She hadn’t put the clothes away because she didn’t think she was allowed and she wasn’t planning on staying.

  “No, she’s yours,” she responded. “And up until Richard, I’m sure she took care of other services for you, too.”

  Josh spun around and grabbed her at the last part of her comment.

  “Let’s get a few things straight,” he said grabbing her arms, painfully. “I will not tolerate your disrespect of my Pack. We are far superior to humans and deserve your respect. Second, I am Alpha here. No one, and I mean no one, gets away with talking to me the way you have—not even my mate. What relations I had with Tricia before she mated with Richard is between her and me. They are none of your concern. She is a good woman and doesn’t deserve your disrespect. So, if I hear another bad word from you about anyone in my Pack, I will not think anything of punishing you right in front of that person and then forcing you to apologize, whether they knew you said it or not. Do you understand?”

  Tears had begun streaming down her face at this point as she listened to him inform her of her place within his Pack. She now understood perfectly that she was just going to be used as some breeding tool for him and nothing else. Pictures of her living in servitude to the Pack as he kept her barefoot and pregnant flashed in her mind, and she trembled with the realization that this was what was going to be her life. She could see her own children mocking her and hating her for her inferiority, and Josh sleeping around on her with every eligible woman in the Pack, while she cleaned up after them.

  “I understand perfectly,” she said through her tears, as her body slumped in her final defeat. She knew now that she was trapped, and probably the only way she would ever escape was by death.

  He studied her for a few moments, and she turned her head so he couldn’t see the defeat in her eyes. Finally he let go of her, and stepped away.

  “Now, get dressed,” he barked. “I expect you to be down there in five minutes.”

  He pulled clothes for himself out of the closet and stomped across the bedroom to the door. Then he left, slamming the door behind him.

  She wanted to fall to the floor and curl up in a ball until she died, but she knew if she didn’t listen to him, something terrible would happen to her. She numbly changed clothes and went to the bathroom where she found some toiletries Tricia had left for her. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail with one of the hair ties Tricia left, and didn’t even bother to look at herself in the mirror.

  She didn’t search for her shoes. She just walked to the bedroom door and out, leaving it wide open, walked down the hall, and down the stairs, then stopped as she realized she had no idea where the dining room was. So she just stood there hoping that someone would come by and show her the way before her five minutes were up.

  *****

  Josh was shaking with anger. However, it wasn’t directed toward Sidney at all. He was angry with himself. He had no idea where what he had said came from. He had just been angry at her defiance, the mouthy replies and his words just all spilled out.

  When he had said she was inferior because was human, he could see the fight drain from her. Then he had threatened to punish her in front of the rest of the Pack, and she slumped in his arms as if she could no longer hold herself up.

  He hadn’t meant any of it. He would never humiliate her like that. However, he had just gotten so angry when she spoke of Tricia in that manner.

  He and Tricia had been together in their younger years. However, they were nothing but close friends now. The accusation that Josh used his position in the Pack to take advantage of the females made him see red.

  When they had woken up and she allowed him to do the things that he did, he thought that maybe things would become easier between them. However, as soon as he said something about her being his mate, she ran away from him and tried to argue against it.

  He knew she was human, and after all that had happened, it would be hard for her to accept this. But he had just grown so impatient and frustrated that he blew up at her.

  He had never had someone argue with him, and stand up to him the way she did. It both impressed and annoyed him.

  He slumped in his chair as Tricia walked in with his plate. She set it down in front of him and smiled, putting her hand on his shoulder.

  “What’s up, Josh? Why do you look so down?” she asked.

  He looked at her pretty face, which he used to be attracted to, and only saw Sidney.

  He sighed and smiled at her, “Just having a bit of trouble convincing my mate to behave.”

  Tricia chuckled, “I’m sure she’ll come around. She’s such a sweetheart. We talked for a little while when I brought her clothes to her. She’s just not used to all of this and afraid. But I’m sure, once you work your charming magic on her, she will be happy to be your mate. You are a charmer. I can’t wait until you two are mated. I can see Sidney
and me being best of friends.”

  Tricia patted Josh on the back, and walked back into the kitchen, leaving Josh feeling even more ashamed of himself. He had accused Sidney of treating Tricia like a maid/servant and then told her she was inferior to Tricia when she responded with her accusation of him using Tricia for sex. He could understand why she said it, now, but now was too late. They had both said some pretty nasty things to each other, but Josh was pretty sure if he hadn’t been so pushy toward her, she wouldn’t have responded the way she did.

  He didn’t feel much like a charmer right at that moment—he felt like a heel.

  Minutes later Richard walked in, with Sidney, “Look who I found standing in the middle of the foyer. She didn’t know where the dining room was.”

  Richard was smiling, but Josh could see the reprisal in his eyes. He had been so angry with him because he had left his sobbing mate in the room alone and not even told her how to get to the dining room.

  “I’m sorry, I’m late, I didn’t know where to go,” Sidney said in a small voice, barely meeting his face, as Richard pulled her chair out and she sat down.

  She smiled at Richard and thanked him, and then just proceeded to stare at the empty place setting in front of her.

  Josh wanted to climb under the table and hide. He had put that look on her face and that fear of being late inside of her with his threats of punishment. When he had first said he was going to punish her, he had something different planned in his mind. Something they would both end up enjoying. Now, he was afraid of even touching her and terrifying her even more.

  He had completely fucked up, and had no idea what he was going to do to fix it.

  He watched as Tricia walked out of the kitchen with Sidney’s plate. At first, the woman was smiling and eager to greet Sidney, but, as she looked between them both, her look went from remorse to glaring daggers at Josh.

  She put the plate down in front of Sidney, and gave her a sympathetic smile. “Emily made this special for you,” she said, her voice a low, comforting tone.

  Josh watched as Sidney gave her a sad smile and whispered her thanks before she turned her head and just stared down at the plate again.

  Pain lanced his heart, watching his mate, so fearful of him she wouldn’t even dare look anyone in the eyes.

  Tricia left, but not before glaring at him one more time, and not without slamming the kitchen door behind her.

  “Did I do something wrong?” Sidney’s voice was small and frightened.

  Josh looked at her as she looked at the kitchen door and refused to look at him.

  He sighed as he shook his head, “No, Sidney. I did.”

  That made her look toward him. She had a confused expression on her face as she looked in his direction. Josh noted that she still wouldn’t meet his eyes, and she seemed to be looking over his shoulder.

  He couldn’t stand it anymore. He pushed his chair back and stood before bringing himself to her side of the table, where he knelt down beside her and cupped her cheek pulling her face so she was forced to look directly at him.

  “I owe you an apology for what I said,” he began, swallowing down the lump in his throat. It wasn’t easy for him to apologize. He was the Alpha and, usually, never had to apologize because he was never wrong. However, this time, he realized he was very wrong for what he did to her, and if he wanted her to agree to be his mate, he needed to fix it. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. I was angry and didn’t mean it.”

  Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke, “Please let me go home, Josh.”

  He flinched as if she had slapped him, but he forced the wolf inside him not to rage at her desire to leave him. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out for a moment, expelling the tension in his body. He didn’t want to let her go. She was everything he had asked the gods for when he asked for his mate. However, if he truly cared for her, he would give her the freedom she so desired.

  “I tell you what,” he said, opening his eyes and trying to smile a bit. “Stay here with me for a month. I will give you the freedom to roam the village and you can get to know everyone here. I won’t push you to do anything you don’t wish to do, but I will ask that we at least sleep in the same bed together.

  "I want to get to know you, Sidney, and have you get to know me. So, stay with me just for a month and, if you still feel you want to leave—I will let you go.”

  “But what will happen to my job and my apartment while I’m gone? I will leave and not have anything to go back to,” she questioned.

  “I will keep up the payment on your apartment so you have that to go back to,” Josh answered. “As for your job, didn’t you want to break away from the cheating bastard you work with? If you stay and then decide you don’t like it here, I will give you the money to start your own firm.”

  “How did you know about Brian?” she asked, giving him a suspicious look.

  “I know some people,” he admitted. “I called them and they did some quick investigating to give me details about your life.”

  He watched the anger fill her eyes, but he knew if he wanted her to trust him, he had to be honest.

  “You had no right to do that,” she accused. “I didn’t ask for this.”

  “I know,” Josh tried to keep his voice calm and passive. “If there was another way for us to have met and gotten to know each other, I would have loved it. I would have welcomed being able to take things slow with you and introducing you into my world slowly. However, that just isn’t the case, and now we have to make the best of it.”

  She still glared at him, but didn’t say anything in response, so he continued.

  “Just give me one month, and if I haven’t convinced you that you are my true mate and this is where you belong, you can leave and I won’t stop you.” His body shook from how nervous he was. He hoped he would be able to convince her because, if she turned around and said she wanted to leave after a month, he would probably die.

  “Fine,” she said after long agonizing moments. “One month and then you let me go.”

  Josh didn’t feel any relief from her accepting the deal. If anything, he felt more tense and nervous. Now was when the real work began and he would have to do everything in his power to make her happy enough that she would want to stay with him.

  Chapter Five

  It had been two weeks since Sidney had accepted Josh's deal for one month. Since that time, Josh had allowed her free reign of the village.

  The day after she had arrived in the village, Josh took her on a tour. Everywhere she looked the villagers would stop whatever they were doing to come and greet Josh. They all seemed to love him and the children wouldn’t leave him alone. They would climb all over him, begging him to play.

  At one point, they stopped at Tricia’s house, and Josh relented to the children to play catch with them, while Tricia talked Sidney’s ear off. She met Emily, the cook, while she visited with Tricia, and couldn’t have been more surprised by her appearance.

  Emily wasn’t a large girl by any means, but she was certainly a lot curvier and fuller than the other women Sidney had seen so far. She was Sidney’s height, with long, auburn hair, and bright aquamarine eyes. She was absolutely stunning to Sidney.

  She acted really shy at first, not even meeting Sidney’s eyes to talk to her. But Tricia soon had her opening up and talking about all the great things about the village, and especially Josh, right along with her.

  Josh had come in after a while and rescued her from the women. It wasn’t that Sidney didn’t like the women, they were really fun and Sidney could see them all becoming fast friends. They just talked so much and asked so many questions, she felt like her head was swimming.

  Josh took her back to his home, where he left her to take a bath and a short nap before dinner. Then that night when she went to bed Josh followed her, climbing in beside her, but making sure not to touch her in any way.

  As the days went by, Sidney began touring the village by herself while Josh did work. She w
ould sometimes find herself playing with the kids, or just sitting and chatting with Emily and Tricia. She and Josh would always have dinner together, and he would ask about her day. At first she only answered saying it had been a nice day, but as time went by, she began to elaborate.

  She found herself opening up to Josh more, and he to her. They would spend most of their dinner talking about their days, their lives, and anything else that came to mind. Sidney was beginning to enjoy Josh’s company.

  He even asked her to help him with the accounting side of running the Pack, which gave Sidney plenty to do. He told her for some reason the books weren’t coming out right, and he needed her help to figure out why. So she would work with him going through old logs and paperwork, trying to pinpoint when the error occurred. He seemed to really respect her advice and opinions when it came to working with her, and she began to notice he considered her opinions when it came to the Pack as well. It made Sidney feel like she belonged and she was beginning to feel like she didn’t really want to leave.

  At night, he would follow her to bed and, each night, he would get closer and closer, until finally he was spooning her, holding her close to him, but not doing anything other than that. She was beginning to get frustrated because every time he would touch her, her body would start heating up and she would become so aroused, but he would do nothing other than hold her.

  Sidney sat on the porch and watched the activity of the village. She had noticed that Josh had stopped following her to bed a few nights before. She wondered if it had to do with all the accounting logs, or if he were just losing interest in her.

  She would go to bed alone, and wake up the same way. She never felt him come to bed, either.

  She was kind of surprised at how hurt she felt that he had stopped cuddling her at night. She always felt so secure in his arms, and now he barely even touched her.

  She also noticed he seemed to avoid her during the day, as well. Running off to do Pack business when she came to work on the books with him, and he had missed dinner for the last few nights.