LIGHTNING ILLUMINATED the dark clouds, followed by the rumble of thunder. Great! Just fucking great! Of course, she’d get stuck in a torrential downpour with no cell service and a broken-down vehicle. It wasn’t like anything else could go wrong. Oh, wait. You’re in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and have no clue where you are. Her flight had been delayed two hours. Causing her more of a headache. The only car they had at the rental place was a small Ford Focus when what she needed was an SUV.

Darkness embraced her, much like the soaked shirt that clung to her breasts. As the rain pelted her, Onessa tried not to curse. The night held all kinds of hazards, from the thicket of bushes that snagged against her jeans to the murky mud sucking at her sneakers. Where is the damn sidewalk? She didn’t want to walk directly on the asphalt for fear of being struck by a car, or worse, picked up by some nut job. Nikes don’t fail me now. Trudging along, Onessa walked in the direction she’d been driving. Hopefully, a gas station or some sort of convenience store appeared soon. Not a single streetlight lit her path. Thunderous clouds covered the moon, her only light source. Still, Onessa kept moving. The rain fell faster, and as she picked up her pace, she noticed multiple sets of yellow eyes off in the distance in what she assumed was the woods. Please let it be my imagination. She hoped it was her mind playing tricks on her. But as luck would have it—especially her luck—those ominous eyes were real.

A twig snapped to her left and the distinctive sounds of growling had the hairs on the back of her neck rising. Don’t be that girl. The one who didn’t try and get to safety. Looking over her shoulder wouldn’t help—it didn’t matter, the animal sounded far away from her. Heart racing, Onessa took off in a dead run.

Except, the fallen tree limb she tripped over ruined her escape. Thunder cracked off in the distance and another flash of lightning struck giving her a hint of light. Right in front of her, stood a pack of wolves. Too afraid to move, she pulled in a deep breath, slowly stood, and backtracked. Only her foot caught on something else, and down she went. Again. Onessa’s head hit a rock, her vision blurred making her see double before she greeted the darkness.

“WHO IS SHE?” A MAN asked.

She rocked a serious ache, and her body felt like it had been run over by a Zamboni. Not once, but twice.

“Don’t know, but she smells good.”

The last thing she remembered was falling, and landing...hard.

“She sure does, you think Beau will let us keep her, seein’ as she’s on Leabauds’ property?”

Leabauds?

She was supposed to be in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. How in the hell had she messed that up?

“No, says right here on these papers.” They rustled through her purse, but Onessa couldn’t be bothered with moving. She ached everywhere and a slimy film of mud coated her teeth making her want to gag. Fucking storm. “Her name be Onessa Sol, and she’s from California.”

At least they got her name right.

“So, she belongs to California?” the other man asked. They sounded almost child-like and ignorant, but she could tell by the timber of their voices, they were grown men. She’d somehow taken a wrong turn and ended up in Cajun country if their accents were anything to go by.

“Yup, says so right here,” the other man repeated.

A sharp pain entered her side, and she moaned. The agony overwhelmed Onessa’s senses.

“We best take her to Beau. He’ll return her back to California.”

They lifted her, rough hands pulling and twisting her in ways that were not conducive to her feeling better. The two men only made it worse. 

“I think I can walk,” she groaned, opening her eyes and taking in the scene. Mud covered Onessa everywhere. On her clothes and hands. The dirt caked her face, as well. No part of her left untouched. One male wore a pair of overalls, minus a shirt. His face dirty, and his eyes a sapphire blue. His orbs a startling contrast to his black hair. He looked like he’d either been stuck under a car all day, or he had no idea what a shower looked like. She couldn’t tell if he was her age or not with all the dried dirt on him.

“Ed, put her down, she says she can walk.”

The one called Ed mumbled something under his breath, and after a few more steps, put her down. He didn’t fare any better than the other man in terms of cleanliness. And he looked identical to the one in the dirty overalls; only he was bald and was missing his two front teeth.

“I’m Onessa.”

“We know, it said so right there on your papers. You belong to California.”

No, she belonged to herself, but she wasn’t about to correct them. Instead, she asked, “You guys have a car?”

“Nope, Beau’s property is right there.” The dark-haired male pointed to a clearing off to her right, and sure enough, there was a house. If only the damn wolves hadn’t startled her, she’d have made it unscathed and would have at least been able to phone for help.

“Thank you for coming along to rescue me. I ran into a bit of trouble. My rental car broke down back up on the highway, and I couldn’t get a signal on my phone.”

Both males snickered.

“You got one of them fancy cellular phones?”

Fancy? Were they stuck in the dark ages? No one called cell phones fancy.

“Yes, just a regular smartphone.”

“Let me see it. Never seen one up close. Beau doesn’t care too much for them modern toys.”

Before she could stop him, he took her purse and rummaged through it, looking for her phone. She didn’t know these men, didn’t want to cause trouble, and if they planned to hurt her, they would have tried by now. At least, I hope that’s the case.

“It’s all wet and soggy in there.”

“Can you hand me back my purse, please?”

He handed the bag to her, and the two men motioned for her to follow. With a slight limp and a hell of a headache, Onessa walked across the yard into a big house. They were greeted by a young man who held the door open for her.

“Beau’s real angry at you, Ed. You, too, Eddy.”

Ed and Eddy?

“We brought Beau something. She belongs to California.”

The young man at the door laughed before saying, “She doesn’t belong to California halfwit, she’s from California. It’s where she lives.” Then he looked her way, piercing her with his gray-blue eyes before saying, “Beau’s gonna like you, pretty lady.”

“I’m just trying to get to my destination. If I could just use a phone to call a tow truck and a cab, I’ll be on my way.”

Onessa wasn’t getting a good feeling about the three men. And she always trusted her gut.

“Beau can help with that. Right this way.” The man motioned for her to follow him.

They led her down the hall into a wide-open office where a man sat behind a large mahogany desk. Broad shoulders encased in a gun-metal grey three-piece suit straightened at her appearance. The man looked like a Roman aristocrat, with his aquiline nose, high cheekbones, and dark brown hair perfectly parted. Some of the tension left Onessa’s shoulders upon seeing him—until he smiled. Stark, white teeth flashed, and his canines appeared larger than a normal person.

“I see someone got lost on their way to Grandma’s house,” he rumbled.

“I beg your pardon? I’m not on my way to my grandmother’s. My car broke down.”

“Did it now? Well, then I guess I’m the lucky one. My name is Beau Leabauds, welcome to my home.”

Huh?

How was he lucky? The inkling of doubt she’d tried to dismiss earlier slid its way past her throat and into her stomach. Something was off with Beau. His bright eyes sparkled, but not with any kind of warmth. He reminded her of someone on the verge of a psychotic break. As if he barely hung onto a slowly decaying string of sanity. Glimpses of madness were evident in the way his nostrils flared repeatedly, and his eyes tracked her every movement.

“I’m sorry, but if you’d just let me use your phone, I’ll be on my way.”

“You’re not going to tell me your name?”

She didn’t want to, but she did anyway for the sake of getting the hell out of his home in one piece. “Sorry, it’s Onessa, Onessa Sol.”

The man behind the desk stood. A lot taller than she’d expected, she stepped back. Broad shoulders, inky black hair, and the same color eyes as Ed and Eddy, only the blue orbs appeared to glow from within. He sported uncommonly long fingernails for a male. And when he approached her, the creepy vibe she’d noticed earlier was in full force.

“Who do you need to call, sweet Onessa?”

“First a tow truck, then I need to call a cab, and my mentor. I need to let him know why I’m so late.”

“Who’s your mentor?”

“Cyriaque Ravenueax.”

That brought Beau up short. Onessa watched as his face changed. There was a hint of aggravation before it cleared, and then Beau relaxed into his toothy grin.

“Cyr is taking on students again. How very nice of him. I know Ravenueax. I’ll see to it that he’s called and you’re returned. Unharmed.”

Unharmed? Why would he say that? Because he’s an oily bastard.

Before she had a chance to ask him to clarify what he’d meant, he disappeared behind a door in his office, but not before she saw what sat on the other side. Wolves. At least a dozen of them, lounging in his home like it was the thing to do. As if they were merely house pets.