To say I'm nervous is a complete understatement. I'm beyond stressed. My palms are sweaty, my heart beats erratic, my legs shaking, the whole package.
"It's going to be ok," Cole tries to comfort me, wrapping an arm around my quivering frame.
"What if it's not though? Look, this is the woman who raised me, who cared for me the majority of my life. The one who helped stop my father's beatings. I don't know what I'll do if we're right, if she did take my real mother. Who could be that cruel? To take a child's mother?" I ramble, growing more and more agitated by the second.
"You have me, not to mention the pack. We're all here for you, remember? We're a pack, a family. Families support each other, right?" He reassures, rubbing my back gently.
Nodding, I take a deep breath to calm myself. We'll get through this. We will. We have to.
That's the spirit! My wolf and Cole say in my head at the same time, causing me to laugh.
"Are Jared and Hadlee going to be there?" I wonder aloud, and he nods.
"Yeah, they're already there waiting for us, so let's hurry."
"Let's not and say we did," I mutter sarcastically. I'm so not looking forward to the next couple hours or so.
"Very funny," he chuckles, then pulls me along faster.
"I was serious!" I protest, stumbling after him.
"I was too," he replies with a smirk, making me want to slap it right off his face.
Far too soon, we reach the dungeons where Lacey is being kept.
"H-Hannah..?" My step-mother stammers, and my chest tightens. Please, don't let her have any part of this, I pray silently.
"What are you doing here? Have they hurt you?"
Beside me, Cole snarls menacingly, causing her to flinch and step back inside her cell. "We would never hurt her, unlike you."
Looking as if she'd just received a blow to the gut, Lacey blanches and stumbles back. "How could you say such a thing?"
Deep in my mind, my wolf lets out a thunderous growl. She's lying! Don't believe a word she says, it's all a facade!
Taking a deep breath, I step forward until I'm a foot from her cell. In the calmest tone I can muster, I inform her, "We're going to ask you some questions. I suggest you tell the truth, otherwise some less-than-pleasant measures will have to be taken around here."
"What have they done to you, Hannah?" Lacey whispers, a shocked expression masking her true emotion.
"They've done nothing to me, mother, or should I say, step-mother? I've only learned the truth, not the lies you've been feeding me since I could read and write," I retort, wearing a steely expression to cover the hurt I'm feeling over being betrayed by the people I thought I knew and loved.
"That's not-" she starts, but is cut off by Cole.
"Enough. Your questioning starts now. And like Hannah said, there will be consequences for lying. If you're wondering how we'll know if you're lying or not, our wolves have the keenest sense for detecting lies." Cole tells her, and we both notice the underlying threat in his comment.
Gasping, Lacey places a hand over her heart. "You can't do this! I have lawyers, I can sue you and send you to jail for this!"
Having no idea where the newfound sense of confidence is coming from, but loving it nonetheless, I take another step forward until I'm right in front of the metal bars of her cell. "Oh, but no you couldn't. See, we're the good guys here, not you. We've got much more dirt on you than you realize, mother dearest. Plus, who says you're even gonna get outta here to call any of your precious lawyers?"
Spitting in my face, she snaps, "Your father will come for me. And he'll kill all of you. Including you, you little slut."
"Wow. So scared. Really, you think he's going to be able to kill any of us with his puny little army?"
Ok, so his army isn't "puny," but this is just too fun, pissing her off like this.
Again, Cole starts talking before she can reply, ending our little duel. "Are you, or are you not, Hannah's step-mother?"
"You think I'd give birth to a little slut like her?" Lacey hisses, to which Cole growls. "Don't ever call her a slut, or any other demeaning name like that again."
"Whatever, next question," she waves it off, and I glare at her. How had I ever loved someone like her? How had I not seen her true colors before today?
She's an expert liar, my wolf assures me. It was almost hard for even me to tell she was lying. She's good, no doubt.
Sighing, I agree reluctantly and tune back into the interrogation.
"How'd you come to be Hannah's step-mother? And what happened to her biological mother?"
Glaring ahead of her, at nothing in particular, she starts, "It's a long story. You see, Robert and I were best friends from birth. As we grew up, we fell in love. We were positive we'd be mates. But then we hit our eighteenth birthday, and well, he met his mate. As you can probably guess, it wasn't me.
"It was Victoria. She was beautiful, the school's head cheerleader. She wasn't your typical stereotype one though. She was kind and respectful, never judged other people or spread rumors. Everyone loved her.. We were best friends. When I learned that they were mates, I was outraged, of course. I was determined to have him, no matter what.
"About a week after my eighteenth, I met my mate. He was the most handsome man I'd ever seen, besides Robert. But, I rejected him. It was Robert that I wanted, not that guy. Robert was supposed to be my mate, not that guy. Robert was supposed to be mine, not Victoria's.
"I waited and planned for eight years. It was the day of this huge pack meeting with your pack, perfect for framing someone else. Towards the end, when everyone was gathered about and mingling with one another, I asked Victoria to step aside for a moment with me. A few of my hired men then drugged her and took her away, to a place no one even knows exists.
"Finally, I had Robert all to myself. I told him I saw one of your pack members with her alone in the woods, and that I'd come to get him as quick as I could. He took off fast as he could toward the woods to find her, but to no avail. What I had not expected, however, was for Robert to kill Thomas, you guys' former Alpha. That was just an unexpected little feat." She concludes, a smirk on her lips.
Worriedly, I glance at Cole to see his reaction at her last comment. As expected, his fists and jaw are clenched, with his eyes glazing over, turning a pitch black. Immediately taking action, I step back and take hold of his hand to let him know I'm here and ready to help. "Hey, it's ok. Don't let her get to you, alright? She's just being a b*tch," I tell him, sending a glare in her direction at my last statement.
She just smirks, twirling her wavy bleach blonde hair between her manicured nails. "I don't think the b*tch in this room is me. I'm pretty sure that's you, my dear."
At that, Cole lunges forward and rips apart the metal bars as if they're nothing but pudding, and tackles Lacey to the ground, claws and canines out.
Oh, crap.
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Hey guys. So sorry for the sucky update. I really am. Track and school suck, I know. Don't worry though. 20 more days and I'm free to write for the summer as much as I want!
~IMPORTANT!!!~ I have an idea for how to help motivate me to make the chapters longer, and I'm willing to give it a try if you guys are. This is what I'm planning on doing: For every vote, I'll write 200 words, and every comment is 500 words.
How's that sound? Fair enough? Let me know in the comments, pretty please!
~Caiti xoxo
YOU ARE READING
Held For Ransom
Hombres LoboIt was a normal day and I was outside walking my german shepherd, Sammie. She had just stopped to take care of her business and I noticed the hooded man who had been following us for quite some time, approach us. I had figured he just didn't want t...
