Page 27 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

“Your brother said at all costs,” Fred whispered huskily. His eyes dropped to my lap, sorrow clinging to his pinched brows and tense jaw muscles. “I’m sorry, Kylie. I couldn’t think of another way to protect you.”

What?

“I told him it wasn’t a good idea.”

My chest flared with hot rage.What is going on?

“I told him I had a bad feeling about it. I just didn’t think it would work.”

He laughed bitterly. What made it so horrifying, aside from being so abrupt, was the fact that his expression didn’t change at any point during his laughter. Fred could really be scary at times. Did he know that? Was that why they’d forced him out of the black ops?

He shook his head and then sat down across from me. “You should sleep, Kylie. We have a long night ahead.”

Good goddess, how could he recommend something like sleeping when I was strapped to a chair by an invisible force that glittered in the orange light?

In warm light. Like firelight.

I tried to crane my neck, but I couldn’t really look around. Fred had plenty of connections in the black market from what I understood. That meant he had access to magic untouched by the usual supernatural world. Whatever it was had a potency that made me panic.

More than that, it felt silky. It felt calm. I didn’t feel threatened by what held me in place, and maybe that should have been a comfort, but I couldn’t help assuming the worst.

My brother had taught me to be suspicious of everyone, no matter what. Because the cost could be so much greater than the disappointment.

Right now, disappointment circulated my system as fast as my blood. I didn’t know what to do with it or how to process it. I was too tired to fight against my restraints and the magical glue that held my lips together. So, I really didn’t have much of a choice other than sleeping.

I didn’t like that.

Fred sat up while studying the door. It was barred with enough iron to scare the fae away. “Don’t worry. I won’t sleep. I’ll keep an eye out.”

For what?Neither of us were in danger, unless he had done something after he dropped me off.

Had my hiding place been compromised?

Had Liam gotten hurt?

More panic swelled with the tears that blotted my vision. They were hot and they burned my eyes as they spilled over my cheeks. None of my training could have ever prepared me for such an experience. An old friend, not really a close friend, but close enough, had just kidnapped me. We were alone inwhat appeared to be a one-room cabin somewhere that probably wasn’t Beaufort Creek pack territory.

I didn’t know what was going to happen. But I needed my strength.

With reluctance, I let my gaze drop. I focused on the floor, noticing the way Fred’s boots were only a foot away from me. He was within touching distance. How was I supposed to trust him enough to sleep when he was that close to me?

His boots shifted. I saw him lean forward. And then—

The dizziness came again. A flicker of shadows came next. And I was thrown once again into the blackness of sleep that I couldn’t control.

Trust him? Shoot, I didn’t really have a choice anymore.

I didn’t really have any control.

Chapter 9 - Fred

Mymelatoxplant had come in handy once again. Kylie fell asleep as soon as I tapped her forehead with the cotton ball, sending her into a peaceful snooze that I hoped would prevent her from panicking again. While I couldn’t read her thoughts, I could tell by the panicked flicker of her eyes searching mine for a thread of truth that she was freaking out inside her head.

I disposed of the cotton ball inside a plastic bag, being careful not to touch the side soaked withmelatox. That stuff was largely harmless but wickedly potent. A tap could put just about anyone or anything to sleep within two seconds. I’d seen dragon shifters in their skyscraping dragon forms go down from a drop of this stuff.

The bag rustled as I set it on the table to my right.

The magical binds were for her safetyandmine. I knew she wouldn’t trust me. I knew she wouldn’t let me convince her to come inside her apartment, and I wouldn’t be able to get her out of her apartment without raising too much suspicion. So I did what any soldier in my position would have done.

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