I was tied to a chair in Chase’s parents’ summer home. Chase’s dad, stepmom, and Richard were all tied to their own chairs in the dining room with me. Chase’s dad was unconscious, with a bloodied gash on his temple. Michael had knocked him over the head with his gun when he’d noticed David answering his phone through his pocket.

Gloria was quietly whimpering, a far picture from how I usually saw her, her make-up messy, her hair falling all over her face. It was disturbing to me, and I wasn’t exactly Gloria’s number-one fan.

Richard, on the other hand, was stone-faced. He looked over at me, staring into my eyes, but I had no idea what to do.

I felt so stupid just sitting there. I needed a plan; I had to try something, at least to buy Chase some time to come for us. He would come for us, wouldn’t he?

I wanted to shift, hope the extra strength would allow me to break out of the bonds, maybe just break the chair I was tied to; but Michael had a gun, and if it had silver bullets, he could just shoot me, wolf or not, and my baby and I would cease to exist. I couldn’t take that risk.

I glanced over at Michael. He stood in front of the window, staring out into the night, gun hanging loose in his hand. For the moment, he wasn’t looking at us, but I was sure he was listening with his strong, alpha hearing for anything we said to each other.

I would have to choose my words carefully.

“Gloria,” I whispered, leaning over toward her. “Where’s the rest of the staff?”

She shook her head helplessly, mascara smeared as tears went down her face. I wanted to beg her to get herself together, but I couldn’t blame the woman for being terrified. Her husband was unconscious, dripping blood from his head.

I would be a blubbering mess, too, if it were Chase. It looked like Gloria wasn’t just a gold digger—some part of her truly adored that man, and she kept glancing over at him, and then breaking down into more sobs.

“I-I dismissed them for the rest of the weekend; it’s just Richard. Oh, God,” she moaned, sniffling and shaking her head.

She was right. That was bad news. But I couldn’t blame her; she hadn’t known a psychopath would bring her son’s boyfriend to her house, tie her and her husband and butler up, and play games with us, when she’d decided to give her staff a much-needed break.

None of us could have expected this—except me. I had brought all of this on them, on Chase. And the worst part was that I’d known all along it could happen, but I had pushed down that fear in the hope that Chase and I could really be happy together.

I had to count on Chase to figure it out. He was smart, he had scent to follow, and from how he had been acting around me since we’d found out I was pregnant, I knew he’d rip the world apart to find me.

But even if he did realize that Michael had brought us here, it had taken us a two-hour flight last time. The drive with Michael back into the city had taken more like four. Whatever Michael had planned, he seemed like he was waiting.

What if he lost patience? My barely-contained panic had reached new heights and was threatening to break free as I struggled to loosen myself from my bonds behind the chair.

David stirred, and Michael turned to face us, delighted. I froze so he wouldn’t see me trying to get loose, my fingers slowly dancing, playing with knots I couldn’t see, just trying to find some give.

Gloria was doing the same behind her chair. I gave her the tiniest smile and nod of approval.

“So happy to have you back with us, David. Wouldn’t want you to miss the show,” Michael said with a wicked grin, spreading his arms wide with excitement. “Now we’re just waiting for our special guest; but I think in the meantime, we should do some show and tell, don’t you?”

I wanted to throw up. Michael consistently inspired that reaction from me now. I couldn’t believe I had ever let this man knot me.

He was vile. Disgusting. Didn’t he know I would never, ever be his? How could I, after he had shown himself for the evil he really was?

“Let’s see,” he said, obviously having fun. “You’re David; you’re the father. And you’re Gloria, his slut of a wife.”

“Shut your mouth,” David growled, but Gloria intelligently did keep her own mouth shut, and shook her head at David. Silently, we all stared at him, begging him not to spur Michael on.

Don’t respond. Don’t encourage him. Don’t entertain him.

Michael just laughed at David, pleased that he’d gotten a reaction, and moved on. “And you’re the butler that Chase cares so much about. We’re going to have fun with that tonight,” he said, shoving his gun against Richard’s chest.

Richard stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him. Michael turned to me, and I shivered at the malice behind his glee.

“And you, you’re my bad, bad little whore. We’ll see how your attitude changes after you’ve been punished tonight, but I’m starting to think you’re a lost cause, darling!”

Shame filled me, not just for having fucked Michael, but for everything I’d done, for my selfishness. If I had handled this differently, maybe no one else would have gotten hurt. Maybe Chase wouldn’t have been involved at all.

But it was too late. Tears pricked and stung my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I said to Chase’s family. “This is my fault.”

“Oh, yes,” Michael laughed, approaching me, grabbing the chair and leaning in close, tipping me backward so only his grip kept me from falling. My belly lurched at the sensation, eyes wide as I was forced to stare up at Michael.

I saw then how deranged he really was. There was barely life inside of his eyes anymore, just rage. This couldn’t just be alpha possession.

Michael was a very bad, very unstable person, and I already knew I didn’t want to push him; I didn’t want to see what he was capable of. But I realized, staring up at him, that getting away would never be enough. The only way to stop Michael would be to put him down.

“Yes, you pretty little whore,” he purred. I’d never felt that much shame about the word until he said it, dripping with venom and filth, like just because he’d fucked me, he could do whatever he wanted to me and my life.

“You’re finally getting it. This is your fault. If you had just been a good boy, and taken my money, and told these nice people the truth about your fake relationship, we wouldn’t be here.”

Gloria gave an offended little gasp.

“Oh, you missed that part?” he asked, leaving my chair to wave his gun in her face. She went completely still, staring at the weapon in horror. “Little Riley here isn’t Chase’s boyfriend. He isn’t his mate. He’s a rent boy. He spreads his legs for cash, and any hot alpha knot that comes along.”

I hung my head in shame. I didn’t want to see Gloria’s face.

I didn’t know how Michael knew everything, but I wasn’t surprised that he did. He had been watching me ever since I had made the mistake of letting him inside of me.

“It’s not true,” Richard said suddenly. He turned and looked at David. “They’re soulmates, David. Chase and Riley were born for each other.”

Even though I was locked in terror, my heart did a happy little skip when Richard defended me. Not only did he recognize Chase as my soulmate, but he actually seemed to approve. I smiled at him gratefully.

His eyes darted toward my baby bump, and David’s eyes followed. Chase’s father was shocked, staring at me. I could tell he didn’t quite know what to think—he’d just found out I was a prostitute. Was that his heir in there, or not? From his perspective, it even could have been Michael’s.

“It’s yours,” I rushed to assure him. “I love Chase. We’re a real family. It’s love; it’s really love.”

Michael growled, unhappy with the attention being pulled away from him. He snarled furiously when I said the word love in regards to Chase and pointed his gun at my belly.

“Do you love him more than you love that baby?”

Gloria screamed, and I shook my head desperately. My entire body entered a state of full panic. I would beg, I would cry, I would do anything to keep Michael from pulling that trigger.

“Michael, no! No, please! Not the baby, just not the baby, please.”

Richard and David both snarled, ready to tear Michael apart, shaking their chairs and threatening to break them into pieces. Richard was only a beta wolf, and David was an old alpha at half health, but I thought maybe the three of us together could do it. It was just a matter of getting to him before he could use that gun.

He paused, unconcerned, and tilted his head, as if listening closely with his alpha hearing. A huge, insane grin came over his face.

“I think our special guest has arrived.”