“Ow,” Bella groaned, holding her head and snapping her heavy eyes shut. The bright sunlight was burning her eyes like fire. What the fuck?

Her head was thumping, her jaw and neck were sore, and she couldn’t remember anything.

Oh, wait. She remembered a little bit. Cliff knocking her down. Her head smashing against a rock. A blurry naked guy carrying her.

Geez, now I’m hallucinating things.

She took a deep breath and slowly squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the bright sun as she opened them. They flew open when she realized where she was: inside a freaking house.

What? Where? How? Who? Why?

Her head was pounding with the worst headache ever but she sat up anyway, grimacing in pain as she moved. She was lying on a bed in a small bedroom. The walls were made of logs, and not the smooth varnished logs like the expensive log cabins that her parents rented for family vacations, these logs were rough and raw with twigs sticking out of them.

The room had no decorations, just a night table made out of logs and the hard bed with the rough blanket that she was lying on. It looked how a small cabin in the middle of the woods would look like. And there was only one kind of person who would voluntarily give up the comforts of society to live in the deep woods like this.

I’ve been kidnapped by a serial killer.

Bella’s hands started shaking as she looked around, desperate for an exit. There was a small window over the bed that she could probably squeeze through. She climbed up onto her knees with her heart racing in her chest and pushed the window open. The cabin was in the thick of the forest and she had no idea where she was.

Something or someone moved in the other room and she whipped her head around, staring at the open door with her chest tight and a shakiness in her limbs.

Heavy footsteps were coming toward the room, sounding out like an executioner’s drum. Bella was frozen to the spot, any hope of escape was vanishing with every step that the monster took toward her.

She quickly dropped back down on the bed and closed her eyes, pretending that she was asleep. Images of serial killers came flashing through her mind like rapid-fire.

He’s going to butcher me and make a lamp out of my skin.

The footsteps reached the room and she held her breath, too terrified to breathe.

“I know you’re awake.”

Bella squeezed her eyes closed even tighter. This is not happening.

The deep roughness of his voice was like the voice of a beast, turning her blood cold and making the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight.

“Open your eyes,” he commanded, making her flinch.

She slowly opened them, gasping when she saw him.

He was huge. His massive body towered over her, his head almost reaching the ceiling. He was built like a truck with an enormous chest and big muscular arms. He was wearing a tight brown sweater that clung to his sculpted round shoulders and stout back. The hood of his sweater was on over his head with the fabric and shadows covering his face.

Bella could feel her face turning white, her stomach in knots. He had come to kill her. Why else would he be hiding his face?

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked in a shaky voice.

He huffed out a breath, his massive chest heaving up and down as he stared down at her.

“You hit your head.”

She glanced up at the window. Was it too late to jump out?

He caught her intentions and a low growl escaped from his throat.

“You’re not leaving,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling.

Bella pressed her elbows into her sides, making her body as small possible. “Am I your prisoner?”

“Call it what you want,” he answered, “but you’re not leaving.”

Her pulse was racing, her heart hammering in her chest. She got a jolt of adrenaline and swallowed hard. “Yes I am,” she said, swinging her legs over the bed to stand up.

He was on her at once, moving so fast that all she saw was a blur. He put a powerful hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down onto the bed. God, he’s so strong.

“Don’t test me,” he growled, leaning forward. “It’s not just my looks that make me a monster.”

His head leaned down into the sunlight and Bella gasped when she saw his face. He had four long scars across the right side of his face starting at his forehead and running down to his chin. He was horrifying.

She cringed, closing her eyes as she turned away.

“You’re not leaving,” he repeated, standing back up straight.

Bella swallowed hard and then slowly turned to look at him again. His eyes were a sad brown that looked very familiar. He had a strong masculine chin with a rough face that would have been handsome if it weren’t for the deep pink scars running over it.

The scars, they looked terrifying. Four jagged scars running parallel as if they came from the claws of a wild animal. Or from a kidnapped girl who was fighting for her life.

But they looked familiar as well. It took her a moment but then she realized.

“Cliff?” she whispered, leaning up on an elbow. She looked at the man with narrowed eyes, seeing the resemblance, seeing the truth. He was Cliff.

“My name is Logan,” he growled. “What’s yours?”

“Bella,” she said with a gulp.

“Bella,” he whispered.

“You’re the bear,” she said, still staring at him in disbelief. “You’re a shifter?”

“You hit your head,” he said, pushing her back down. “You need rest.”

She looked at him as her heart broke. She truly thought that Cliff was her friend. Why was he keeping her trapped here? Why would he save her life only to ruin it after?

“Are you going to hurt me?” she asked, her voice coming out in a whimper.

He huffed out a breath. “You’re already hurt,” he said, not really answering her question. “You’ll stay here until you get better. You will cook the dinners and do the laundry.”

“I will?” she said, swallowing the angry words that were coming rushing out. Who the hell was he to tell her what she would and would not do?

“Yes,” he said with a grunt. “You are not allowed to leave the premises for now and you are forbidden to go into the spare bedroom.”

Bella looked past him into the hallway to the closed door with the padlock on it. “What’s in the spare-”

“I said it’s forbidden!” he shouted, making her wince.

Definitely a serial killer. Definitely dead women inside that room.

“Why can’t I leave?” she asked, her head pounding once again.

He stared down at her with his muscular chest rising and falling in annoyance. “Stop asking so many questions.”

Her chin began trembling as she looked up at him through watery eyes. She was so stupid. She had thought that Cliff was her friend and now he was going to kill her.

She dropped her pounding head back on the rough pillow and faced the wall, closing her eyes as her body shook with sobs.

“I’m-,” he said, exhaling as he breathed heavily. “Do you want water?”

Bella shook her head. “I want to go home.”

With a furious grunt, he spun on his heels and stomped out of the room. “You are home!” he growled before slamming the door shut.