Mated to the Pack (3 page)

“I think you’re very pretty,” Logan said
softly, his cheeks coloring pink.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

“Hey, do you want some breakfast?” Logan
suggested. “I make great waffles!”

“I’m not really hungry,” Allison said.

“Come on, you need to keep your strength
up,” Logan urged her. “At least let me bring you some fruit or
something.”

“You know what? I’m actually having a
craving for something,” she said slyly. “You don’t happen to have
any bacon do you?”

“Sure we do!” Logan chirped cheerfully. “How
do you like it cooked?”

“Oh, nice and crispy,” she said, the hamster
wheel suddenly revolving in her brain. “Cook it for a long, long
time… until it’s nearly burned.”

“Got it!” Logan said. “You can count on
me!”

Logan rushed off to make her breakfast, and
she watched as he left the room, closing the door behind him. As
soon as she heard the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen, she
grabbed the post to which her shackle was attached and began to
wiggle it back and forth, attempting to loosen it.

The noise continued in the kitchen, and she
finally managed to loosen the post enough to remove it. She slid
the chain off the post and slipped off the bed. Her eyes scanned
the room, but couldn’t quickly locate her shoes, so, moving as
quietly as she could with a chain jingling around her ankle, she
crept out the door.

She slowly, cautiously closed the door
behind her. Just as she turned around to flee, she smacked into
something.

“Going somewhere?” Michael chuckled.

“Michael!” she gasped. “I… uh…”

He grabbed her by the arm and ushered her
back inside. He slammed the door behind them.

“Oh, Looooo-gaaaan!” Michael called, his
voice laced with irritation.

Logan appeared at the door. His face
blanched white as soon as he saw Allison standing beside Michael,
her arm grasped in his iron grip.

“You were
supposed
to be
watching
her,” Michael growled through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry. I was making her some
breakfast,” Logan explained sheepishly.

“And you wonder why Luke and I don’t trust
you,” Michael snarled.

“Don’t blame him,” Allison interjected. “He
was just…”

“Enough!” Michael shouted, his fingers
gripping her arm so firmly she shrieked. “Sit down!”

She immediately sank into the chair and
closed her mouth. Michael turned his attention back to Logan.

“If you
ever
disobey a direct order
again…” Michael warned Logan.

“It won’t happen again,” Logan promised.

“It better not,” Michael muttered. “Go. Get
out of my sight. Finish her breakfast.”

Michael waved his hand, shooing Logan away.
Logan bowed briefly and backed out of the room. Michael turned his
eyes back toward Allison, who was busy gnawing a fingernail. He
sighed heavily and sank down onto the bed in front of her.

“Allison, did you listen to
nothing
I
said last night?” he asked.

“Of course I did,” she replied. “But you
really didn’t think I was just going to sit here and let it happen
without trying to escape, did you? This is just ridiculous! I just
went for a simple walk last night, and I got caught up in a bunch
of stuff that isn’t even any of my business!”

“I understand it’s not ideal, but…” Michael
started to say.

“Ideal?” Allison shouted. “Are you kidding
me? This is insane! This is totally unfair!”

“I promise you, this isn’t what we wanted,
either,” Michael insisted. “What would you have preferred we do…
let the other pack have you?”

“No, but…”

“Then you’re going to have to deal with the
situation the best you can, just as we will,” Michael said.

“Yeah, how convenient for you,” Allison
muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael
snapped.

“Well, you get a little slave who has to do
your bidding, and what do I get?” she snapped back.

Michael suddenly looked hurt, and Allison
almost regretted what she said.

“Allison, listen to me,” Michael said,
leaning forward and placing his hands on the arms of the chair.
“This isn’t what we wanted to happen. If we could change it… if
I
could change it, I would. But we
had
to save you.
There was no other option.”

Allison softened slightly. “Alright, I get
it,” she relented.

“So no more escape attempts?” he asked.

“No more escape attempts,” she mumbled.

“Good,” Michael said. “Then I will leave you
unshackled, but you’ll still have to be guarded twenty-four hours a
day.”

“You can trust me, Michael,” she implored.
“I’m not going to run away again.”

“That may be true, but we still have your
safety to worry about,” he argued. “The other pack isn’t likely to
give you up without a fight.”

“What? You mean, they could seriously still
come for me?” she gasped.

“They could, and mostly likely will,” he
said seriously. “Now it isn’t just you at stake, but also their
honor. They will feel we’ve dishonored them by stealing you from
them.”

“And what will they do to me if they get
me?” she asked nervously.

“In all likelihood, they will force you to
submit to them,” Michael said. “And if you do not, they will kill
you. They may kill you even if you do.”

“How is that any different from what you
said you were going to do?” she challenged him.

“We will not make it painful for you,”
Michael said. “In fact, in time, you may even come to enjoy
it.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” she muttered,
scoffing and looking away.

Michael chuckled. “Perhaps not,” he said.
“But we shall see.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

“What can we do to make your stay more
pleasant?” he asked.

“How about removing this shackle for
starters?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said, and he removed a key
from a chain around his neck and unlocked it.

Allison rubbed her ankle, which was quiet
sore from the heavy metal that had been rubbing against it. She
noticed the smell of frying bacon wafting in from the kitchen and
she felt a twinge of guilt for tricking Logan, and for getting him
into trouble.

“You were awfully hard on Logan,” she
commented.

“That is not your concern,” Michael
spat.

“I beg to differ,” Allison argued. “If I am
to be your mate, then don’t I have a say in anything?”

“Not in this,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because I am the Alpha, and I said so!”

“If you ever expect me to comply willingly,
then I don’t accept that!” she argued.

“Whether you comply willingly or not is of
no consequence,” Michael said firmly.

“I thought you didn’t want to hurt me,”
Allison said.

“I don’t, but I will not have a
woman
making demands of me and undermining my authority!” he shouted.

“Oooh, listen to the big, bad man yelling at
the poor, defenseless woman,” she spat at him. “Boy, you think
being Alpha really makes you something special, huh? It sure takes
a big man to kidnap a woman, hold her hostage, and tell her she has
to submit to you or die!”

“I don’t
want
it to be this way!”
Michael insisted.

“So you keep saying, but you’re not doing
anything about it!” Allison shouted.

“You just don’t understand,” Michael
argued.

“No, I certainly don’t,” she snapped.

Allison crossed her arms defiantly in front
of her and threw her head back, thrusting her nose into the
air.

Michael sighed heavily, standing up and
moving across the room to plunk himself heavily into a dusty old
armchair in the corner of the room. He, too crossed his arms in
front of him, and he glared at Allison from across the room.

A little while later, Logan sheepishly
entered the room carrying a tray of food. He’d brought Allison
several slices of well-done bacon, a croissant, some fruit, and a
glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

“Wow, thank you, Logan,” she gushed. “At
least
some
of you have some manners.”

Logan blushed. Behind her, Michael gritted
his teeth, but he said nothing. Allison quickly ate her breakfast,
even managing to choke down the nearly black bacon lest she hurt
Logan’s feelings.

“Is there anything I can bring you to do?”
Logan asked. “I know you must be getting bored.”

“I am, to be honest,” Allison agreed. “Do
you have a computer?”

Before Logan could answer, Michael
interjected, “No computers. No outside contact at all.”

“I already told you I’m not going to tell
anyone about you,” Allison said. “I just want to…”

“I said no!” Michael’s voice resonated
through the room like thunder.

“God, fine!” Allison hissed at him. She
turned back to Logan and said, “Magazines or books would be
fine.”

“What kind?” Logan wanted to know.

“Fashion magazines, romance novels, horror…
no scratch that, I don’t think I’m in the mood for horror… maybe a
mystery,” she said.

“Hmm, I don’t think we have a lot of fashion
magazines or romance novels around here,” Logan admitted. “None of
us really reads those. But I think Luke may have some mystery
novels.”

“That would be fine,” she said.

Logan left the room to locate something for
Allison to read, leaving her alone with Michael. She frowned and
stared at the wall in the corner opposite from where Michael was
sitting.

“Why are you so disagreeable?” Michael
wondered aloud.

“Why are you such a control freak?” Allison
snapped.

“I’m protecting my pack,” Michael spat. “You
have no idea what it’s like for us. Do you have any clue what would
happen if people found out we’re werewolves?”

Allison said nothing. She hadn’t thought
about that.

“I’ll tell you what would happen,” Michael
went on. “People would hunt us down and it would become a situation
of kill-or-be-killed. We don’t want that. We don’t want to hurt
anyone.”

“So you don’t kill anyone?” Allison asked
seriously. “I thought werewolves were supposed to lose control
during a full moon or something.”

“Some do,” Michael admitted. “The pack we
saved you from is savage, cruel. They do kill humans now and then,
which is why we felt the need to save you from them. We don’t do
that. We’ve learned to control ourselves.”

“Oh.”

“So you see why I have to control the
situation the way I do?” Michael asked. “I’m not a control freak
for the fun of it. I’m protecting my family, my brothers.”

“So your pack is like your family?” Allison
asked.

“It’s the only family we have,” Michael
said.

“Did you ever have a real family?” Allison
wondered.

“My pack
is
my real family,” he
snapped.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” Allison
quickly apologized. “I just meant… well… where are your
parents?”

“My parents are human,” he said flatly, but
he refused to say any more than that.

“How is that possible?” Allison asked. “Did
you get bitten by a werewolf or something? Is that how…”

“No, that’s not how it works,” Michael
interrupted her. “The werewolf gene runs in some human families,
but it’s extremely rare that it manifests.”

“So your parents know about you?” she
asked.

“I don’t wish to talk about it,” he
snapped.

Allison opened her mouth to argue, to demand
he talk to her, but she quickly closed it. Clearly, this was a
touchy subject for him. She decided to let it go.

“What about Luke and Logan?” she asked.

“You’d have to ask them,” Michael said
flatly. “I’m not in the habit of divulging the personal information
of others in my pack.”

Allison scrunched her face up in
frustration.

“Alright, fine. Is there anything we
can
talk about?” she sighed.

“Must we talk at all?” Michael asked,
clearly growing more annoyed.

Allison clenched her jaw and fought to stay
silent. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to fly at him and
strike him. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She crossed
her legs and started to swing her upper leg furiously.

The silence hung thick and deafening in the
air. The icy chill between the two of them was nearly palpable, and
Allison’s annoyance was just as much so. She was just about to
start chewing her fingernails when Logan returned with a stack of
books and placed them on the table beside her.

“This is all I could find,” he said
apologetically. “There are a few thrillers and mysteries, but most
of them are pretty old.”

“Why thank you, Logan!” she gushed
dramatically. “It’s so refreshing to see a polite young man who is
so willing to be kind to a lady.”

Michael snorted behind her and muttered,
“Lady. Yeah, right.”

Allison’s eyes narrowed into slits, but she
chose to ignore him. She simply gritted her teeth and looked up at
Logan with the most sincere smile she could manage.

“I really appreciate this, Logan,” she
said.

“No problem,” he answered, smiling happily.
“Can I get you anything else?”

“No, this is great,” she told him. Logan
turned to leave, but she stopped him by saying, “Logan, would you
mind staying for a while? I think Michael’s getting rather tired.
He’s turned quite snarky.”

With that, Michael stood up so quickly that
his chair squeaked across the wood floor and banged harshly against
the wall, sending flecks of drywall and paint clattering to the
ground. With his fists clenched into white-knuckled balls and his
jaw muscles rippling, he stormed from the room.

“What… was that about?” Logan asked. “Never
mind, don’t answer. Luke will be here to relieve me soon so I can
get some sleep. I’ll stay with you until then.”

Still annoyed with Michael, Allison shoved
her nose in a book and said nothing. She tried to enjoy her
reading, but it was impossible with the thoughts of her captivity
still lingering about like a choking fog.