16 Chapter 16
Seraphina’s POV 1
The car was warm andfortable, a wee relief from the cold concrete and my bleeding feet. I settled into the soft leather passenger seat with a grateful sigh, still clutching the torn fabric of my wine-stained dress around myself. My rescuer-I realized I still didn’t even know his name-seemed genuinely concerned about my wellbeing, which was more kindness than I’d experienced in the past
several hours.
“Thank you again,” I said softly, watching the city lights blur past the window. “I really appreciate this. I’m Seraphina, by the way.”
“Michael,” he replied with that same warm smile. “Michael Harrison. And don’t mention it—I couldn’t just leave you walking around
barefoot and bleeding.”
As we drove through the quieter residential streets, I found myself rxing for the first time since the disaster at the restaurant. Michael kept up a gentle stream of conversation-asking if I was too cold, whether I needed to stop somewhere for first aid, if there was anyone I wanted to call. His voice was soothing, almost hypnotic, and I felt my earlier tension beginning to ebb away.
“Actually,” he said as we stopped at a red light, “my ce is just a few blocks from here. I have a first aid kit, and you could clean up, maybe get those feet properly bandaged before heading home. It’s the least can do after what you went through tonight.”
Something in his tone made me nce over at him, but his expression remained the same-concerned, caring, genuine. Still, a tiny rm
bell went off in the back of my mind.
“That’s very kind,” I said carefully, “but I don’t want to impose any more than I already have. If you could just drop me off at the station—”
“Nonsense,” Michael interrupted, his voice carrying a hint of something I couldn’t quite identify. “The subways aren’t running thiste anyway. Just let me help you get cleaned up, and then I’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”
As we continued driving, I began to notice a strange, sweet smell in the car-something floral and cloying that seemed to grow stronger with each breath. At first, I thought it might be air freshener or cologne, but there was something odd about it, something that made my
head feel slightly fuzzy.
“Michael,” I said, pressing a hand to my temple as a wave of dizziness washed over me, “what’s that smell? It’s very… strong.”
“Oh, that?” His voice sounded different now, less warm and more calcting. “Just something to help you rx. You’ve had such a
stressful evening.”
The rm bells in my head suddenly became a deafening siren. I tried to reach for the door handle, but my movements felt sluggish and
uncoordinated. My wolf A was snarling in my mind, but even her voice seemed muffled and distant.
“Let me out,” I said, my words slightly slurred despite my efforts to speak clearly. “I want to get out of the car. Now.”
Michael’s pleasant facade droppedpletely, revealing something cold and predatory beneath. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. We’re
almost there.”
Panic flooded through me as I realized what was happening. The sweet smell-it had to be some kind of drug designed to affect omegas
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specifically. I’d heard whispers about such things, ck market substances used by wolves with the worst intentions.
“Stop the car!” I tried to shout, but my voice came out weak and breathless. “Stop the car right now!”
But Michael just smiled, and it was nothing like the kind expression he’d worn when he’d first offered to help me. This smile was full of
teeth and hunger and promises of terrible things.
“Don’t worry,” he said conversationally, as if he were discussing the weather instead of kidnapping me. “It’ll all be over soon. You’ll
probably even enjoy parts of it.”
My body felt like it was made of cotton and lead, my limbs heavy and unresponsive. I managed to fumble for my phone, but my fingers
wouldn’t cooperate, and it slipped from my grasp to fall somewhere on the car floor.
We pulled into the driveway of a modest house on a quiet residential street. The porch light cast everything in sickly yellow shadows,
and I could see that the windows were dark-no neighbors around to hear if I screamed.
Michael got out and came around to my side of the car, opening the door with the same solicitous manner he’d shown earlier. “Come
on,” he said, reaching for my arm. “Let’s get you inside where it’s warm.”
“No,” I managed to gasp, trying to pull away from his grip. My coordination was shot, but desperation gave me just enough strength to
resist. “I’m not going in there. Take me home. Please.”
“Home?” Michael’sugh was cold and ugly. “Sweetheart, after tonight’s little performance at the restaurant, I don’t think anyone’s going
to miss you for a while. Did you see the way your precious Alpha looked at you? Like you were trash he wanted to scrape off his shoe.”
His words hit like physical blows, but they also sparked a me of anger that burned through some of the drug’s effects. Even through
the haze, A was fighting, lending me what strength she could.
“Let go of me,” I said, my voice growing stronger. “I said let go!”
I tried to wrench my arm free, but Michael’s grip tightened painfully. His pleasant mask hadpletely disappeared now, reced by
something cruel and hungry.
“I don’t think so,” he said, beginning to drag me toward the house despite my attempts to resist. “See, here’s the thing about disgraced
little omegas-nobody really cares what happens to them. Especially when they’ve already been publicly humiliated.”
My feet scraped against the concrete as he pulled me up the front steps. The drug was making everything feel dreamlike and distant, but
the panic was crystal clear. I tried to scream, but the sound that came out was weak and pathetic.
“That’s it,” Michael said approvingly as he fumbled with his keys while maintaining his grip on my wrist. “Just rx. Let it happen.
Fighting just makes things worse.”
“Help!” I tried again, putting everything I had into the word, but it came out as barely more than a whisper. The neighborhood remained
silent and dark, as if the whole world had decided to look the other way.
He got the door open and dragged me into a living room that smelled like stale beer and something else-something that made my wolf
recoil in instinctive disgust. The furniture was arranged to face arge television, and I could see camera equipment set up in one
corner. My blood went cold as I realized what that meant.
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“Please,” I whispered, my vision starting to blur at the edges. “Please don’t do this.”
“Shh,” Michael said, his voice taking on a mockingly gentle tone as he pushed me down onto the couch. “It’ll be over before you know it.
And hey, at least someone will want you after tonight, even if it’s just for a few hours.”
His hands moved to the straps of my dress, and I tried to fight, but my body wouldn’t respond properly. The drug had stolen my strength, leaving me trapped in my own uncooperative flesh while this monster prepared to vite me.
Just as I felt the first strap of my dress being pushed off my shoulder, a sound split the night air that made my heart leap with desperate
hope. A howl-deep, furious, and absolutely murderous-echoed through the darkness outside.
Michael froze, his hands still on my dress, his head snapping toward the sound. “What the hell-”
The howl came again, closer this time, followed by the sound of somethingrge crashing through the front yard. Michael’s face went
white with terror as he realized what wasing.
The front door exploded inward with a crash that shook the entire house, wooden fragments flying in every direction. Through the
wreckage stepped a massive silver wolf with eyes that burned like blue fire, his lips pulled back to reveal fangs that could tear a man’s
throat out without effort.
Even through the drug-induced haze, I knew those eyes. I knew that magnificent, terrifying creature.