Chapter 123

Helen POV

I buzzed in excitement. I wanted to carry my mate’s pups and hearing last night that it would become reality—it thrilled me to no end. I hardly slept at all in the hot, excited anticipation.

I slipped into a comfy, flattering dress that fell to my thighs. I knew I had all day to prepare for tonight and seducing a Lycan, but I also knew that no matter what, I would have to win that creature’s trust.

Randy was right.

If the Lycan still hates me, I won’t get anywhere in mating with him.

I left the room at last and stalked down the long, familiar hallways of this massive estate. My fingers ran through my necklace, toying with the rings my grandmother gave me. I never got the chance to tell Justin about what my father said about the rings, but I wanted to.

It was up there with a lot of other things I wanted and needed to tell my mate. I followed his scent outside the house but stopped short, seeing a pair of burly warriors outside the front doors.

One of them moved into my way, standing over me intimidatingly. “You are not permitted to leave the house.”

I hiccupped a little in shock. “I’m—I’m sorry, I was just looking for—for—”

His burning glare made me feel small, even though I was the Luna. I had authority over him! How could he treat me like this? Like a prisoner!

“Mate,” Justin growled, pushing me back into the doorway of the estate and slamming it shut behind our entrance together. “What are you doing outside? You are not allowed to do that yet.”

I nodded in shame. “I’m sorry, Justin. I just thought—”

When I didn’t continue my sentence, he pulled my hair back and forced my head to raise with a firm push on my jawline. I paced my focus from his dark eyes to his tired, exhausted frame. He obviously looked tired already this morning and smelled like the rogue who trespassed the estate.

“You betrayed me, mate,” he whispered. “Just because I am drawn to you as my mate, doesn’t mean I can allow you to walk freely around our pack. You have to earn that right.”

My heart leapt with the sliver of hope he was offering me. “How can I do that?”

“You be loyal and obedient,” he purred.

I sulked in thought. I was being loyal and obedient! I was doing everything in my willpower to gain his trust again, but he still acted like he never saw any bit of that effort.

“Like tonight?” I gusted at last. “Will having sex with your Lycan gain your trust back?”

His brow furrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. “You were eavesdropping?”

I bit my lip in humiliation. “Yes, I did. I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay,” he groaned. “I understand why you would. You just want to be a good mate, right?”

I nodded vehemently. He brushed his hand under my jaw and grazed my chin. For once, his smile was proud and wide and sure. I wanted to melt in that moment, seeing him so proud of me.

“I want to be a great mate to you, Alpha,” I said, surely nervous but most definitely prideful. “And I want you to love me again. I know you don’t trust me after the incident with our fathers, but I want to bare your pups and have a normal family with you.”

He grinned more and leaned forward, pressing his lips to my temple for a tender surface kiss. “You’re a great mate, Helen. My Lycan will see that soon enough and maybe we can heal together from what happened.”

I blinked back happy tears. “I would love that.”

He ushered me back towards the room and walked with me in doing so. “You have to rest, though. You and I will have a long night and my Lycan doesn’t finish easily. You remember the night we first mated, right? I fought my Lycan back then.”

I nodded, feeling like that was so long ago, and yet it truly wasn’t. “We have been through a lot. We can get through tonight, as well.”

“Good girl,” he said, pushing me in bed. I laid down at his will and he covered me up with a thick blanket before walking off to shower. When I saw the blood splattered on his back, he stopped, hearing my gasp. “What is it, mate?”

“Your—your back, Justin,” I breathed. “It is splashed in blood.”

He hardly seemed surprised. “I am sending William a message tonight. It will spark trouble I’m sure, but I’m not concerned with it too much. We will overcome that damn rogue.”

I laid down, wanting to sleep and catch up on rest to prepare for tonight, but I knew it would be difficult to dream and not think of the nightmare I had about the huntsman. He terrified me endlessly and hurt me in the dream world.

I just wanted to be with Justin and mating with his Lycan so I can utterly get through this hurdle.

When Justin got out of the shower and got dressed, I heard him leave the room again. I wanted him in bed with me, but my exhaustion kept me from being able to ask him to.

I felt a tug at the blankets though, and my eyes shot open, seeing an unusual man at my bedside. He had ropes wrapped around his shoulders loosely and when his dark, black irises met my eyes, I dared to scream.

He slapped a palm over my mouth before I can let out as much as a squeal. He used the ropes to tie my ankles and wrists in tight, unforgiving knots. When he finally finished restraining me, he looped a rope around my lips and forced it to gag me.

I coughed, struggling to understand what had happened to make this reality. Who is he and how did he even get in here?!

He grabbed me by my hair and yanked me right off the bed, scooping me off the floor and hiking me over his shoulder. I struggled and groaned, trying to fight the restraints as best as possible.

He slapped a harsh, unkind hand against my ass and brought out a small, feather dart from his pocket. With one hand available, he flicked the cap off the long, silver needle and jammed it into my bicep.

I hissed through the gaging rope and struggled to be let loose but the moment the needle poked into me was the same moment my thrashing attempts to escape were thwarted. I fell limp on his shoulder and couldn’t even move, my eyelids hardly blinking correctly!

He chuckled, ducking through the doorway and even in the hallway, too large to fit through this normal estate. Whoever this huge brute of a man was, he wasn’t normal and human.

My stomach sank as my face rested on his body, being carried out of the house like a damp rag on a chef’s shoulder during work.

“You didn’t even put up a fight, Luna,” he sneered, crawling out of a window and the ducking us into the woods. “You are as weak and pathetic as I imagined. Just wait until me and my friend get our way with you. You’ll be as good as dead.”

I groaned, the rope and the solution from the dart making me more weary by the second.

“Shh, you should rest. You will be in your new dungeon soon.”

Like on command, my eyes went dark and my body relaxed as I was put to forceful sleep.