Page 9 of Stolen Choices

“Good morning, Katia. Would you care for some breakfast?” Nuka’s booming voice woke the tigress from her uncomfortable slumber.

She’d barely slept and was exhausted. But she was determined to discover what Nuka was up to, so she could report back to Kas when she escaped or was rescued by her pack once they discovered she was missing. Her brain flitted back to the note she’d left. God, she hoped Kas would check on her today and not think she needed to be left alone for a few days.

Katia sat up when a piece of barely recognizable meat was thrown into her cage.

“I’ll pass, thank you.” She threw the meat at the magical bars, and it slumped down onto the floor just outside the cage.

“Suit yourself.” Nuka walked around her cage. He was dressed in a full three-piece suit. His hands were clasped behind his back as he surveyed her. “I’m surprised my brother never took you for his mate. After everything that happened to you, it would have protected you if he’d claimed you as his and marked you. It would be the sort of selfless thing he’d do.”

Kas had actually offered this when she’d returned to the pack, but she’d refused. She wouldn’t take his future away from him without being able to give him anything in return. It would only ever be a friendship between them. She didn’t feel that way about him. He was more a big brother than a lover, not that she’d ever take a lover anyway. That part of her life was over.

“Your brother isn’t as predictable as you’d like to think.” She wasn’t going to confirm to Nuka that Kas was completely predictable. It was part of what made him strong.

Nuka let out a loud bellow. “He did offer, didn’t he? Seriously?”

“Fuck you,” Katia retorted. It wasn’t a sophisticated response, but it was what she felt at that moment.

“Stop teasing the captives, Nuka. Your brother will get his just desserts eventually.” A new voice entered the conversation, and Katia located the direction it was coming from. In a comfortable chair in the corner of the room now sat an old man—he must have been at least seventy. He seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t place him or name him.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“You don’t remember me? So much for my legacy in the Glacial Blood pack.” The man rolled his eyes and returned to drinking whatever was in the cup he held in his hand.

Katia looked around the room and noticed Jackson standing at the back with his arms folded across his chest. He was slouched against a wall, which seemed to be his favorite stance.

The only other person in the room was Ciaran. Samuel, the human representative on the shifter’s Council and an ally of Nuka, was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s happened to Samuel? Did he finally realize you’re insane?” she questioned with a chuckle.

Nuka’s face gave nothing away, not even a faint amusement at her joke. “He’s here, but not quite as you’d expect him to be,” he replied.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Or are you going to wait for the Glacial Blood pack to come and get me?”

During the night, Katia had tried to contact Jessica using the witch’s ability to link with them all. However, Ciaran must have put something in place to prevent her from doing so. Kas visiting the cabin was her only chance of freedom now, but she wasn’t going to give anything away. If Nuka wanted to play games with her, then she’d play them right back.

“Tell you, or show you?” Nuka mused, his hand scratching at his freshly shaved chin. “The nice way, or the nasty way?” Nuka turned to Ciaran. “This is so much fun.”

“Grow up,” Katia responded, and everyone in the room fell about laughing. Everyone but Jackson, who remained impassive to all that was happening. It seemed to Katia he was behaving almost like he was a machine. Nothing seemed to affect him emotionally except for his lust for human blood…and not in a vampiric way.

“The nasty way it is then,” Nuka continued, smirking as he walked toward the door and opened it. Katia felt her body lose all control when she saw who was waiting on the other side. If she’d been standing, she’d have fallen down with shock. It couldn’t be! Jackson’s words came back to haunt her…‘Nuka made it my job to find out as much as possible about the members of the Glacial Blood pack.’

Debts must be repaid.

They’d found the man who’d stolen over a year of her life from her.

“Hello, Miss Morgan, it’s nice to see you again.” Weston walked into the room and straight over to the magical cage she was locked in. Lust was written all over his face, and it turned Katia’s stomach. She pulled the blanket covering her closer around her body. Weston shook his head. “I see we still haven’t learned any manners.”

He clicked his fingers, and the blanket disappeared, leaving her naked in front of all the men in the room. Jackson was the only one who turned his head away, but she could tell he was still listening.

“Hmm,” Weston purred. “I see that your body has developed into that of a real woman while you’ve been gone from me. I can’t wait to bury my dick deep inside every one of your holes and sample their pleasures again.”

Katia tried to block out what he was saying to her. She couldn’t go to that place again. She wouldn’t survive it.

“I’m not longer my father’s daughter. He and my mother ran away. I don’t know where they are now—they’re most probably dead. Go find them. I’m not your toy anymore.”

Weston smirked—it was cold and calculating.

“I’ve told you before it doesn’t matter where your father is. The debt is also yours. You have the same blood, and I can get everything I need from you.”