Chapter 3

JODY

The single word dropped with so much possession, it stopped me cold.

“Youʼre going to be mine. Youʼre going to have my child.”

His bright golden eyes focused on my lips.

“Youʼll do as I say or your father will die. His life is in your hands. You see, he traded you for his life. You’re mine now.”

This is freaking Beauty and the Beast!

With a sicking twist, thatʼs for sure.

This man is crazy. Insane. Certifiable.

And I was stuck in this place with him.

Alone with a madman.

My mind raced as I tried to come up with a million and one ways to escape the massive palace.

The sound of knocking on the door had me turning to see who was coming in.

Maybe someone was finally going to rescue me. Iʼll take a Shrek if I have to.

“Ulysses,” a young woman said as she walked in with a stack of papers and stopped in her tracks. “Oops. I'm sorry, Lux. I didnʼt realize you were busy.”

“Itʼs fine, Ro,” Ulysses said with an impatient tone.

The woman he referred to as Ro came forward, a wide smile on her lips.

“Hi, Iʼm Aurora. Luxʼs little sister” She frowned a little as she held out a hand. “You look awfully familiar, have we met before?”

I moved to my right and away from Ulysses, putting breathing space between us, and took Auroraʼs hand to give a firm shake.

“I...um...donʼt think so. Iʼm Jody.”

“Itʼs very nice to meet you, Jody.” She turned to her brother. “I can take her to her room to change if you donʼt need her any longer.”

I glanced at him and saw his gaze drilling into mine.

“Go ahead. Jody and I will continue our conversation later, once she has a moment to think about my proposition.”

I couldnʼt wait to get out of the room. Away from him. The way he looked at me... as if he could see through my clothes, made me feel dirty.

So, so dirty. And scarier than dirty? Sexy, too.

That just went to show I was clearly unstable when a man was promising to kill her dad if I didnʼt give him a baby and I was getting physically turned on by him.

What is wrong with me?

We left the library and as soon as Aurora closed the door behind us, I turned to her with hope.

“You need to let me out of here,” I whispered, looking over my shoulder at the library door we left behind. “Iʼm sorry to tell you, but your brother brought me here as a prisoner. He abducted me, Aurora.”

Auroraʼs brows rose before she started giggling uncontrollably.

“Ulysses would never do that. Heʼd rather cut off a limb before he let anyone into our home.”

I growled and grabbed the other woman by the shoulders, stopping her from walking.

“Are you insane? Listen to me. You clearly donʼt know your brother well because he abducted me and said he wants me to have his baby!”

Auroraʼs eyes immediately widened.

“Oh my goodness. You?”

I frowned, my gaze darting all over the massive castle.

“What? Yes me! Get with the program!”

“Then you canʼt go and I wonʼt let you. He needs you and youʼre staying here.”

Oh God.

I was in one of the bad scary movies. A hot werewolf was going to use me as a breeding machine.

I should be disgusted, not considering the idea, for cripes’ sake!

“Look, Aurora. I canʼt have your brotherʼs babies. I donʼt even know the man!”

Am I the only person thinking logically in this damn place?

Aurora shrugged.

“Get to know him then. Heʼs a really nice guy. He just needs you to give him a baby. Not like you have to stay here forever.”

Right.

What woman in her right mind would have a child and leave it behind?

Not me.

Not when my mother had been the only parent I could depend on.

No way. These people are lunatics.

“But why me? Why a baby?”

Aurora gave me a sad look as the woman dragged me up a large winding staircase.

“He needs you to give him a child. Youʼre the only one who can do this.”

“Or what? Hell freezes over?”

“Heʼll die,” Aurora said, her eyes filling with tears. “You have to do this. Give it a little time. Youʼre sure to fall in love with him.”

Highly doubtful.

The fact that I found him visually appealing did not mean I was ready to start popping furbabies out for him like it was the eighteen hundreds and there was no TV.

We reached a door and Aurora opened it and pointed inside.

“This is your room. I hope you like your stay here, Jo. Can I call you Jo?”

I gave her a half-shrug.

“Okay, Jo. And I am very sorry. If you were in my place, youʼd understand why I canʼt help you leave. I love my brother. I donʼt want to see him die.”

“You can’t keep me prisoner!”

Aurora sighed.

“You’ll soon realize you’re not a prisoner here. You’ll be free to come and go and even leave if you wish, but the consequences of your actions will be dire for Ulysses. If you leave, you must know his life will be on the line.”

“There are guards all over. How can you say that?”

“If Lux thought you really wanted to leave and were miserable here, he’d let you go. Even if it cost him his life.”

I went into the room and bit back the words that jumped to my lips. I couldnʼt know what drove Aurora to approve of Ulyssesʼ actions. Her saying he would die didnʼt make sense.

What man died from not having kids?

“Dinnerʼs at seven. I hope you join us. Just go to the end of the hall, down the stairs, and itʼs the largest dining room to your right. Should be easy enough to find.”

The door closed with a click behind Aurora and I was left to think about the insanity I was in alone.

Fucking Ivan Swinson! Fuck him! Fuck him! Fuck him!

Heʼd ruined my childhood and now he was managing to ruin my life.

I picked up a pillow from the giant bed and threw it across the room at the massive glass window overlooking a gorgeous garden.

I was stuck in paradise with a gorgeous werewolf who I assumed had an equally gorgeous wolf just from how domineering and alpha he was.

And on top of all that, his sister seemed like a genuinely nice person. Someone I might have wanted as a friend had this situation been different.

Dammit!

Then there were my hormones.

Stupid lust. Why him? Why now?

This was so far from normal that I didn't know what to think. It was insane.

Disgust filled me as I glanced around the opulent bedroom. It was gorgeous. Like something out of a dream. Pale blue and white decor and furniture made the room feel light and airy.

The massive panoramic windows let so much light in, it looked like lamps were on. There was a button beside the windows and curiosity drove me to push it. Blackout drapes came down from the ceiling, wrapping the room in complete darkness.

I pushed it again to get the sunlight back and wondered who would need the drapes when all I could think was watching the stars from that window must be magical.

A glance to the right and I saw a tea tray. Someone had been kind enough to bring me tea as a welcome.

This is ridiculous! I shouldn’t feel like Iʼm on vacation when Iʼve been abducted.

I picked up the tea and sniffed. I’d expected some lovely lavender or fruit but this tea smelled weird. My stomach recoiled and I groaned softly.

Maybe I shouldn’t put anything in my stomach just yet.

I put the cup back down untouched. Hopefully, whoever put it there wouldn’t get upset I didn’t drink it.