Chapter 4 | DISCONTINUED

THIS STORY HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED ON THIS PLATFORM BY THE AUTHOR.

Dominic was torn within himself. He was both intrigued and enthralled by the amount of desire this woman could evoke in him. She would be perfect for what he had in mind. He knew this because she was feisty and strong enough to deliver on the deal if it went through between them. But, to know for sure, he needed to tell some sweet half truths first to feel her out, find out if his suspicions about her supposed mating were true. So, in answer to her last question, he growled, "Ray Boone."

*****

Natalie's wolf growled inside her head at the mention of his name. "What about him?" Natalie gritted out, trying her best not to show just how much she hated him.

"He has something I want. Something that he owes me."

"Ah, and now you believe you have something he wants and that there's going to be some sort of trade going on." It was just her luck that she would get stuck in the middle of alpha games.

"You're not so much insurance as you are a little reminder that he owes me and I'm not a patient man."

And she wasn't a patient woman. Nor was she partial to being drugged and kidnapped. But did anyone give a shit? No. It could be that she was Kage or just that she was small, but people tended to judge her as being delicate, skittish and submissive, which just pissed her off the more.

"Look, maybe in your culture it's perfectly fine to drug and abducts a person, but it sure as shit isn't acceptable in mine." Natalie kept her steely gaze on Dominic as she said this. Whatever his aim was, she sure wasn't going to make it easy on him. That was for sure.

"As soon as Ray arrives, you can leave."

That wasn't exactly fan-freaking-tastic news. She wanted to rant and rave, but what good would it do? She would only end up being confined in that damn bedroom again and that would drive her and her wolf crazy. With lust, of course. Also, she was a believer that it was best to have your enemy in sight, not out of it.

"Have you called him yet?"

"He'll be here soon," Dominic gritted.

"Well then, can the captive get a coffee or what?" she asked no one in particular.

Aside from Dominic, Dave and Talon, there were four other males in the room; a broad frowner with a military haircut, a gorgeous blonde with caramel skin, a tall wolf with tousled dark curls and a clown-wide smile, and a burly rugged guy with claw mark scars across one cheek. It occurred to her that she could just label them Angry, Blond, Happy and Big.

Other than Dave – who seemed strangely fascinated with her for having managed to claw him – none of the other wolves looked at all pleased about her presence. She guessed that they weren't a fan of her dad either. Not many were. Even the wolf who was wearing a huge grin looked intrigued as opposed to friendly, and she had the feeling that his smile was permanently there. Or maybe he was imagining what it would feel like to rip out her throat and hand it bow-tied to her asshole of a father. With his arrogance, deviousness and 'I own the world and can do whatever the hell I want attitude, her dad was as good at collecting enemies as he was at gathering alliances. Even those who allied themselves with him only did so because of how influential he was – it was all just politics.

Natalie watched Dominic nod to a grinning Mark who then switched on the coffee machine beside him and retrieved a mug from the cupboard. Dominic then tilted his head as if to consider her. "You know, you're not what I'd expected."

"Is that right?" Natalie said flatly.

"Ray usually likes airheads and submissives." Blonde as she was, Natalie knew she didn't have that bimbo look about her. There was no missing the sharp, keen mind behind those charcoal-grey eyes. She smiled inwardly at his words. Only if he knew. "Funny how a person's true mate can be the opposite of what they go for," Dominic continued Natalie couldn't help but hiss at his words.

"He's not my true mate." It came out snappier than she had intended.

"If you haven't found your true mate yet, why would you mate with someone else? It's not like you haven't got plenty of time to find him. You can't be much older than twenty-four, twenty-five."

"My mate's death. He died when we were kids."

"Well, then that's something you and I have in common. I also lost my mate a long time ago before I was able to claim her."

Natalie took in his solemn expression and felt a pang of sympathy for him. The loss of a mate wasn't something anyone could understand unless they had experienced that kind of pain themselves. "Sorry."

He simply shrugged a little. "Hmm, now you and Ray as a couple make even less sense. If you're not true mates, then that means he's chosen a spitfire. It really must be love."

Natalie had to bite back a snort. Love? Yeah, right. The reason Ray was so determined to fuck her was simply that she hadn't responded to his charm and his ego couldn't handle the blow. As for why he wanted to take her as his mate...The only thing she could figure out was that he wanted an alliance with her dad.

"When's the mating ceremony scheduled for?" Dominic asked.

Oh, there would be no mating ceremony. Ray was keen to get it over with because her dad had insisted on there being one before he would hand her over completely – only so he had an excuse to have a get-together with all his alliances and look the big man. No way would she bind herself to someone she didn't care for or even like. Then there was the matter of Ray being a control freak; she had picked that up from his interactions with his enforcers, all of whom were intimidated by him. She didn't believe they were scared of him in a physical sense. It was as though he had some sort of hold over them like he held their secrets in the palm of his hand or something like that.

Also, if the rumours were right, Ray got his kicks from inflicting pain on women. Considering he had almost forced his mark on her in the middle of a nightclub, she had no problem believing that. She had expected him to strike her after she practically crushed his balls with her hand in retaliation, but when he could finally stand and had finished panting, he merely smiled. It was a creepy smile that swore revenge, but he hadn't stopped her from walking away and she knew why. He was biding his time.