Page 42 of Targeted By Fate
He was right. I forgot everything Boaz had trained me in as far as personal safety went. Every single thing. I was 100% responsible for my own predicament.
The water stopped, and the sound of plastic hitting concrete echoed in the room. I still couldn’t see anybody. The voice was coming from behind me, but I already knew who it was. It was the person I had followed. Those other ones weren’t the mastermind—they were bodyguards. Or probably bodyguards.
“You… why? Why?”
“Because.” The person behind me walked in front of me, and sure enough, it was the face of the man I’d followed, just like I’d suspected. “Because you made it so easy. My plan was to do recon, to find your weakness, and you handed it to me on a silver platter. I guess what they say is true—curiosity killed the cat, or at least it is about to… very slowly and painfully.”
Why had I been so stupid? I promised my mate I’d be safe, and I’d been anything but.
“Why me?”
He reached out and slapped me. Hard.
“Try again,” he seethed.
“Who are you?”
Another slap.
“You followed me. You know who I am.”
“Except I don’t. I recognized you, but I don’t know from where or from when.”
This time he didn’t slap me. Instead, he pulled out a gun and aimed at me.
“Let me remind you. Mister ‘My Suit Doesn’t Fit and I Take Money Without Giving Back What I’m Owed.’”
Suit. Money. Fuck. Why had I ever gone to Moonbound?
“You were in the room that night.” I didn’t remember him being there exactly, but I did recognize him, so it made sense. But if he was, how was he alive? My mate killed them all.
“I wasn’t there yet, but I was at the club. My mate was getting us a nice little treat.” He ran the gun along my cheekbone. “And what did you do?” He smacked me with his pistol. “You brought your men in. Slaughtered him. Slaughtered my mate. Mine. He wasn’t yours.”
Fuck.
Everything fell into place. This was the mate of that piece of shit Cassian who drugged me. And now he was seeking vengeance. As sick as it was, I understood where he was coming from. Had I lost my mate… I couldn’t think about what I’d do.
“What kind of Alpha does your pack have, letting his mate work at a place like that. If I’d known you weren’t some disposable omega, I’d have picked another. It’s your fault my mate is dead and vengeance will be mine.”
Boaz had taught me so many ways to protect myself. Not a single one of them was helpful right now. I was tied to a chair. I couldn’t kick. I couldn’t move my hands. I couldn’t feel my cat.
The best I could do was wiggle, but if I wiggled too hard, I’d end up on the floor.
Basically, I was fucked.
But I had to be strong. Because it wasn’t just me—my baby was here. I was entrusted with their safety until they came into this world, and my own dumbass mistakes weren’t going to be the death of them and me.
Please let Boaz realize I’m gone. Please let him realize he has a way to find me. I should have just told him to leave an AirTag in my wallet. That would’ve been easy. He could find me when he needed to. It wasn’t like I didn’t trust him—I’d just been throwing a fit that day because I’d been shocked and surprised. This whole life was new to me.
I thought to shift, to bring forth my cat. Maybe I’d be able to get out of my bindings then. But the man in front of me—his beast would take me out. And we weren’t alone. I could tell where the others were, based on his subtle little head nods to different corners behind me.
My lack of scenting ability was making all of this more difficult. I didn’t know if there were one or fifty people behind us or if they were human or shifter.
I needed to buy time.
“Your mate picked me.” I instantly regretted the words. Another slap. “I mean… to serve. To serve him.”
“No. I picked you. It was me who saw you and thought you’d be fun and asked him to fetch you. I saw you walk into the bar and had you moved over to VIP. You think that was an accident? You hadn’t earned your way to the prize position. That was me.” He squatted down to be eye level with me and put the gun against my temple. “And what did you do? You took what was mine.”
