Maisie

A sigh slipped from my lips as my lashes fluttered open.

The black bedpost loomed above me, annoyingly familiar. Dark sheets hugged my skin, carrying a rich, masculine scent that made my nose twitch. I tried to move, but my limbs felt like overcooked spaghetti.

Sunlight poured through tall windows. One glance outside and my stomach dropped. Waterfall.

I was back at the mansion.

I went to shield my eyes and—clink. My left hand wouldn’t budge. Neither would the right.

Frowning, I looked up. Thick steel cuffs locked both wrists to the headboard.

What in the actual hell?

I started yanking like a lunatic, adrenaline flooding my system, and then, the sheets slid down. I was completely naked underneath.

"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me."

My Lycan was purring insane things into my skull. I swore she was muttering the recipes for a strawberry shortcake. Or maybe I was just losing my mind.

Ignoring her, I yanked harder. The steel didn’t even creak. Panic twisted in my gut.

Where was I? This wasn’t any bedroom I’d seen before. The room was almost empty, save for this ridiculous bed big enough to host an orgy for twenty.

The last thing I remembered was being pressed against Quinlan’s chest... and that blinding pain.

"Hello?!" I shouted, wrists already raw.

Silence.

Anger flared hot in my chest. "Quinlan! Soren! If this is your idea of a joke, I don’t appreciate it!"

More silence.

"Let me out of here!" I shrieked, twisting around, just so I could press my feet against the headboard and propel myself with enough force to break the cuffs.

But of course, it didn’t work. What the hell kind of steel was this? Adamantine?

The doorknob turned softly. I twisted around just as a girl peeked inside.

She had enormous cerulean eyes that widened like saucers when she saw me. A frightened squeak escaped her, and she immediately ducked behind the door.

...Cute. Break her neck later, my Lycan suggested helpfully.

"Hello?" I called. My voice came out raspy and low, almost sultry. Weird.

Her head popped back out. She was stunning in a dainty, storybook-princess way. Wild roses were woven into her blonde hair and she was wearing an ethereal pink Regency-style dress that looked like it had wandered out of a fairy tale.

Her scent screamed hybrid.

And there was something startlingly disarming about her. Her eyes were more open than anyone else’s. She was around my age, if an year older, but it was like looking in the eyes of a new born.

There was such pure, untainted light in her, and the warmth that came from her brushed up against me, making me feel warm, too. Safe.

"Who are you?" I asked.

She blinked slowly, long lashes brushing her cheeks. "Juliette. Mama call me Julie. Everyone call me Julie." Her accent was thick, words tumbling out like she was still assembling them in her head.

"I’m Maisie." I rattled the cuffs. "Please tell me you can get me out of these."

Juliette chewed her bottom lip, glancing nervously down the hallway. "Not... supposed to."

Of course not. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Okay... can you get someone who is supposed to?"

She shook her head. "I tell my brother... woman no like chains. Tied up." Then she gave me a bright, guileless smile. "But he say... you safer like this. You keep hurting self. Your Lycan... very wild." She paused, searching for words. "I sorry. English... not very good yet. I only start learning last month."

First, I thought that was extremely impressive. Second... "Your brother told you I was better off chained up?" I asked, incredulous.

She nodded eagerly and finally stepped inside, fidgeting with a ring on her thumb. "Don’t be mad. Quinlan is nicest man. Best man. He never hurt you."

I blinked. "I didn’t know Quinlan had a sister.

She smiled and it was the most mesmerizing thing I’d ever seen. "He very protective. Never let me go to court. I live in Les Parcs all life." Her cheeks flushed pink. "He bring me here because... he think you need Lycan friend. I never have friend before." Her eyes sparkled with hope. "You be my friend?"

I flashed her a bright smile. "Sure, if you get me out of these, we’ll be best of friends." Right after I murder your brother.

She didn’t catch the threat at all. Her whole face brightened like I’d handed her the moon. She hurried over, chattering excitedly in rapid French, then caught herself.

"Oops. You no understand." Her elegant fingers found a hidden mechanism. The cuffs clicked open.

Finally.

"See? Easy—" she started, but I was already yanking the sheet around my naked body and storming toward the door.

"You not supposed to leave room!" she called after me, trotting behind. "You get me in big trouble!"

"Worry about your brother’s face when I find him," I growled.

Juliette tilted her head, genuinely confused. "Why? Something wrong with Quinn face?"

"There will be," I muttered. "Soon."

Outside in the hallway, my head began to swim and my vision doubled. Juliette caught me right before I walked into the wall. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn’t I be?" My voice had become strained, too. Heat was pooling into one central location in my body and it was making me extremely pissed.

I barely heard Juliette as my emotions started to go haywire. From anger, to hunger, bloodlust to sorrow, then it knocked into me like a moving truck.

Lust.

"You look pale," Juliette said. "We head back inside—"

"No," a snarl tore out of me and Juliette jumped, startled. "Sorry," I said almost immediately, shaking my head thoroughly. "Sorry. I feel... I need to get out of ear. Get some air."

I registered the low timbre of voices as I rounded the corner to the living room area, and I stopped short when I realized there were guests in the living room.

And they didn’t seem friendly, judging from the fact that Mercer’s fist was one inch away from the Lycan’s face.

I stilled when I recognized one of them as the dark haired mate of the Lycan Queen. His companion had sorrel brown hair, and a tattoo that ran down the length of his cheek, down his neck. They were both full Lycans.

The entire room shifted. Every head turned toward me. Nostrils flared. Eyes darkened. The air grew thick and heavy with something primal I didn’t understand.

The brown haired man smiled invitingly at me. "Why, would you take a look at that? That is certainly a hefty change from the wedding. I must admit, I didn’t see the vision until now."

His eyes ran along my face, then dropped to my chest, and his expression turned hungry.

Frowning, I followed his gaze, and blinked at my girls. Why, for the love of the goddess, did they seem larger than I last saw them?"

"I’m sure my mother would be eager to find that you were eye-fucking another woman that isn’t her, Adrian," Mercer growled.

Unexpected heat blossomed from my core and flared through me again, making me halt dizzily for a moment and Juliette caught my shoulders as I stumbled backward into her.

Quinlan was instantly in front of me. "Maisie, are you okay?"

"I’m fine. I just feel a little weird."

Yes. Weird had to be the word, because I was leaning forward into Quinlan, and in a blink, my nose was behind his ear, running along his neck, and a small sound slipped out of me as I buried my face into his pounding pulse. "My God, what is that smell?"

Quinlan went rigid against me as my tongue darted out to taste his skin. He spoke something in a thick accent, his voice husky and Juliette answered, voice small and squeaky.

"I’m taking you inside," Quinlan said, peeling himself away from me, and gripping my arm.

"No," I cried, my fingers moving of their own volition, and I pushed him.

Only, what should’ve been a light shove sent him flying across the living room area, crashing into the center table.

"Oops," I said, and a weird giggle bubbled out of me.

Next came Jericho. He was also hellbent on getting me back into that bedroom. I didn’t want to go back there.

"Leave her, Jer," the dark haired man said, his eyes flashing black, and he licked his lips. "If you won’t break her in, we’re more than ready to fill in for you."

Look at them, my Lycan purred, voice like honeyed venom. All starving for us.

Jericho reached for me and I dodged. A strange, breathy laugh escaped me. My sheet slipped dangerously low. Heat pulsed low in my belly, so strong my knees almost buckled.

"I don’t want to go back there," I whispered, but my feet carried me forward anyway. I pressed my body against his chest, inhaling his storm-and-pine scent. My hand slid down his abdomen before I could stop myself and cupped him boldly through his pants. "You’re large!" I exclaimed.

Jericho froze, a strangled sound leaving his throat.