~MAYA~
"Get your hands off me!" I shout. "You have no right to touch me."
He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing at all. My butt is still hurting from his lash earlier, and I'm happy that his neck and chest area are at least bleeding from my last attack. It felt good to let some of my anger out.
I wasn't only angry that he'd kidnapped me; I was mad that he held and kissed another woman in front of me. I was mad that he was supposed to be my mate but still acted cold towards me. There was so much resentment inside of me that I needed to get it out.
"I can't wait for the day that you pay for this!" I hiss while he continues to carry me.
He isn't responding to my anger, and it's only pissing me off more. Why can't he open his mouth and speak? Why can't he tell me who exactly he is? I still have no idea what his name was. If I had the slightest notion, then maybe I could talk him out of this.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I ask again. "Who are you with? Are you from the council? Did they hire you to torture me?"
He laughs at my question, and I can't understand what could be this funny.
"Your idea of humor is troubling." I snap.
"I don't work for anyone, sunshine. I only answer to myself, no one else. While the council may have something against your family, I'm not a part of it. I have my reasons for disliking you." He corrects me.
So he wasn't from the council? Then who does that leave? Who have we crossed paths with recently that ended with bitterness?
Could he be someone from Alpha Eric's pack? When my family retaliated against them for plotting against us, new enemies were formed from other packs that survived the battle. Eric died, and so did his daughter; I'm not sure who survived from their pack.
But still, he couldn't be someone from that pack, I've never seen him before and he had his own men, I can see that clearly. I already knew everyone from Eric's pack, at least I thought I did. We were all close before the battle had begun. . .before Eric had betrayed my family and his true intentions made known to us all.
"You're sick, do you know that?" I ask when he places me down on the chair and ties my hands with the chains once more. "You intentionally let me lose to give me false hope. Something is wrong with you; you need to get yourself checked out."
He quirks a brow and stoops down to tie my feet together as well, "you call it a sickness; I call it playing it safe. Now I know how your mind thinks and the steps you make while trying to escape. I know what to expect if anything like that ever happens; I mean, anything that I didn't plan, that is."
I glare at him, and he seems to be amused by my anger. Of course, he will be; the man enjoys seeing me anything but happy.
"I'm hosting an event tonight," he informs me. "I may consider letting you see our guests if you behave yourself."
"Why would I want to see your guests?" I demand. "I'm sure they will be as sick as you are."
"Hmmm," he murmurs. "I might consider selling you to this alpha. You may make me some extra cash."
I freeze from his threat. Sell me to an alpha? He wouldn't; he had to be messing with me. Didn't he want to use me to get back at my family for something I didn't know about? Then why would he sell me before he could get whatever revenge he was looking for in the first place? I'm shaking from fear when he leaves the room, and I can't help but cry. I don't want to be sold.
I want my family; I want my brothers; they have always protected me my entire life. I miss them so much.
"Austin." I cry as the tears flow down my cheek. "Where are you?"
My brothers wouldn't leave me to suffer for long; then, where were they? Why haven't they found me as yet?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
~AUSTIN~
"I told you to keep Maya inside!" I shout at my parents. I know this isn't a tone that I should take with them, but Maya was missing now, and it's all because they let her go when I specifically asked that she stay inside.
"She was frustrated at home, Austin," my mother tells me. "She just wanted to go for a run. Your sister said that she would be back quickly. When she didn't return, we assumed that she wanted to stay out later since she hadn't been out much ever since things had become so heated in our kingdom. We didn't think that something happened to her."
"And don't try and pin this on us," My father says in his assertive tone. "You should have taken your sister with you. She isn't a child anymore; you should have instilled more trust in her. If she were with you, we would still have her. Now we don't know where our precious Maya is, what are we to do? Where are we to look?"
I've only ever wanted to protect my sister. I never wanted to confine her or make her feel clustered at home. As soon as things had eased up with the council and all the other enemies we've somehow managed to get over the past few weeks, I would have let her do as she pleased. We had so many enemies now; I didn't know who to start looking at first.
"We don't need to be pointing any fingers here," Lucy, my wife, tried to break the tension in the room. "We can't fight amongst ourselves. No one is at fault; the real culprit is the person that has Maya. We need to find her quickly, and the only way to do that is to join forces with all our allies."
I had to agree with her; we were losing time blaming each other. It was already too long since she'd gone missing.
I storm into the meeting room and punch the wall in frustration. I couldn't think of anything else but finding my sister, who had taken her? Who would be so stupid to mess with my family?
"I'm sorry, Maya," I whisper. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you this time."
But I will find you. I will leave no stones unturned until I found out who took you from us and when I did, they would fucking pay.