I woke to find myself on a boat, out in the middle of the ocean, and my heart nearly stopped.
The day had, so far, gone well. After the court case had been concluded, we'd returned to the packhouse, but not before deciding it was safe enough to stop for a quick bite to eat.
When we'd returned to the packhouse, however, things had gone horribly wrong. I recalled feeling very woozy upon our return, and had lain down to get some rest, worried for my cub, but confident it was only a mild case of food poisoning.
But it hadn't been.
And I was now on a boat, out in the middle of the ocean.
And Sarah was at the tiller, a psychotic smirk on her face.
"You've woken up, freak," she said, her eyes glittering as she glanced over her shoulder. "How are you feeling? Oh wait, I don't care."
I took a deep breath. Whatever had got me had obviously gotten everyone else; magic was probably at the heart of it. "What do you want?" I asked calmly. Barry's instructions on how to survive being trapped underwater came to my mind for some reason, and I realised he must have had an idea something like this was going to happen. The chains wrapped around my legs confirmed this suspicion, and despite my calm, I felt fear bubble up.
But I held my nerve. Sarah was not going to scare me into submission this time.
Sarah's smirk turned truly evil. "You, freak," she said. "You should know that by now."
"I'm sworn to another pack," I reminded her.
"Your pack are vicious bastards," she growled, her sadistic smile slipping as jealous, insane rage crossed her face. But soon the smile came back, more psychotic than before, and I felt my blood run cold. "They didn't tell you, of course," she added. "They never do. Not until they've got their claws well and truly dug in." She threw a disgusted look at my stomach as she said this, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself, cradling my slightly rounded belly protectively. Sarah smirked again. "And now you're with cub," she said. "You're trapped now, freak. They'll never let you go, and when your cub is born, they'll take it from you and raise it to be just as bloodthirsty and evil as they are. And you? Well, you'll be used as the pack bicycle, again and again, until your babymaking parts run dry. Then you'll be either exiled, or made a slave." She giggled, the sound making my hair stand on end. "Hey, even when you can't make babies, you can still be useful in other ways."
I grimaced. Sarah had well and truly gone off the deep end. "Listen, I don't know why you're doing this," I said, "but you're going to be in a lot of trouble and..."
"Shut up," Sarah said curtly, shutting off the engine and turning to me. "I'm saving your life, you stupid bitch. You think they love you? Care for you? Want you to be in their pack? Hell no! They just want to use you, treat you like dirt, and keep you ground in the dust, never giving you a chance to shine."
That was too much like what she and her former pack had done to me, but I wasn't about to debate semantics. "Why are we in the middle of the ocean?" I asked instead.
Sarah smiled again, gesturing to my chained legs. "This is the only way I can be sure you'll truly be mine to command," she said, her voice silky soft now. "You're my cousin, and I think you and I ought to stick together, oughtn't we?"
I shivered. "No way in hell," I said.
"Oh, shut it, freak," Sarah snapped. "Can't you see? I'm going to break that tie your pack have on you. And I'm going to do it whether you like it or not! Heh." She chuckled. "I think you'll come to like it. I'll take very good care of you. I'll even let you raise your cub... just so long as you swear to me."
"Over my dead body," I growled.
"That can be arranged," Sarah said, and her eyes said it all. "I plan on drowning you, saving you, and reviving you. And that will cancel those ties. Then you'll be mine forever. How does that sound?"
We were out in the middle of the ocean; I spied no recognisable landmarks nearby. And Sarah would no doubt have muffled the area to make sure no one would happen on us until it was too late. Worse, old werewolf lore told me she was telling the truth; if you were revived from drowning, you had a life debt to your rescuer. And that life debt cancelled out all ties. If Sarah suceeded, I'd be left adrift; Brody would feel it the moment she brought me back to life. And even if I managed to escape Sarah's clutches, he'd never be able to take me back; it would be both physically and magically impossible. Being near him would, in fact, be unbearably painful, and I felt my heart all but shrivel up in my chest.
But I was bound - pardon the pun - and determined not to let Sarah get her way, and I eyed the chains on my legs. It was a gamble, but I decided some gambles were worth taking. I took severla deep breaths, my training from Barry taking hold. "Let's see you win," I said.
Sarah frowned, and then her eyes widened, seconds before I lifted my legs and kicked her solidly in the stomach. This unbalanced her enough to send her overboard, but not before she grabbed my legs, and we hit the water with a splash. I had one moment to pray this would work, and then the water closed over my head.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvlNBzMlng
