The Alpha And His Mate (Silver Hills #1)

Chapter 22

The first thing I noticed was the feel of silk grasped in my clenched fists.

Where am I?

My head pounded and my throat sang for water to quench the enflamed swelling that plagued my neck.

Thirsty. Hungry. Alone.

How had my life descended into this?

The last thing I remembered was being surrounded. Surrounded by vampires. A small part of me hoped Andre and Diana has gotten away before hell broke loose.

I peeled my eyes opened and surveyed the room around me. It was almost as if I had stepped back in time to a gothic castle. I had been thrown across a crouch in a crimson bedroom.

It would've been preferable to have been left on the king sized bed but I would take whatever I could get.

The bed hangings, curtains, wallpaper, tapestries and carpets were all the lurid red of human blood. The drapes weee drawn across the window so I couldn't judge what time of day it was.

I slowly unknotted my fingers from the silk that draped my body. I flushed in embarrassment before I could even process what I was now wearing; it meant somebody- most likely an undead somebody- had undressed me to get this on.

And to my horror I found that, when I dragged myself up and staggered in front of a gilded dressing mirror, I was wearing a wedding dress.

It was gorgeous. One of the nicest pieces of clothing I'd ever worn. Close fitted so that it showed off every curve on my body, the white silk brushed against the floor, a long slit revealing my pale leg way up to my lower thigh. The sleeves showed my shoulder and arm, and were little more than delicate lace that dipped down low and revealed the plains of my back from behind.

I noticed that, despite the grandeur of the dress, my hair and face had been left in tatters. A small part of me hoped that somebody would come and fix me up so that the illusion of a blushing bride would be complete.

Why kidnap me and then dress me up like a barbie doll?

I didn't know what I thought the vampires would do with me but this... this hasn't even entered my mind.

I went to sit back on the bed, desperately trying to make sense of the situation. I racked my memory and tried to think of something I had been told that would explain it. Something to fit the puzzle pieces together.

I could guess that the house- the mansion- I was in was the ancient Mason home that had been left to the woods. It fit the time period and social class, from what I could garner.

A disturbing idea entered my mind. One that had to do with powerful children and the mixing of bloodlines. I pushed the thought of my Shadowlord blood away; I could pretend it was irrelevant right now.

A nicer thought was that maybe Jax had really wanted to get married and had decided to stage a kidnapping and then taken me to the packs home in the woods.

Even in my head that last idea was ridiculous.

Perhaps, I decided, I had better not wait around to find out what these people want with me.

Though I was hopeless at parkour or sports of any kind, I found myself staring at the covered windows, wondering if I'd have the guts to climb down if I found myself more than one storey up.

Trembling slightly, I threw back the curtains. A cool night embraced me. I clearly hadn't been here long since the moon's position indicated it was not yet midnight.

Midnight. The witching hour. The time when I was certain bad things would happen to me.

A new determination caused me to grasp at the latch, longing to fling it open and run away from this awful room.