Forsaken (Book 3 of the Zara's Wolf Trilogy) BWWM - ON HOLD

1. Mine

The smell of dirt and burning pine fills my senses as I slowly drift into consciousness. My head throbs. My body feels like it's full of lead and I struggle to move.

I don't understand where the smoky smell is coming from until it hits me and my eyes shoot open.

I've been kidnapped.

I try to cry out, to jump up, but all I can muster is a garbled noise and slight movements in my heavy-laden body.

Gulping air into my lungs, I slowly merge into wakefulness. My blurry vision gradually sharpens with each deep inhalation I take. It takes a few minutes, but eventually I emerge from the depths of nothingness into a new unknown.

Whatever drug they pumped into my body slowly seeps out of me as I gather my strength.

My face is pressed against the earth, my dreadlocks cascading all over me, and my hip, now bruised, is digging into a rock. My hands are bound behind my back, and my feet are also tied up. My wrists sting from where the rough rope has cut through my skin. Through gaps in my hair, my gaze darts around as I take in my surroundings. I'm in a tent and, somehow, I've wiggled away in my sleep from a thin blanket placed on the ground.

It's still daylight beyond the fabric separating me from the outside world, and I can see the silhouette of a man sitting at the entrance of my tent, guarding it.

With my head clearing, I try to slip out of the rope tied around my wrists, but even my slender hands cannot slip free. All I manage to do is rip more skin and hiss through my teeth at the pain flaring up. After a few minutes of struggling, I heave a sigh and close my eyes, giving into defeat.

What do I do now?

Murmuring voices catch my attention and I freeze as fear grips me tightly for a moment. When another silhouette appears, I squirm about again in an attempt to move back onto the blanket and pretend to look asleep. Before I can move three inches, the tent is pulled open.

My jaw drops when I see a large man with arms as thick as tree trunks step in. His scar etched skin is the darkest shade of ebony I have ever seen. Not a single hair curls on his bald head and bare chest that is ripped and hard as a washboard. Grams in Sacramento could scrub a load of laundry off his chest and giggle like a school girl in the process.

A jagged scar runs down the left side of his head and through a ripped ear. Another deep scar tracks down the left side of his thick lips. Black eyes catch mine as my breath hitches in my throat.

To refrain from staring, I lower my gaze, remembering Evan's words to look feeble and weak. He might go easier on me if I don't look like a threat, and right now, the last thing I want to do is piss him off. One punch from him and I'll be out cold.

"Welcome, princess," he says as he sits down on the earth a few feet away, too tall to stand comfortably in the tent. "Sorry to kidnap you and tie you up like this, but Jade said that you'd probably put up a struggle than to come willingly."

His voice is deep, non-threatening, and a hint of humor curls the corners of his lips up, as if he finds this whole situation to be amusing.

Swallowing, I ask in the strongest voice I can muster through a mouth full of cotton balls, "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

The slight curve of his lips turns into a full grin, but it's not one of contempt. Again, he finds this amusing as his dark eyes crinkle in the corners.

"Don't you know who I am?"

Is that a rhetorical question? I want to ask, but keep my mouth shut. I shake my head instead, the earth underneath me rubbing against my ear.

The events leading up to my blackout are foggy. I can't remember what was going on around me as soon as the foul smelling cloth was placed over my mouth and nose. I remember a car crash, a man jumping out of a van and tearing me from the car. I remember blurry shapes and garbled voices, but no words come back to me.

An inquisitive eyebrow pops up as he regards me for a moment. "Isn't it as clear as day to you?"

I blink in puzzlement at him.

The corner of his smile twitches as the humor leaves his eyes. "I'm Kairo. Alpha of the Shadow Rogues. Your father."

My heart stops beating as he continues.

"And believe me, princess, you should be thankful to be here. This is the safest place you can be. Ryan wants you and your mate dead."

Beating wildly, my heart races in my chest at the mention of Evan.

He presses on without missing a beat. His voice is low and stern. "In my pack, no one will be allowed to touch you--not even Ryan. You are mine. My flesh, and my blood. No one touches what belongs to me. If anyone does, I will find out. And I will show him no mercy."

"You can't just take me from my mate and pack like that." The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

Throwing his head back, he laughs. The vibrations of it fills me with dread and I struggle to keep breathing. When he's done, an evil glint flickers in the whites of his eyes as he lowers his head, his eyes catching mine and grins.

"Ryan wants a war. You won't have a mate or pack to go back to."