Page 133 of Pretty Little Prey
Pain. So much pain.
“All you have to do is shift,” the farmer replied calmly.
Tears seared her cheeks as she laid on the cold cement floor, shivering and yelping with each quake of her chilled, mangled body. Her recurring thought, other than the obvious “Make the pain stop,” was “Stupid Luna. Learning again not to get mixed up with predators. Always ends in pain. Should have stayed on the run.”
She imagined the men fighting to the death, wrapped up in their prideful egos and hatred for each other, while she lay broken and whimpering. All alone.
She had, incorrectly, thought having mates meant being protected and cared for above all else. They were supposed to do anything for her. Even get over a centuries-long vendetta. Or accept her as she was, without wanting to change things about her.
In that moment, as she fought to stay conscious through the pain, she decided she might even hate them over this.Never would have been taken by the farmer if they hadn’t locked me up in a room by myself while they challenged each other. Locked up in a room like a pet. Again.
They don’t deserve me.
“Going to pass out so soon?” the farmer asked in a mockingly disappointed tone. “A little more torture, and your weak, little prey mind might break. Humans go into shock after enough pain. Shifters revert back to their animal form once they reach their breaking point. Thus, soon, you won’t be able to stop yourself from shifting.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked weakly, her voice barely audible from her scratchy throat.So much screaming.
The man scoffed. “Money.”
“I’m a queen. I can give you money.”
“Notthiskind of money.”
The hose turned on again.
Luna did not know how much more of this she could take. She was getting closer and closer thinking:Maybe life would be easier in eternal sheep form. If he just shears me, I might live a few years. If he cuts me up to sell as, in his words, ‘prime lamb,’ then death would be quick. Still, she badly wanted to live. To experience things she never allowed herself while Rohan hunted her.
But this is torture.
She had no chance of getting free, not with so many injuries. She could hardly stand on her own.
The farmer had gone to “milk” one of his cattle—a statement that caused her blood to curdle in her veins. During her short reprieve, she shifted into animal form. Though prey did not have the same supernatural healing that the stronger predators did, she would heal at least a little faster in that form than as a human.
It was only less than ten minutes, however, until the farmer returned.
The second she heard him, she began to shift back to human—not realizing her shifting would take longer due to her broken bones.
The farmer hooted with excitement when he saw her in sheep form. He grabbed at his keys, moving to unlock the cage.
Oh Gods, he’s going to inject me. She thrashed her body on the ground, willing herself to shift through the pain.Hurry up, she begged herself. The farmer swung open her cage.Hurry up!
He pulled a thin rectangular box from his back pocket, opened it, and prepared a needle.
Dang it, hurry up and shift back, she begged her body. Her hands flickered between human fingers and hooves. Finally, just as he knelt beside her, her body convulsed and turned completely human.
She exhaled a harsh breath of relief.
“Damn it,” the farmer cursed loudly, smacking her across the face and causing her to yelp. “Why can’t you just stay shifted?”
“Don’t…want to.”
“Well, I’d rather have your special wool, but I suppose I could get started with reaping something for my efforts so far.”
She blinked dazedly through the pangs of her suffering.
He dug into his back pocket again for something. He pulled out a switchblade.
No.
