Palm to Paw

Chapter Seventeen

Rose's POV

The stuffy bag was pulled from my head and I blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the light. My eyes darted around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.

I was in a hall-sized room, made from dark stone bricks. The room was dimly lit by fire torches hung on damp walls. It looked like a medieval dungeon. That's not what worried me though. What worried me was that the whole room carried the potent stench of death.

I tried to move, but realised that my wrists and ankles were bound to the chair I was sitting on. Dammit.

"My dear, you look so much like your mother," a smooth, malicious voice said behind me. I jumped in my seat at the realisation I wasn't alone, but then remembered that a bag couldn't just jump off someone's head.

The man walked slowly around my chair and came into view. "But I think there's, ah yes you have your father's eyes," he rambled, his lips tight over his pale, chiseled jaw. In fact, his entire complexion was waxen ivory. And how does he know what my parents look like?

Oh my god.

"Ar-are you Draken?" I stutter, silently cursing myself for my frightened speech. His oxen eyes pricked with evil and a malicious smile flashed across his face, "It is nice when I am recognised. But try not to be too frightened my dear, it's not you I want."

"Then who-" but I cut off as I realised exactly who he was talking about.

My hands balled at my sides in fury, "I swear to god if you hurt Brad-"

Draken's unsettling laugh cut me off, "And what do you think you're going to do about it my dear, when you are bound to a chair?"

My gut wrenched at the realisation that he was right, there was nothing I could do.

"What the hell is going on?" Josh asked me when I entered the barn for the second time today. "Draken's taken Rose," I say immediately. I could see Josh doing a double take, "What?!"

The only thing I could do was nod. Everyone knew the ancient code of the wolves, if any wolf's mate was in danger, every wolf had to throw himself in danger's way to save her.

"How do you know it was Draken?" he asked, I could see he still couldn't believe it. I handed him the note that was left for me on the kitchen bench.

His eyes skimmed over the the now crumpled piece of paper. When he finished, they enlarged to their maximum. "He's really here," was the only thing he could say.

"Yeah, I think we've covered that thanks," I replied impatiently. He snapped out of his shocked expression, "Sorry. So how are we supposed to save Rose if we don't even know where Draken's keeping her?"

Shit, I hadn't thought of that.

I paced up and down, trying to think of any place that he would be. If I don't hurry up, he might do anything to Rose. Deep down I knew that he didn't want her, he was just using her to get to me. And fuck it was working. What if he locks her in a fucking dungeon?

"That's it!" I cried out in triumph.

"What?" Josh asked.

"Don't you remember the stories your dad told us about the battle?" I asked.

"Sure, they went to go save your mum who'd been kidnapped by Draken and taken to the old Kroner Castle. Oh, I see," he realised, "Well, lets get going."

Rose's POV

Draken paced back and forth in front of my chair for so long, I'd lost all elements of time. Maybe Brad wasn't coming for me, what if he was going to leave me here? No, he would never do that.

Perhaps he doesn't know where I am, and it's just taking him a while to to figure it out. Then again, it would be better if he didn't come. It's his blood that Draken is so eager to see spilled. My stomach churned at the thought of Brad's scarlet blood pooling on the damp stone floor.

Then something even more blood curdling entered my mind. If Brad didn't come to rescue me, Draken would just kill me, meaning Brad would die too. But if he did come to rescue me, he'll die anyway. I'm gonna lose him either way.

I was snapped out of my terrified thoughts by a loud click. Startled, I looked up to see Draken loading what looked to be a huge rifle. He noticed my frightened yet confused expression, "It's a wolf rifle, it shoots silver bullets."

My eyes enlarged and I could feel my hands start to shake uncontrollably, earning a smug look from Draken.

"When your darling mate and his pack of mutts burst through that door, I will aim my rifle and fire, shooting a silver bullet straight through Bradley's chest," he crudely explained. I plastered my hands to the arms of the chair to stop them from shaking.

"I don't understand why you have to kill him, he hasn't provoked you in any way," I don't even know where this brave voice was coming from because it's nothing like what I was feeling inside.

"I have been in hiding for sixteen years Rose, I need to get back out into the world. Can you imagine what your mate would do to me if he happened to stumble upon my presence?" he explained. I understood, if Brad saw him I'm sure there would be nothing to stop him from getting revenge.

"Please don't kill him," I feebly try to change his mind. A rueful smile replaced the smug one he was currently sporting, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't my dear Rose."

I hesitated, I hadn't expected him to reply like that. "Because, I love him," my voice finally betraying me by breaking on the last word.

Another cold laugh emanated from the shadows behind Draken. A tall, lean man emerged, a familiar cocky stride in the way he stepped. "You can't seriously expect that he's just going to step back after one pitiful declarance of love?" he said coldly.

As he approached me I noticed that he also had familiar blonde hair and a jawline that I could've sworn I'd seen before. Then it hit me, the cocky stride, the blonde hair and jaw, they were all qualities that Brad had.

"Rose Kent, may I introduce you to my son, Drake," Draken's proud voice sounded through my shock. A smug smile, one so much more like his father's than Brad's spread across his handsome yet cold face. Clearly my shock pleased him.

Both Drake's and Draken's heads sprung up and looked towards the large black double doors at the other end of the room.

"They're here, I can sense them," Draken said in a hushed tone that made me my roll my eyes because it reminded me of a corny movie line.

"Drake, get into position," he ordered and Drake sunk back into the shadows where he had been hiding moments ago. Draken raised his wolf rifle and aimed it at the door, his biceps bulging under the weight of the dangerous machine.

I clenched the seat in anticipation as I stared, fixated on the doors ahead of me. The tension in the air was so thick, a carving knife wouldn't even be able slice through it.

I felt a lump rise in my throat as I heard shuffling and the faint sound of paws on stone behind the doors. I couldn't breathe as I waited for the doors to open and Brad's certain death.

The noises behind the door stopped for a few excruciating moments and then the sound of ripping wood could be heard as several large wolves broke through the door.

Simultaneously, a deafening bang sounded close to my ears as Draken fired his rifle. Time seemed to slow as the silver bullet ripped through the air and I let out a desperate scream, "NOOO!"