Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Piper

I come awake slowly, rubbing my face against the soft covers under me. When I try to bring my hands down, my eyes fly open. It doesn't take long to figure out why I can't move them. I am apparently tied to the fucking bed. I pull against the binding, but it only gets tighter when I do.

Damn him!

I am actually surprised I'm not completely naked. Instead, I'm in one of my own nightgowns. At least he thought of doing that for me. I press my legs together and try again to twist free of the ties. One of the most embarrassing things about all of this - besides the fact I let Merrik eat me in the fucking hallway where anyone could walk up on us - is the heat I feel on my mound. I refuse to let myself think about why it could be so hot there - beard burn, scuff marks, scratches from when I fell in the woods.

"Oh, you're up. I was so worried I would… what the hell?"

Annie is standing in the doorway, and I have to wonder if maybe Merrik wasn't telling me the truth about him and Annie since she looks pissed as hell.

"What has he done to you?" She quickly moves across the room and immediately comes over to untie me. She's not pissed about me being here with Merrik, she's pissed at him for tying me to the god damned bed! "Are you okay, Piper?"

I nod but I'm not sure if it's true. I may never be okay again.

"I…I have to leave, Annie. I have to get out of this house before he comes back."

I'm already making my way to the door.

"Um, I don't think that would be such a…" Both of us hear a thud in one of the rooms close by. "What the hell was that?"

We look at one another and I shake my head so she'll know I have no idea either. I open the door slowly and listen, waiting for any other sounds.

"Piper, maybe we shouldn't leave the bedroom. You don't know everything. There's a murderer."

"What?" Fear rises up inside of me. I might have asked but I am intimately aware of what is out in those woods. I did trip over a dead body after all. It helps clarify my feelings towards Merrik. Never has he made me feel this way, this fright.

"Merrik and his brother, the sheriff, they went to find the guy who's been killing women and children in the Dire Woods."

My stomach lurches. "The body I stumbled over in the open field was…"

"The seventh."

"Wait! You said Merrik left to go find the killer?" My heart hits my rib cage at the thought of Merrik being anywhere near someone who has killed people.

She nods, "As the mayor and…um, do you know about…?"

"What Merrik is? Yes."

She rushes through the rest, "As our Alpha, he'll want to be right there when they find the guy."

"How do you know it's a guy?"

"Kenneally's girl saw him when he killed someone trying to save one of the victims."

"Kenneally?"

"Merrik's brother."

Another thump echoes down the hall drawing our attention back to the empty hallway.

"I think it's someone in a room, Annie."

"Piper if something happens to you while I'm here, Merrik will have me for dinner."

"What if someone's hurt? We can't just leave them."

My hand unconsciously comes down low to just above the spot that is burning. I go out into the hallway with Annie following close behind.

"Wait!" She disappears and comes back with the lamp from the bedside table.

"Are you stealing Merrik's lamp?"

"What? No! It's for protection."

"Oh, maybe I should grab something too." Another thump reversed my direction, and I looked around the room for something to fight with. "Shit! There is nothing here."

I finally settle on a statue that weights at least fifteen pounds. It will definitely do some damage if I hit someone with it, so I figure I'm okay. We both creep out the door and down the hall. It kind of sucks that I'm in nothing but a flimsy nightgown but it can't be helped, there is no way I would have Annie check shit out all by herself. We stop at one of the doors farther down the hall and wait. Sure enough, the sound comes again. Holy shit! This just got a lot more real than it was when I first woke up.

And why was it different when I was running from Merrik? I wasn't afraid of Merrik. I was afraid of what he made me feel. Now, I wish he was with us. Not just so he could protect us but because I would know he was safe too. Another thump lets us know we're at the right room.

"Hello?" I call out but don't hear an answer. Just another thump. I wrap my hand around the knob and turn it as my heart hammers a mile a minute at what could be behind it. What if the murderer brought a half-dead victim here? I'm not sure why he would do that; I am just thinking of the worst thing I can see behind the closed door. All I can think about is blood and…well, more blood.

The fucking door creaks like it came right from a fucking haunted house and out of the corner of my eye I see Annie raise her lamp higher, ready to fight. The door swings back and… there's nothing in the room but another bed and a pissed-off girl handcuffed to the bed. The thumping is the bedframe hitting the wall as she pulls against the cuffs.

When she sees us standing with objects raised her eyes grow wide and scared. We hide the things behind our backs - or try to since I drop mine. "Thank God you're not a psycho killer."

"Um…not since I last checked. Are you guys…can you help me?"

"Are you Kyra?"

She rolls her lips between her teeth and looks from me to Annie and back again. "Yes. Are you going to tell that…asshole I'm trying to escape?"

"No! I have an asshole too." I immediately feel a bond with her. "I take it you've gotten the ‘talk' from your ma…man." I chose to use the word man instead of mate just in case she hasn't.

"Yea, Kenny told me…um, everything."

"Kenny?" Annie laughs behind her hand. "You call Kenneally Kenny?"

"The sheriff, right?" I know she told me but I just want to make sure.

Kyra nods. "Have you met him?"

I shake my head. A small worry fills my head. Why did Merrik not want me to meet his brother? Is he ashamed of me? Maybe he's not really sure about the whole mate thing? I rub above ‘the spot' and shove the worry out of the way. Annie rushes over to set her free only to turn back to me with a concerned look on her face.

"Um, I can't untie these, Piper."

I look around but don't see what I need. "Hold on just a second. Don't move."

I rush out of the room and down the stairs, turning once I come to the bottom. I'm in the office before I realize what I have done. How the hell did I…? How did I know that office was here? That Merrik only lets his brother in here? It's like someone was showing me the way and I didn't hesitate to think I was one of those people he would allow in here.

I shove all that out of my head for later and take a moment to turn my back to the door before pulling up the hem of my nightdress. Right above my pelvic bone is a small mark that kind of looks like…an animal bite.

He bit me! I push down the hem and narrow my eyes. I am so going to have a few things to say to him when I see him. So many things!