Chapter 14

Heather sank down into the chair tucked back into the corner of the room, hoping to lose herself to the shadows, her stomach churning with disgust as she listened to the men talking. "Now, son, I don't want you to go easy on Piper. She's the kind of woman who needs a strong man," Henry said. "That's one of the reasons I picked you. I'll leave it up to you how you get her to cooperate, but I want her at that altar in two days."

"Don't worry, sir, I can be very persuasive when I want to," Jacob said. "And just to put you at ease, there won't be a bruise on her when I'm done. We wouldn't want the wedding pictures to be spoiled by that kind of ugliness."

"No, no, we wouldn't want that," her father said. "Now, as to the other matter, I'm willing to give you a big bonus if it's done quickly. I don't know how much time I have left, and I want to see my heir born before I die."

"I've been giving that some thought myself," Jacob said, an evil grin spreading across his face. "I really think it would be best if I got started right away. These things can take time, which I'm afraid you're a bit short on, I could make a lot of progress in two days."

"Jacob, Piper is yours to do with as you please," Henry said, waving his arm in the air. "I see no reason to wait until after you're married. By all means, feel free to move things on as quickly as you can. I'll let the staff know that you're not to be bothered tonight."

"I appreciate that, sir," Jacob said, flashing him a grin. "Things may get a little rambunctious before Piper gives in to me, but that will be half the fun. I promise I'll do my job. If we're lucky, she'll be pregnant by morning, and if not, well, there's always tomorrow."

Sickened and horrified that she'd played a role in what was happening to her daughter, Heather got shakily to her feet and tried to slip out of the room, sure that she was going to throw up. "Where the hell do you think you're going, woman?" Henry shouted at her. "Our glasses are empty! This is no way to celebrate our daughter's coming marriage."

"I'm sorry, I was just going to the powder room," she said. "I'll get your drinks."

"Oh, Henry let the woman got the bathroom," Jacob chided. "She looks like she's about to wet herself."

They both started laughing, "Go then, woman," her husband said, waving her away. "You can refill our glasses when you get back, but be fast about it. I'm not waiting around while you mess with that face of yours. Besides, there's nothing you can do to make it look any better. You're an old woman, Heather, ancient and wrinkled."

There was more laughter as she slipped out of the room, but it didn't bother her. She was frantically trying to think of a way to help Piper. "No, no, this can't be happening," she said to herself, sinking into a chair at the dining room table, her own wedding night coming back to her in stark detail. "And I helped them do it."

Forcing herself to calm down, she started to get to her feet, then something under the table caught her eye. Reaching down to pick it up, her heart already starting to pound, she held up Piper's purse. Hands shaking, she opened it up and started digging through it, then suppressing a cry of relief, held up her daughter's phone. She threw the bag back under the table and ran down the hallway, locked herself in the bathroom, turned on the water and started scrolling through the contact list.

Sawyer snapped his computer shut, looked up at the clock once more, then got to his feet and began to pace, unsure what to do, but sure that something was wrong. He'd just turned to make his way back across the room when Mary came shuffling down the hallway in her slippers, a worried look on her face.

"She's still not home, is she?" Mary asked, walking over to the window and looking out into the darkness. "It's almost ten. I thought she would be back by now; I've got this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."

"You too?" he asked, looking up at the clock again. "I haven't heard from her all night. She promised to let me know how it was going. I've texted, I've called, she's not responding to either. I'm starting to think I need to go over there."

Mary opened her mouth, but his phone began to ring and they both let out a sigh of relief, "Piper, I've been so worried," he said when he connected the call. "Is everything okay? It's later than I thought it would be."

There was a pause, "This isn't Piper, it's Heather," a woman's voice said, confusing him for a second. "Piper's mom."

"What's wrong?" he asked, instantly on guard. "Why are you calling me."

There was another pause, "Piper is in trouble, and it's all my fault, I'm the one that got her over here. Please, you have to help her, I can't let this happen to her too," she said. "Henry locked her in her room, he's going to marry her off to a man I've never met before, and he's going to get her pregnant. This is all my fault. If you love her like I think you do, you'd better come get her before it's too late."

Stunned, it took his brain a second to catch up, "Where is she?" he demanded. "Where do they have her locked up?"

"In her room on the second floor," Heather said. "Henry has guards all over the house. I'm sorry, Sawyer, I didn't know he was going to do this. Please hurry."

In the background, he could hear someone pounding on a door, "Get the hell out here, woman, I warned you about taking too long," a man shouted, and then there was more pounding. "Don't make me have to punish you! .;… I may have cancer, but I can still make you sorry that you misbehaved."

Heather gasped, "I'm sorry, I have to go," she said. "Please hurry, Sawyer, I don't know how much longer it will be."

***Piper***

Piper pulled her arm out of the guard's grip, "I know the way, you don't have to show me," she said, tilting her chin up and squaring her shoulders. "I can walk just fine on my own."

He gave her a shove toward the stairs but let her go, "Just get up there and don't try anything," the man said. "I don't want any hassle tonight; I've got a date later."

She gave him a dirty look but started up the stairs, trying to stay calm. Panicking wasn't going to do her any good. She had to keep her head together and think of a way to escape. When the man shoved her into the bedroom and the lock clicked into place, it was harder to stay in control, but she leaned against the door taking deep breaths until the emotions passed.

Pushing herself away from the door, she looked around the room, then rushed over to the balcony doors and twisted the knob. When nothing happened, she rattled the doors, hoping they would pop open, then, with a frustrated cry, pressed her face up against the glass. Wondering how she could be such an idiot, she fought the tears that stung her eyes, wishing she'd brought Sawyer with her.

A burst of warmth washed over her when she thought of him, chasing away some of the fear and panic. He would notice when she didn't come home, he would come after her. Forcing herself to walk away from the window, she sat down on the bed, closed her eyes, and pictured Sawyer. Then, she began talking to him in her head, begging him to find her and come get her. Laying down on the bed, she tucked her knees up to her chest, blocked everything else from her mind, and thought about Sawyer, about how much she loved him and the life they were supposed to have together.

She must have fallen asleep at some point, but was awakened by someone pounding on the door, "Are you ready, sweetheart?" Jacob called; his voice slurred. "It's your beloved, come to make a midnight bootie call."

Instantly awake, Piper jumped out of bed and ran to the other side, then slipped out of her heels, the only weapon she had. A second later, the door burst open, and Jacob strolled in, already unbuttoning his shirt, and she beat back the fear that spread through her when she saw his face. After stripping off the shirt, he tossed it to the floor, then crossed back over to the door and poked his head out.

"We won't be needing you tonight," Jacob said. "I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere."

"Yes, sir," the guard said. "Thank you."

Jacob shut the door and turned to face her, "Well, here we are, alone at last. I've been looking forward to this for hours, that old bastard sure can talk," he said, slipping off his belt. "I hope you're going to make this easy on both of us. It's getting late and I need to get some sleep. Take off your clothes and get into bed like a good girl."

"Get the hell away from me," she said, gathering her energy for a fight. "I'm not going to have sex with you."

"Now, that's where you're wrong. It's going to happen. Your father wants you pregnant as soon as possible, and I aim to please," he said, walking toward her. "I don't mind getting a little rough with you if that's what it takes, in fact, it makes this all that much more satisfying."

"You're disgusting, you'd better not touch me, or Sawyer will kill you," she said, backing up against the wall, the shoes clasped tightly in her hands. "Leave me alone before it's too late."

"That mongrel, I'm not afraid of him," he said. "He's just a freak, and I hate to tell you this, but it's not a full moon. Now get over here, I'm getting tired of all this talking."

She shook her head, "You'll have to come get me," she said. "And I'm going to give you one hell of a fight."

"Bring it on," Jacob said, closing the distance between them in only a few steps. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you, Piper."

Before he could grab her, she swung one of the shoes at the side of his head, connecting with a crunch, but Jacob didn't go down; instead, he let out a howl of rage. "You little bitch," he said, then grabbed her and wrestled the other shoe out of her hand. "You're going to pay for that."

She tried to slip out of his grip, but Jacob wrapped his arms around her, pulled her arms behind her back, and grabbed her wrists in one hand. Yanking back on her arms, he leaned over, ignoring her cries of pain, "You're going to play nice now, or it's going to get worse," he said. "There are things men can do to women that don't leave any marks. I'd hate to have to show you what they are, but if you keep fighting, I will."

Jacob twisted her arms again, sending pain shooting through her upper body and making her scream, then started shoving her skirt up her legs, and she started fighting harder. A second later, she heard a big thump out on the balcony and looked over to find a pair of glowing eyes staring back at her. Power surged through her, giving her a burst of strength. She managed to lift her leg, then stomped her foot down on Jacob's as hard as she could, making him howl with pain.

Knowing that Sawyer was coming through the window any second, she wrenched her wrists out of Jacob's grasp and fell to the floor, curled up into a ball, and covered her head with her arms. Jacob screamed with rage and pulled his leg back to kick her, but before he could, the glass door of the balcony shattered with a crash, and Sawyer sprang into the room. Wheeling backward, completely off balance, a scream of terror now coming from Jacob's open mouth, he crashed into the wall behind the bed and stood staring at the huge grey wolf, now taking up most of the room.

She got to her feet, straightened her dress, then carefully made her way over to Sawyer, who was still snarling and baring his teeth at Jacob, and put her hand on his back. The contact sent a wave of comfort through her and she sucked in a deep breath, forcing herself not to think about how close Jacob had come to raping her. The man was clearly no longer a threat. He was crouched against the wall, no longer screaming. Instead, he was mumbling incoherently to himself and shaking his head.

Another surge of power filled the room and only a second later, Sawyer was holding her in his arms, "Are you okay?" he asked, stroking her back. "I came as fast as I could."

"I knew you'd come," she said, plastering herself against him, trying not to completely lose it. "I just kept thinking about you, about the life we're going to have together, and I knew that you would come."

"Come on let's get you out of here," Sawyer said, lifting her into his arms. "You're safe now, he's not going to hurt you again."

Sawyer carried her to the door, "My father has guards posted all over the house," she said. "I don't think we can get out this way."

"Don't worry, Jayce and the rest of the boys will take care of them," he said, just as there was a loud crash followed by the sound of a struggle, then silence. "Right on time, let's go tell your father goodbye. This will be the last time you ever see him."

Relief flooded through her, "Put me down," she said. "I want to walk out of this house."