Chapter 5

Piper

Zander waltzed out of the room as if he owned the entire world. My blood began to boil at the mere thought of ... doing anything with him. Being this ludicrous Luna person, or him having this claim over me.

It was outlandish and psychotic.

I had to get the hell out of here ... like yesterday.

Once the door slammed behind him, I turned toward Vivian. "You have to help me get out of here. Please."

Vivian"s brown gaze lowered to her plate, while she nervously tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Please, just eat your food, Ms."

Swallowing, I knew I needed to find a reason for her to leave. A reason for her to help me. It was obvious she was scared to death. She was timid. What had he done to her?

Scooting my chair closer to her, I reached over and grabbed her hand. "Vivian. I don"t belong here. You don"t belong here. You have to help me escape, please. Will I not make it out of the woods if I leave? Do you know where a phone is that I can use? Or a way I can get to my truck? What about you? Can you go get my phone out of the truck—,"

"Stop," she said swiftly, removing her hands from my own.

The door to the kitchen opened, and Zander walked back inside.

I"d been around plenty of men in my life but none of them were as pompous, irritating, or all-worthy as Zander. Even the way he walked dug underneath my skin. William followed behind him, stopping at the table to make himself a plate.

"You"ve hardly eaten ... again," he said.

I looked down at my plate, picked up a piece of bacon, and took one bite. He watched as I chewed, keeping eye contact with him until he smiled. "I want to show you around the house, and then we"ll have a little chat once William finishes his meal." He walked toward the door. "Take your time brother."

I stayed in my seat, feeling Vivian and William staring at me.

Zander halted when he realized I wasn"t following him and turned around to face me slowly. "I understand your resistance. I do, Piper. But this attitude you have won"t get you anywhere here. Now. Get up, and come with me, please."

Slowly, because I didn"t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing his tone made me want to follow him, I stood. He watched as I walked over, in a stupid dress that he had in the closet. There was nothing but dresses, and pajamas in that room. Other than an array of new underwear that I didn"t want to know why he had.

Zander turned on his heel and walked me out and into the hallway.

I turned once I passed him to give him a little piece of my mind when he stepped forward and trapped me against the wall. His breath lured me in toward him, each breath he took moved his strong chest, and I found myself disgusted that I could find this man attractive in this situation.

It was sorcery.

Witchery.

Something wasn"t right here. Something hung over the air like magic. It was foreign to me, unknown. It slid along my skin like satin. "My brother thinks I need to ease you into this. Let you warm up to me," he whispered, his lush mouth parted, his eyes hooded with lust. "But I"m not sure he"s right," he said softly, his eyes lowering to the plunge of my neckline. "I think you need some ... tough love. Some ... dominance in your life. Did your little fiancée give you that?"

White-hot heat licked at my skin at the mention of him, especially by this man that knew nothing about me. "You don"t know anything about what I need or want, and neither did he."

"Obviously," he said coolly. "He didn"t care enough to know, and you won"t let me ... yet." He shoved from the wall. "But you will. I"m not here to hurt you, Piper Sloane. I"m here to invite you into your destiny."

Him knowing my full name should have shocked me more than it did. A chuckle left my mouth before I could stop it. "Did you just say destiny? You"ve been locked in this house for far too long because that pickup line is well played out."

"It"s no pickup line, Little One. It"s fact. Now come on, and I"ll show you around."

Reluctantly, I followed him down the hallway and into the vast space of his home. There was nothing small about the house. If you ever wanted to call it that. It was grand. A castle. In the middle of the Louisiana bayou. It was ridiculous. Something plucked out of someone"s wildest dreams.

Each room was different from the last, with beautiful antique furniture, endless artwork, and bedrooms galore. It seemed like a lot of wasted space to me. In the west wing, he led me down a long hallway, shoving open a grand set of wooden doors, and walked me into a library.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of it. My little bookshelves back home were sad and pathetic compared to this. The floor-to-ceiling shelves were built into the walls, and full of books. There was a nook below a stained glass window to read, and loungers resting around the room.

Zander glanced around the room as if it was the same as the others, and turned to leave, but I didn"t. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"No," I said. "This is ... beautiful."

He became quiet behind me. I felt his eyes on me as I walked forward and ran my fingertips along the books. There were modern books, classics, and ones I didn"t know anything about. I"d never admit it to him, but I loved romance books.

And it seemed there were plenty.

One of those fancy roller ladders was perched at the end of the row, and I imagined myself sliding on it like in a cartoon.

Then reality sunk in.

I needed to get any feeling of longing out of my system. In no way would I get comfortable in this place. "You like to read?" he asked from behind me.

The heat from his breath skidded down my skin. "Yes."

"You may come in here whenever you want," he said. "You can go wherever you want in the castle. However, you stay away from my room. It"s the one place I don"t want you."

Which made me want to go in there all the more.

"Whatever you say," I mumbled sarcastically, grabbing my dress and lifting it from dragging the floor. When I turned to face him, he hadn"t moved, and only lifted his chin in defiance. "I mean it, Little One."

Bowing my head, I curtseyed. "Whatever you want," I said.

Zander understood my tone—my sarcasm—but either way, he enjoyed it a little too much. "Good. I assume William is finished eating. We"re going to learn about packs, and what being mated to an alpha entails for you."

Bore me to sleep. I fought the urge to roll my eyes in his face. I didn"t want to listen to some bogus lecture on becoming a Luna, or whatever other story he wanted to tell me. "By all means," I said, gesturing him ahead. "Show me, Alpha."

Zander stopped cold, his eyes danced a honey color, and my body warmed. "Better stop, or I may break all my rules and have my way with you right here in this precious library you seem to love so much." He leaned his head closer to my ear. "Maybe on that ladder over there," he whispered. "I think I may enjoy trying to keep you quiet while I ride you into oblivion."

Zander left me with my mouth open. It was one thing to have an imaginary claim over me, but to claim me in that way, it ... it made me feel something in the pit of my stomach that I hadn"t felt my entire life. Desire.

As sick as it sounded, and it did sound sick, the image of being dominated by a man did wild things to me. Henry never made me feel like that, even in the beginning. Nothing about him stirred that need to be dominated that I had inside.

I never told anyone about it. It was taboo, and my mother would have crawled under a rock and died if I"d asked. Amanda talked about it a lot, but I only laughed and went on my way.

This was ... so wrong.

I needed to get out quickly. I couldn"t continue living here with these desires or I"d never leave.

William waited for us in the study, behind a giant mahogany desk, and a computer.

A computer ... to freedom. That was one way to the outside world.

Zander shut the door behind us with his foot and walked over toward a leather high back chair in the corner. "Have a seat, Piper."

I sat down in the one furthest away from the both of them and crossed my legs. William glanced over at Zander who watched me with an amused smile. "You think this is all a game, do you?" he asked

"Am I laughing?" I asked. "Does it look like I think any of this is funny?"

William cleared his throat. "I think it"ll be easier if I explain this to you. Zander seems to be on edge lately."

"Oh, does he not always turn into a big asshole beast, and kidnap women?"

Zander"s fingers curled around the arms of his seat, but William cleared his throat loud this time, drawing my attention back to him. "As you can see, which I assume you didn"t know before, there is more to the world than just humans." William walked around in front of the desk and leaned back against it. "William and I are ... wolves."

I blinked slowly, growing increasingly bored with this conversation already. It wasn"t that I didn"t believe they were something, but it leaned more toward some kind of satanic cult to me.

Zander hissed under his breath and stood up. "Just shift and show her, William. She doesn"t believe you."

Shift and show me ...

I leaned back in my chair, watching as William eyed his brother, and began to unbutton his shirt. Nervously, I glanced over at Zander who seemed as bored as I had been. "Why are you stripping?" I asked.

"So he doesn"t ruin his good clothes, Piper. Keep up," Zander said.

I gnawed on my bottom lip and watched as he shoved out of his pants, and stood in front of me in underwear.

Slowly, I stood up, putting the chair between the two of us. William"s gaze shifted from blue to gold, and he shifted, just as they said.

Instead of turning into a beast, he turned into a wolf.

They weren"t lying.

As soon as he did it, he shifted back, and Zander tossed a blanket at him to cover his junk. William wrapped the blanket around his waist and stared at me. "We"re werewolves, Piper, and Zander was our alpha. He was cursed years ago. That"s why he shifts into the beast. Zander and I were part of a pack, and when the voodoo queen cursed Zander and threatened the pack. Vivian and I are the only ones that stayed. This was our pack house for decades, past down to us through generations. Zander can"t leave here."

A dry ball of fear formed in my throat, and no matter how hard I tried to swallow, it lodged itself deeper. "I am not a werewolf. I want to go home. If you let me go, I won"t tell anyone—,"

Zander flew up from his seat and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. William sighed heavily. "You're an alpha"s mate, Piper. It"s a blessing to be mated to an alpha. He was over, stronger than, the entire pack."

Biting my bottom lip, I tried to keep myself from crying. "That"s great for Zander, but you can"t expect me to stay here. I"m here against my will, William. I want to go home. I want to go see my grandmother. They"ll find my car—,"

"They won"t find your car," Zander said, walking over to face me. "You don"t get it, Piper. You"re not understanding. You can"t leave, because I can"t leave."

Aggravation gnawed at my chest. "I"m not chained to you—,"

"No, you"re mated to him," William interjected when Zander seemed to grow angrier. "He can"t leave the castle and get his life back unless he finds someone to love him, Piper. That"s you. You"re his mate. You are the only one that will ever love him."

More laughter bubbled up my throat. "You"re insane if you think me loving this monster is going to fix your little problem."

"We don"t think that, we know that. It was the stipulations of the curse. She told us when he found someone to love him, to look past his appearance, to find the gentle guy beneath, that then ... he would regain his life."

This was a nightmare. I stepped around the chair and stopped in front of William"s saddened face. "You"re telling me that I"m stuck here forever? I can"t leave until I love this, this, thing!"

William gripped my arm and shoved me behind him, pressing his palms against Zander"s chest as he lunged for me. "Stop it, Brother. She doesn"t understand."

Zander"s chest heaved with heavy breaths, his eyes danced from dark to honey, and he worked his jaw in annoyance. "Just forget it, William. I"m not even sure getting my old life back would be worth it anymore. "

"How can you say that?" he hissed.

Zander stalked toward the doorway, his wide shoulders tall, his stride determined. "Because this woman is too damaged. She"s hanging onto this man caught screwing another woman. I"m sure I need a woman that loves herself before she could love me. Maybe the mate bond got it wrong," he said, eyeing me up and down. "She"s not that great anyway."

He slammed the door, and my mouth dropped to the ground.

The audacity of that bastard. I did love myself. Sue me for not wanting to toss my life away for some egotistical monster with a serious attitude problem.

William smiled at me. "Are you ready for lunch?"

Someone save me.