Chapter 236

Ethan POV

“Your father is freaking out,” Ryan says through our mind link.

“Freaking out?” I ask as I shift back to my human form. Michael and Robert bow their wolf heads and lead the Gammas back to their barracks. “What does that mean? What’s he doing?”

“He’s making a mess of the pack house’s common room, throwing things and he just shoved one of the pack members over when they tried to stop him from breaking a chair,” he growls.

“I’m coming. Keep him from hurting anyone.”

Sighing, I run toward the pack house. I’m so tired of my father thinking he can do whatever he wants. It’s getting old and is going to stop today. If he wants to act like a spoiled child, he will be treated like a spoiled child.

As I enter the common room, a stool slams into the wall beside a woman and splinters into hundreds of pieces. She shrieks and drops to the floor in fear, and I growl. How can he do this? He’s endangering people with his tantrum.

Has he gone crazy?

He goes to pick up another chair, but I jump in, grab him by the back of his neck, and yank him away from the chair.

“STOP!” I demand, filtering the Alpha tone into my voice. My father struggles then goes still for a second, but he doesn’t give up. Instead of submitting, he fights to free himself and shoves me away.

I growl, and Zev perks up when he runs.

“Prey,” Zev growls. It’s sad that he sees my father as prey, but right now, I have to admit he’s not wrong.

“What the hell happened?” I ask Ryan when he moves to my side.

Ryan shakes his head, confused too. “He got an upsetting call and then at the end, he exploded and went off,” he says, motioning to the room. “He was yelling about being betrayed, but I didn’t catch the whole conversation.”

I glance at the door, where my father had run, and ask, “It’s no secret that he doesn’t like my mate, and now we know that the person behind the rogue attacks is a pack affiliated Lycan. Do you think the phone call had something to do with Fiona’s disappearance?”

I hate that I have to ask the question, or that it’s even possible for my father to do something so cruel, but he’s hated Fiona for a long time.

“I wish I could say no, but I do.”

Nodding, I give into the urge to chase and run after my father.

Fiona POV

I whimper as my stomach cramps, tightening from the hunger. I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but that man hasn’t fed me. It’s been several hours since I woke up, but I don’t know how long I was sleeping before that.

The light from the window at the top of the wall has turned dark, casting me in almost pitch-black darkness. The little bit of moonlight coming through the window doesn’t offer much, and the darkness makes it even colder down here.

A breeze blows through the window every now and then, making me shiver and curl into myself. If I can stay warm and if my stomach would stop screaming at me, I could think straight.

I shiver again, wrapping my arms tighter around my knees as I curl in on myself. Will the man who captured me just leave me down here? Would he forget about me?

Is that how I’m going to die? Being forgotten, starved, and frozen to death?

I whimper, reaching into the bond Ethan and I share. The blockage is still firmly planted between us, and the silent emptiness brings tears to my eyes. The pain in my head grows with each attempt to connect with Ethan, as does the ache in my heart.

If I could just get rid of whatever is blocking our connection everything would be fine.

The loud creaking of the door startles me in the dead silence, making me jump and lean further into the wall. I make sure I’m facing the door. I don’t want that man sneaking up on me, not that I could do anything while facing him anyway. Just his silhouette looked too large and strong for me to take on.

And without my wolf guiding me, I doubt I could even punch the man correctly.

Though, if he is going to attack, I want to at least have a chance to fight. I can’t do that with my back to him.

This time, when he comes in, he moves closer, giving me a full view of his face. I’m not sure whether to be scared or glad at that I can see him now. My mind screams that him showing me who he is can’t be good, while another part says that if I can get away, I can identify him.

He’s older than Ethan, probably by at least ten years. There’s a bit of gray at his temples, I think, but I can’t fully see because there’s still not much light. I can see the massive scar that slices across his face, and the pink and white skin that makes it look fresh. I guess it was recent, probably within the last few months.

Honestly, it makes him look scarier, especially when he crouches in front of me and smirks.

“Hungry?”

I wasn’t expecting him to come in with a tray of food, but has one in his hands. I glance at the open door behind him, spotting my only chance at freedom. If I could just make it around him and through the door…

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” the man growls lowly, the sound grating and severe enough to send a shiver of fear down my spine. This man is definitely a predator, not someone to be taken lightly or to be ignored.

“You won’t get far.”

He sets the tray of food down and slides it across the floor in front of me. Then, he looks directly in my eyes. Every fiber of my being screams to run, that this man is dangerous and could kill me without a second thought, but I’m frozen.

I can’t move.

He’s right. I wouldn’t make it far.

My stomach cramps with hunger pains, and I bite my lip, trying to keep from showing my discomfort.

“It’s not poison,” he says, making me look up at him. I stare, trying to find any lie in his eyes, but I can’t read him, and I won’t believe him. He kidnapped me, so there’s no chance he wants to keep me unharmed. He’s already drugged me with something, so what’s a little poison to him?

“I need you alive for now. Ethan needs hope.”

“Hope?”

That doesn’t sound good.

He pushes the plate toward me a little more, watching me. In the moment, I realize he won’t leave until I eat something. So, I take the plate and tear off a piece of the bread, not taking my eyes off him as I put it in my mouth. The bland taste does nothing for me, but it doesn’t matter, since I’m forcing myself to not look away from him.

I don’t trust him not to attack, no matter what he said.

After swallowing the bite of food, I ask, “What do you want from Ethan?”

Another creepy smirk pulls at his lips as he answers, “His head.”