"Hello, Alaric. Good to hear from you." I can hear voices, but they're far away and my head is groggy.
"Yes, I am. What's wrong?" I know the voice is familiar, but my head can't register it.
"Yes. I'll get right on it. I'll update you when I find something." My body feels numb and I can't seem to find where my neck ends and my toes begin.
I hear the person take big, heavy steps in my direction, but they don't say anything for a while.
"When will they be awake?" I feel a hot hand touch my face and it burns. My body doesn't react and I feel stuck inside my own mind.
"This paralyzing drug shouldn't last long. They should be up soon. You can wait or give them an antidote," another voice joins. This one wasn't familiar like the other.
"Will they be able to do magic?"
"No. Not for a while."
"Just inject them. I need them up now." I feel a pinch on my skin and the liquid burns as it travels through my body. I groan in pain when the heat reaches my heart. It scorches through the pores of my skin and awakens my hair follicles.
"Bring me the bucket." A few seconds later, a sea of water is dumped on my head and I'm gasping for air. I can finally feel my body again and I open my eyes.
I cough up the water that went down my throat. My nose burns from the water that went up my nose. When I look up, I'm face to face with Markus.
I remember now.
The mystery man in the Jeep. The alpha of this "pack".
His eyes aren't their regular blue. They're white like his hair and the longer I look into them, the more I become clueless. His usual warm smile is replaced with this cold look. I hear a groan from the other side of the office and I see it came from Chris.
Her hands are tied behind the chair she's sitting in and on reflex, I moved my hands to realize they are tied in the same manner.
"Stop struggling. It'll only make the ropes tighter. You don't want to harm your baby, do you?"
At the mention of my baby, I send a cold glare to the unknown person. When I look at them, it's a nurse. She has wavy, black hair, brown eyes, and a fake tan. I can tell from her posture that she's human.
"I might be tied up, but I suggest you watch what you say," I tell her. My throat is dry and raspy, but it gets the message across. She starts walking up to me, but Markus stops her before she gets too close.
"You're dismissed, Cleo." He calmly tells her to go and she follows directions. The door closes behind her with a deafening silence.
"What's all this about," Chris asks from the other side of the room. If we weren't in a messed up situation, I would have probably laughed at her bluntness.
"Don't be slow, Chris. Obviously, your a hostage," Markus says and I can hear the eyeroll and sarcasm in his tone.
I'm never doing a stakeout again because obviously, we're bad at it. My stomach growls and burns with hunger. I skipped food for this stakeout and it was for nothing because we got caught.
"So, your the leader of this little pack," I ask him. I don't really understand what is going on here. This isn't the Markus I know. The Markus I know is a loving family made and loyal Alpha.
"You can hardly call it little when I have members spread all over the world." Markus walks around his office, looking at all the ancient art surrounding us. His office is a mix of modern and caveman, as if he were indecisive when it was time to decorate. "Do you know the gender of the baby," he asks.
That's the last thing I thought he'd ask. I'm tied up to a chair and the first question he asks me is the gender of the baby.
I guess I'll play along.
"No."
"Would you love it less if it were the gender you didn't want," he asks. He goes up to this collection of swords he has hanging on one wall of the office. One of them looks familiar to me and when he picks it up, I notice its Dragons Blood.
"I don't have a preference in gender." I don't get what all the small talk is for, but I watch him twirl Dragons Blood like its a toy.
"My parents didn't care what they wanted either. They decided if they had a girl, she would mate with someone rich and powerful. If she were mated to someone of low class, they'd reject him and still mate her with someone else. Luckily they didn't have to do that because they had a boy instead. Girls are harder to handle anyways. Since they had me, they decided that they would just raise me to be the best alpha possible." Markus starts rambling off and Chris gives me a confused expression from where she is across the room.
"No matter what, you want the best for your children and I found that out when I had my own kids. I always felt like my parents were too strict on me, but when I became a parent, I realized they did it out of love. Being strict is necessary to raise a child. Obviously your father didn't know that because your a pregnant teen."
Did he forget that his own daughter is also a pregnant teen?
"They just wanted me to be strong. Do you want the best for your child, Anne," he asks, but I don't think he really wanted me to answer. He was about to continue rambling, but Chris interrupted him.
"Can you just get to the point," Chris asks. She was starting to get irritated and I can definitely say the same for me.
"SILENCE." Markus walks over to Chris and holds Dragons Blood to her neck. "Don't interrupt me." He backs away slowly when he thinks she gets the message. I see Chris roll her eyes behind his back.
"Where were we," he asks, sending a glare to Chris. "I'm a failure because I couldn't do what my parents did. Raise my children the correct way. One turned out to be an asshole and the other one is a wuss. Their never going to live up to their full potential, so I decided I'd do it for them, because parents always want the best for their kids." He lets out a sarcastic chuckle at the last part.
"No, I'm not doing this for them. I'm doing this for me. My legacy will not be tarnished by children. Before I die, I will be on top, with unlimited power and that requires an army. I've built my army. Is it obvious now? My plan," he asks me.
"Yes," I answer. It's crystal clear now. He's chopping down everyone in his path. He wants to be the only one in power. He's selfish and greedy. Being on the higher court isn't enough for him. He wants to be on the very top. The way he talks about his children gives me chills. I mean, Gianna is an asshole, but Giovanni is a great person. They're his children and every time I've seen them, he's done nothing but shown them unconditional love. I don't know where these new feelings are coming from or where he's been hiding them.
I don't like the look in his eyes at all. It doesn't fit him. This can't be him.
My mind flashes over things I can possibly do to get out of this situation and I remember the little hunting knife I have hiding in my boot. His name is Elijah and he's great for cutting ropes.
"I can see you guys thinking hard. How about I just tell you my next step," he says. He moves closer to me. A chilling grin spreads across his face.
"It's not like I have anywhere else to be," I whisper, but I know he can hear it with his wolf ears.
Unexpectedly, he brings Dragons Blood up to my stomach and the tip feels cold against my skin. I feel my baby kick at the sudden coldness and the blade digs a little into my skin.
"I've talked to Alaric and he thinks I'm here to save you. They're on their way here, but what if I kill you with your own sword? That would be so poetic. Just straight through the womb. It'll be a two in one. Alaric would be so heartbroken to find out he was going to have another baby, but unfortunately, I didn't make it on time and his love and what would have been his unborn child, were murdered. I can see it now. Floor decorated in your blood, your face frozen in shock, and the sword sticking out at the perfect angle."
He twists Dragons Blood, as if he's imagining how he's going to stab me. I'm not breathing anymore, or at least that's how it feels. The pressure of being tied to this chair, Dragons Blood pointing at my baby, and defenseless is causing me not to get enough air in my lungs.
"I dare you to try." I had slipped the knife from out of my right boot and I was ready to cut the ropes and kick the blade away from my baby.
"Alpha," we hear a knock at the door. Markus is paused in his actions and looks irritated.
"I'll be back," he says. He takes Dragons Blood with him and walks out.
"Anne, his eyes are white. Do you know what that means?" Chris is whisper, screaming to me from the other side of the room. I cut the ropes around my hands quickly and run over to her as fast as a pregnant women can.
"If you don't mind, Chris. I'm trying to get us the hell out of here," I tell her.
"Anne, it's not him. He's being controlled by someone. Plus, I'm not worried about us. I know you have a way out. You always do," she says the last part so nonchalantly.
"What are you talking about?" I ask her as I cut her loose.
"I've seen this before when I went on a trip with my mom to Germany. This witch was controlling someone to do their dirty work. The same thing is happening here. Markus is being controlled and that's why everything he said didn't make sense. He loves his family and he doesn't care about power."
"I've never heard of any spell like that and I've been through almost every spell book."
"It's because I've only heard of it in European witch covens. The coven in Germany is one out of like five of the covens that know that spell and it requires a powerful witch. There's someone else behind this and poor Markus is being mind control. Maybe we can find the real leader of the pack if we find the witch thats controlling him."
"No offense, Chris, but you do realize we have to get out of here first before we can do that, right?" I grab two black, identical 23 inch ninja swords from off the same wall Markus took Dragons Blood from.
"Fine. Let's do this," she agrees and tries to charge up some power.