Filed To Story: Kidnapped by My Mate Novel (Belle & Grayson)
My mouth dropped open. “I’m not an object, Ace! You can’t just own me!”
“And yet, I do,” he stated casually. “What else did he say?”
“No, you don’t just get to say you own me—”
“Doe, don’t test me. I’m not in the mood,” Ace snapped, his voice firmer, more commanding. “Ben said something else. You know you belong to me, so you wouldn’t be this upset if that was everything.”
Ben’s words rang through my mind. “So, what, he uses you behind closed doors but refuses to announce your relationship to the public? That’s harsh, dude.”
How could I explain to my best friend that I was worried he might be embarrassed of me? That I was upset he might be disgusted by the idea of being in a relationship with me?
Ace massaged my hip. “I can’t help if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
I opened my mouth to explain myself when movement caught my eye through the window behind Ace. My eyes widened.
A huge wolf, nearly the size of a horse, was sprinting through Ace’s backyard and toward his house.
“Oh my god!” I screamed. I tried to scramble off Ace’s lap, but he held on to me tightly. “Ace! A-a wolf is running right at us!”
“It’s gonna come into the house!” I yelled, watching the wolf approach the sliding glass door. I had never seen a wolf so huge in my entire life. I had never seen a wolf at all, period.
Still holding me in his arms, Ace jumped to his feet. After a quick glance at the enormous beast, he pushed my face into his neck, obscuring my sight, and started carrying me upstairs.
He brought me into his room and dropped me on his bed. “Don’t move,” he said, his voice barely recognizable in its anger.
I gulped at the livid look on his face. “Ace, what the heck are you do—?”
“I mean it. Okay?”
I nodded.
He turned.
“Wait!” I called out. “You’re going downstairs? But…but the wolf!”
He looked back at me, gripping the doorknob so hard that I wouldn’t have been surprised to see it dented when he let go. “I’m going to take care of it.”
“What? No! You are not going down there!”
A crashing sound came from downstairs, and my heart dropped.
It’s in the house!
A muscle twitched in Ace’s neck.
I started to get up, my eyes on the window on the other side of the bed. “Shut the door, and someone will call the police or animal control or someth—”
Ace sent me a look that was so terrifying, it made my entire body freeze.
“You’re going to stay here and wait for me. And if I see you’ve moved even an inch from where you are right now, I will spank that sweet ass of yours until you can’t sit for a week. Understand?”
I blinked. Heat blanketed my cheeks. “Yes.”
He nodded. “Good,” he grunted. Then he was out the door, locking it behind him securely.
I sat in Ace’s bed for several minutes, listening intently for any noises coming from downstairs.
My heart was beating so fast in my chest that I could feel it against my rib cage. I couldn’t believe Ace would go downstairs and face that monster of a wolf all on his own.
My brain felt swollen within my head, threatening to break my skull open.
The pressure behind my eyes was the worst part. It made the world around me blur and my face feel like it was bruised. I pressed my palms above my ears, swallowing the ball of tears in my throat.
It might’ve been the first time I felt unsafe in Ace’s room. There was something normally so comforting about his space, filled with his musky, masculine scent and the dark colors of his furniture and walls.
Ace had told me countless times that if I was ever in trouble and he couldn’t be with me, I should go and lock myself in his room and wait for him.
It was a strange privilege. Ace’s house had the most intense security system I’d ever seen. Even his bedroom door had an automatic lock with a keypad. I was the only person besides him with the code.
Still, it made me wonder just what kind of secrets his family was hiding.
Every so often, I heard Ace shouting from somewhere downstairs. His voice was so enraged that it sent chills down my spine. Yet, I didn’t hear much movement or any kind of scuffle.
Is he…yelling at the wolf? What good will that do?
At last, I heard a huge crash, and then complete silence.
I stayed where I was, just like Ace had told me, even though everything in me was screaming for me to help him.
My best friend might be getting eaten by a rabid wolf, and I am just sitting here, twiddling my thumbs.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, I heard pounding footsteps marching toward the door. Ace came crashing into the room, his chest heaving and his teeth bared.
With a startled shriek, I scampered away from him, scooting so far back that I was pressed up against his headboard.
Ace’s eyes narrowed at the movement. “Where are you going, Doe?” he growled. His voice was deep, intimidating, and laced with anger. “Are you trying to run away from me?”
I shook my head. “N-no.”
I glanced at his torso. His shirt was gone, his chest was bare…
…and he was covered in blood.
“You’re hurt!” I exclaimed.
Ace approached me slowly, a slow grin taking over his lips. “Is my sweet Doe worried about me? Do you really think that pathetic wolf would be able to hurt me, baby?”
He had to be delusional or something. Or maybe I had been hallucinating. But then what was the crash I heard?
My headache flared until it felt like someone was stabbing tiny, hot needles into my eyeballs. It was the worst one I’d had for some time.
“Ace, you’re covered in blood,” I whispered, trying my best to ignore the pain shooting through my skull. I had bigger problems.
“Not mine.” He put both hands on the edge of the bed. “It’s the wolf’s.”
“What?” I gasped.
But at least I’m not crazy.
He grabbed my ankle and tugged me to him. I squeaked in surprise, suddenly finding myself on my back at the edge of the bed with him leaning over me.
He looked down at me with a frown, wiping my hair from his face. Sparks flowed from his touch.
“You’re upset,” he murmured. It wasn’t a question.
I was speechless for a few moments. His mood swings were going to give me whiplash.
“Well… yeah,” I replied incredulously.