*Sophia’s POV*
Denise and Mack had roughly thrown me into the back of the van. I barely fought back. My brother’s betrayal had shaken me to the core. Mack had driven while Denise sat opposite me, staring at me with even more hatred than before. Jack had willingly got in, taking a seat next to me. He had tried to talk to me a few times on the journey back to Danny’s. He’d tried to tell me this was for the best. But I didn’t respond. Despite his decision to tell Danny where I was, I still loved my brother. It wasn’t his fault he was so desperate for this family idea Danny had fed him to become a reality. I simply sat there passively, trying to think about the danger Jack and I might be in.
I was led by my arms into the town house, Danny was there waiting by the back entrance. His blonde hair was perfectly in place. There were no dark circles under his blue eyes. He was dressed impeccably in a white t shirt and black skinny jeans.
*Sophia’s POV*Some hours later, I heard the sound of the lock click again. Appearing on the other side was Danny, a steaming pizza box in his right hand.He looked at me cheerfully, as if it was perfectly normal for me to be locked away in the attic. “Dinner! Come on, get it while it’s hot.” He placed the box on the table, opening the lid and grabbing a slice for himself.I joined him, unsure yet of what he might do if I refused. I was also hungry. If I was going to think of a way to escape, I needed my strength. I took my own piece and began to eat.He watched me closely, clearly approving that I was eating without protest. “There’s a good girl. You’ll feel better once your stomach is full.”We ate the rest of the meal in silence. I guessed Danny was waiting till after to begin the interrogation. Sure enough, once the box was empty, he sat back with a satisfied sigh. “That’s better right
*Sophia’s POV*I was woken up by the sound of my door being opened. I hurriedly pulled the covers up to my chin, unsure who would be coming in.“Morning sweetheart.” Danny grinned at me widely, as if he had not threatened me the night before. “Time to get up and get dressed. We have a big day today.”I sat up, she clutching the sheets. “What is going to happen today?”He sat down on the edge of my bed. “You’ll see. Now come on, up you get.”He shuffled backwards so he could lean against the wall, and I realised he planned to stay in the room while I got ready.I rose out of bed, folding my arms in front of me, cursing myself for wearing shorts to bed rather than full pyjama bottoms. I went over to the wardrobe to grab some clean clothes. At least I could change in the bathroom after my shower.Just as I went to select some items, Danny cleared his throat behind me. “Sho
*Sophia’s POV*Mack attempted to stop her from continuing. “Denise, now is not the…”“Keep your mouth shut, Mack. Unless you want me tell Danny who you’ve been shagging.”Mack promptly shut his mouth, and I wondered why his choice of partner was so significant. I didn’t have time to think about it too much, because Denise was leaning across the table and boring her eyes into mine.“Now listen here bitch, I couldn’t give a shit whether or not you want to be here, but you need to know about the kind of sacrifices this pack has made to make sure you ass is in this damn house.”Mack went a little pale. I’d never seen him like this before. “If Danny finds out…”“What the fuck did I just say, Mack?” She spat her words at him. He went silent, but I could see the way he was shifting awkwardly in his seat. Whatever Denise was about to tell me, was
*Sophia’s POV*I had no idea what he meant by ‘marking’ although whatever it was, it sounded painful and more worryingly, permanent. I could have screamed as Danny dragged me to a room I’d never been to before, but the truth was, I didn’t want to frighten Jack. I was going to get him out of here, but in the meantime, I wanted him to feel as safe as possible.I was led below the house, to a room I assumed should have been a basement. There were no windows, so the only light was from the clinical strip lightening from the ceiling. There was not a lot in here in terms of furniture, a couple of chairs and a bed that looked more like the kind you would find in a doctors’ surgery. Then, I caught sight of chains. I began to quiver. I felt for certain now that this room was used for torture.Danny led me over to the bed, which I could see now had straps on either side. “Get on sweetheart.”I stiffened, my eyes
I was no doctor, but even I knew this wound was not healing well. Danny had provided me with some balm to rub on it every few hours. This reduced the pain for a while, but my skin showed no signs of recovery. The area around the mark was an angry red, and the mark itself continued to weep. It was truly disgusting, and I had no idea what to do about it. For the past two days, Danny had kept me locked in this room. He only came to see me to bring food and have sex with me. Shamefully, no matter how hard I tried, I could not resist him. Now he only had to look at me, and I would want him. I could feel my grip on reality slipping away as I sank further into his spell. The pain of the injury he’d caused me, was the only thing that anchored me.For the first time in days, I thought about Thale. I was surprised that he had not tried to take me again. Although now I was guarded constantly, it was going to be a lot harder to accomplish. I realised there was a part of me th
As she leapt into the air a flaxen coloured wolf pounced towards her, using its jaws to swiftly take her down to the ground. I recognised it was Danny. He pinned her down, but despite his teeth sinking into her fur, Denise would not stop trying to release herself from his grip. She snapped and snarled in my direction. She wanted my blood. I felt frozen to the spot.Thomas jumped up, quickly circling round the table. “Sophia, get behind me.”I did as I was told, watching in horror as Thomas also shifted. His wolf was much smaller than Denise’s or Danny’s but I could tell from the way he moved that he was quick. It was just in time, as Denise managed to writhe free from Danny’s clutches, blood pouring from her neck. Thomas growled at her but she swiftly picked him up by the ruff as if he was a rag doll and threw him against one of the walls, causing an almighty crash as various pieces of artwork shattered. Thomas let out a yelp a
As planned, when Jack came to see me the next day, I told a lie. I had considered telling him the truth, but when it became clear that Danny wasn’t going to leave us alone, I had no choice. I also tried not to let on how unwell I was. I’d barely been able to eat since the day before, and the combination of that and the pain was making me feel weaker and weaker. In contrast, Jack actually looked the best I’d ever seen him. He’d put on some much-needed weight, and he just generally looked brighter.When he saw the wound however, his expression darkened. “That looks so bad Sophia. I can’t believe she did that to you.” Jack looked at me anxiously. Danny patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. I won’t let her near your sister again.” He was definitely a good liar. “Our doctor is going to come and take a look in a bit. She’ll have it fixed up in no time.”Jack nodded, but
A mixture of emotion washed over me. I wanted to get out, I did. But this mark…as insane as I knew it was, it made me want him. The prospect of being away from him frightened me. Another thought occurred to me. What about Jack?“But…how? And what about my brother?”Dr Squire began helping me out of bed. “Don’t worry, your brother’s tutor is one of Mr Roberts’ men too. We’re going to get him too. With the stone.”I let her dress me, but I still had so many questions. “But Dr Squire, this mark…I want to leave but…”She stopped and gave me a sympathetic look. “I know, you feel bound to Danny. However, I wasn’t lying when I said you could die. Mr Roberts can fix it though.”How was he going to fix a wound that wasn’t healing? It wasn’t like he was a doctor. I was about to ask her how he would do it, but my bedroom door opened and I shut