Held For Ransom

Chapter 15

Upon waking up, I felt a deep ache throughout my entire body. What the heck, was all my thoughts consisted of as I sat up on the uncomfortable cot. I looked to my right and saw Cole in a metal chair, dozing. Why was he here..?

"Oh good! You're awake!" My head jerked straight ahead, where I saw Marie walking in, a tray of food in her hands.

"I guess," I muttered. Wait, why was I asleep in the first place?

You were in the shifting phase, the voice in my head answered. I screamed, jumping up from my bed.

Now, I bet you're wondering what the big deal is. I was always hearing this annoying voice, right? Yeah, well this time, it was much louder and clearer. It was like a freaking horn in my head. So can you blame me for being a bit startled?

Marie snickered, and I narrowed my eyes. "Care to share what's so funny?" I asked, a little offended.

"She's talking to you, isn't she?" Marie answered my question with one of her own.

Confused, I asked, "How'd you know? And who is this 'she' you're referring to..?"

"You shifted, Hannah. That's your wolf talking to you. She has been ever since you met Cole," she replied, smiling triumphantly.

"Oh," is all I could say. If anyone could read my mind, this is what they would've been hearing:

How is this possible??

How and when did this happen??

What. The. Flucking. Chickens.?!?!?!

"We don't know how it happened or how it's possible, but all we can think of is that somewhere along your bloodline, there are wolf genes. They could be as far back as your great-great-great grandparents," Marie said, as if answering my thoughts. "Yes, I am, in fact, answering your thoughts," she chuckles.

Again, what the flucking chickens?!?

"Wolves inside a pack can read each other's thoughts and feel each other's emotions as well. Normal shifters have to be in their wolf form to do this, though. However, the higher ranking shifters can do this in human form as well. And being the former Alpha's mate, I can read your thoughts. You can too, being Cole's mate," she explained, leaving my brain in a mixed jumble of information.

Smiling apologetically, she assured me, "Don't worry. We'll explain this all much better some other time. I'm just trying to get the general stuff out there. We'll teach you how to read other people's minds, as well as fighting and shifting, later."

"Okay..." I answered, uncertain, before I shifted my eyes to Cole, who was still sleeping soundly. "Should we wake him?"

She shrugged. "Probably. Or we can just leave him down here and see how strong these locks really are," she giggled.

I shook my head and smiled slightly, "Some other time."

I nudged his shoulder gently, then more firmly when he didn't wake up. He groaned and turned away, settling back into a deep sleep. Growing impatient, I stood up and kicked the leg of his chair, hoping the jolt would wake him up. Shrieking with pain, I held my foot and stumbled around, shouting profanities at the stupid chair.

"Stupid, motherflucking chair!! I will hunt you down and have you recycled into an old granny's toilet!!" I screamed at it, hopping on one foot while grasping the other.

"Wow, violent much?" A tired sounding, male voice asked.

I whipped around, glaring at the culprit who talked. "This is your fault!"