Chapter 6: Willa

 

I don’t know how long I cried. I was even less aware of how long I lay on the floor. The feeling of crippling failure had eaten away at me until I was numb. The only thoughts in my mind were of my parents. How I couldn’t bring myself to avenge my mother’s death. How I had left my dad all alone, with no idea what had happened to me. He would search for me.

He would come for me.

The thought sent a new wave of emotion through me. He knew I had been patrolling the lycan border. How long would he search before coming here? If he came here, they would kill him. I had to find a way to stop him. I had to get out of here.

I pushed myself up off the floor, my stiff body protesting the movement. My hands were still healing and sore from where my claws had dug into the flesh, but I pulled myself up to my knees. I noticed the first light of day starting to seep into the room. Now that I wasn’t chained, I could see where I was and get my bearings. I pulled myself to my feet and moved toward the window, but I was stopped in my tracks by the lock of the door clicking.

I stood where I was as a woman came into the room carrying a tray and a bag. She froze when she caught sight of me. As if she wasn’t expecting to see me in here. Although I doubted that was the case. It was more likely the state I was in that shocked her. I found myself subconsciously covering myself with my arms around my middle.

She didn’t take long to recover and soon was across the room, setting the breakfast tray on the small table. She turned to me and looked me up and down, shaking her head. She came up and grabbed my wrists, gently lifting my hands for her to examine. There were still angry red marks along my palms, but those would be gone shortly.

“First things first, off to the shower with you,” she said as she pulled a pouch out of the bag she carried and put it in my hand. “There are fresh towels under the sink and toiletries in here. Once you’ve stripped out of those clothes, throw them out here for me to wash.”

My mouth fell open to speak, but nothing came out.

“Come on,” she shooed me towards the bathroom.

I closed the door behind me and took a second to register what just happened. I looked at the pouch in my hand and unzipped it. It had shampoo, conditioner, soap, face wash, all other necessities. I felt a wave of energy flow through me. I didn’t even care what was going on, but the prospect of being clean made finding an escape less daunting for some reason.

I quickly turned the shower on and stripped off my clothes. I heard a knock on the door, and the woman’s voice sounded through the wood.

“Don’t forget to hand me those clothes. I have a fresh set on the bed for you when you’re done.”

I balled my clothes up, hesitant to hand them over, but I didn’t think she would take no for an answer. I cracked the door open and shoved them through. She grabbed them from my hand and spoke again.

“If you need anything else, you ask the guard for Miranda.”

She seemed to have walked away, so I shut the door and climbed into the shower. My body instantly relaxed at the feeling of the hot water against my skin. I spent as much time as I dared, just letting the heat soothe my aching muscles. Once I was feeling more alert, I quickly washed every inch of my body. I even shampooed my hair three times to make sure all the caked-in blood was out. I cut the water and grabbed a towel from the sink, drying myself and my hair before wrapping it around my body. I removed the hairbrush from the pouch and thoroughly brushed my hair, followed by my teeth.

I felt so much better already.

I slowly opened the bathroom door, listening to make sure no one else was in the room before peeking out. True to her word, there were clothes laid neatly out on the bed. I quickly walked over and scooped everything up before retreating back to the privacy of the bathroom.

There was a pair of panties, jeans, and a long blue T-shirt. I was a little disappointed there was no bra, but that wasn’t the end of the world. I pulled on the clothes in a hurry. The jeans were a little too big, but one roll of the waistband and I could manage.

I popped my head out the door again and made sure I was still alone. I let out a sigh of relief when there was no one in sight. I scooted across the room to the closest window. And my heart immediately sank. I ran to another of the four windows in the room and then another. Finally, at the last, I slumped to the floor.

I was at least three stories up from the nearest rooftop.

I let out a pained laugh. I was literally locked in the fucking tower of a damned castle. Perfect. Like one of those princesses from those stupid fairy tales my parents used to read to me when I was little. And it hadn’t escaped my notice that Miranda had mentioned guards when she was in here. No shock there.

I was completely trapped.

I couldn’t even reject Ferrin as my mate. Even if he did accept it, he would most likely just turn around and kill me. As tempting as that sounded, just as an option to get away from him and be done with this hell, that wouldn’t save my father.

Maybe now that Ferrin knew I wanted to kill him, he’ll move me to an actual prison cell. I stood back up and gazed out the window, examining every aspect of the building I could see. If I could piece together a half-decent layout, I could possibly get away from the guards and make a run for it. I’d have to work it out quickly. Who knows how much time I would have?

As if on cue, the wooden door opened behind me. I spun to see Ferrin enter. I instinctively took a couple steps back, my back meeting the wall. I made sure to lift my shoulders, letting him know I wasn’t backing away out of fear but disgust.

He approached slowly. “I see Miranda has paid you a visit.” He looked me up and down approvingly. I hated the flutter in my stomach it caused. He glanced at the plate of untouched food on the table. “You should eat.”

“Why?” I snapped.

He took a slow step toward me. “Because I’m not going to let you starve yourself.”

“No, I’m sure you have a much quicker death planned for me,” I countered.

“I’m not planning to kill you, Willa.”

“Really? That’s pretty stupid since we both know I want you dead.” I knew I shouldn’t be goading him, but I couldn’t help it. It wouldn’t be the first time my mouth got me into trouble. But Ferrin didn’t seem all that bothered by my attitude. In fact, he looked like he was trying to suppress a smile as he took two more slow steps toward me.

Bastard.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you even doing here anyway?”

“We need to talk.” Another step.

“WE don’t need to do anything,” I shot back, my hands balling into fists at my sides.

“Please, Will…”

“Don’t you dare think that there is anything you can say to explain away why you murdered my mother,” I yelled.

I tried to run for the bathroom to lock myself away, but Ferrin was faster, and he was too close. He grabbed my arms, pulling me towards him. I swung one of my arms over my head to pull it from his grasp, throwing it back to punch him in the face. My fist connected with his jaw, startling him, and he released my other arm. I bolted for the door. I was only a step away when an arm grabbed my waist, lifting me off the ground.

“Willa, stop!”

I tried to fling my elbows, trying to make contact anywhere I could reach, but he anticipated my reaction this time. He brought his other arm down, pinning both of mine against my body. So I started kicking, not even registering what he was saying to me. But it was no use. In an instant, he spun me around and had me pinned against the wall, his hands gripping my arms tightly, his body pressed firmly against mine. Holding me in place.

“It wasn’t me,” he cried. We were both panting heavily as we stared each other down. His face was inches from mine. “It wasn’t me, Willa.”

“Like I’d believe anything you say,” I growled, trying to break free again.

“I don’t expect you to,” he said, tightening his hold on me. “Which is why I’m going to prove it.”

I stopped struggling. “What?”

Ferrin sighed, his thumbs moving against my skin, sending waves of electricity through me.

“I’m going to prove I didn’t have anything to do with your mother’s murder,” he said again, resting his forehead on mine. “I’m going to find whoever did.”

“And?”

“And they will pay for their crime,” he said. “For what they did to you.”

I searched his face as a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions played through my mind. I hated that I wanted to believe him. I hated that it was hard to catch my breath with him touching me like this. His hands moved to my face, holding it firmly in place.

“I promise, Willa,” he insisted. “I promise I will find whoever is responsible.”

His eyes roved over my face. He leaned in, and suddenly I was very overwhelmed. I needed space. I pushed him away and slipped away from him.

“How do you plan on making all this happen?” I asked, putting distance between us.

He cleared his throat and straightened. “I have someone looking into it already. But if there is anything you can tell me about that night, it could be helpful.”

I wrapped my arms around myself as I considered what he was saying. It’s not like I had anything to lose at this point. “Okay.”