Chapter 3 Sienna's POV
I heard the lock on the door click. It was him again. I braced myself, but instead of Ronan, a different figure stepped through. Taller and leaner, he looked less intimidating.
"Hey there," he said lightly, his voice kind. "I'm Lucien. Ronan asked me to show you around."
I was still skeptical, unsure how to act around him.
"Show me around? Why? I don't even know where I am."
"You're in our pack territory," he said, leaning casually against the doorframe. "It’s tradition for us to make our guests feel at home... even when they stumble in uninvited."
I stared at him, trying to hide my disbelief and panic.
Was this a cult?
This HAD to be a cult.
I’d been kidnapped by a cult.
Oh my God, what if they sacrifice me? I don’t want to die.
"Take it easy," he said, raising his hands in surrender, as if noticing my panic. "I'm here to help you, not interrogate you like Ronan. I just want to help you get comfortable."
He seemed nicer. At least he wasn’t threatening to kill me. Not yet, anyway.
I needed to figure a way out, and staying in my room wasn’t going to help. I needed as much information as I could get.
“I’ll come with you,” I said, pulling the blanket off and stepping down from the bed.
Wait a minute. These weren’t the clothes I’d been wearing during the accident. They’d changed my clothes.
Rage bubbled up inside me.
“Which one of you motherfuckers changed my clothes?” I growled.
“None of us. We had a woman from the pack help you. We’re not monsters, you know,” he shrugged.
How was I supposed to know that when they’d kidnapped me?
Let’s go,” I snapped, and he nodded, leading me out of the room.
Once outside, I followed tentatively, scanning the area and mentally marking exits. Not that it was hard, everything was easy to locate. Lucien walked beside me at a slow pace, giving me time to take everything in.
"And this," he said, gesturing to the grand corridors we were walking through, "is the Silver Ridge Pack's main house. The Alpha, Betas, and some pack members live here. The rest live in homes scattered throughout the territory."
“You’re serious about this pack nonsense,” I muttered, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice.
"You don’t believe me?” Lucien looked at me as if my skepticism surprised him.
How deep into this cult were they?
“You know what, let me show you,” he said, starting to strip.
“Wait, what the hell are you doing?” I turned away.
“This,” he said, letting out a deep growl.
I looked back and watched him bend and contort, hair sprouting, bones shifting until he became… a wolf.
A fucking wolf.
I stumbled back. He, or it, stepped closer.
“You’re real,” I whispered.
“Where the fuck am I?” I backed up, half expecting the world to glitch.
“Am I dead?” I pinched myself hard.
He shifted back, calmly picking up his clothes like nothing had happened.
I stared in shock.
“See? Now you believe,” Lucien grinned.
“We exist. Shifters, bears, tigers, all kinds. But here we’re wolf shifters. It’s who we are.”
I waited for him to say this was a prank, hallucination, anything.
“This is real,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he said. “And to answer your next question, no, we didn’t send the wolves that attacked you. Those were rogues.”
What the ever-living fuck.
I wasn’t even thinking about last night yet. I was still stuck on the whole turning-into-a-wolf thing.
“What the hell are rogues?” I asked.
“Wolves live in packs. Alone, they go crazy. We call them rogues.”
News flash: none of this made sense.
“So why was I attacked by mad rogues?” I asked.
“You have a connection to us. Wolves. That’s why you have that mark. It’s why Ronan could save you. It called to him.”
The gray wolf. The image hit me like a truck. The gray wolf was Ronan.
“Ronan… saved my life?” I mumbled.
“Yes.”
I didn’t respond. My brain was mush as we returned to my room.
Inside, I paced. This was too much, but one thing was clear: I did not feel safe here. I needed to leave.
If Ronan had saved me, maybe he wasn’t totally evil. Just a grumpy asshole. Maybe he’d listen.
I tried the door, it was unlocked. Stepping out, I nearly jumped when I saw Lucien sitting there reading.
“Jesus Christ! How long have you been there?” I gasped.
“Oh, I’m supposed to watch you,” he smiled, taking off his reading glasses. “What’s up?”
“I need to see Ronan. It’s important.”
“What is it? I can relay your message.”
“I’ll talk to him myself.”
“He’s in his study. Want me to come?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
I found Ronan exactly where Lucien said, hunched over papers, barely glancing at me.
We need to talk,” I said, folding my arms defensively.
He sighed, putting down his pen. “What is it?”
"I want to go home,” I demanded.
Ronan reclined in his chair, his expression unreadable.
“You can’t leave,” he said matter-of-factly, pissing me off.
I’d come to talk calmly, but my resolve slipped.
“Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do? You don’t fucking own me!” I snapped.
“Well, actually, I do,” he tilted his head, smirking.
He looked so infuriatingly hot it made me angrier.
“What do you mean? You can’t keep me prisoner. People will notice I’m missing!” I shouted.
“I’m not keeping you prisoner, Sienna. There are rules. Packless shifters who’ve never been claimed by a pack must be registered into one, or they’re listed as rogues,” he said, his smile devilish.
I opened my mouth to scream but shut it. He seemed to enjoy my anger.
“I’m not a shifter,” I gritted through my teeth.
“The mark on your thigh says otherwise,” he shrugged, pointing at my leg.
“It’s not a mark, for fuck’s sake! It’s a birthmark, and I don’t know anything about it. I’ve always had it!” I nearly screamed.
“If you say so. But until we know the truth, you’ll stay here. For our safety and yours,” he said, still flipping through documents, not sparing me a glance.
My hands balled into fists. “I’d sooner die than let you hold me hostage.”
He looked up, finally acknowledging me with a smile.
“Impressive. You know what? For that, I’ll give you what you want. I don’t want you dying on me.”
“Wait, what?” I hadn’t expected him to agree after insisting I couldn’t leave.
“Of course, on one condition, I’ll have someone keep tabs on you. I’ll know your every move. Wherever you go, someone will be watching. That’s the only way. Do we have a deal?”
He smirked, clearly expecting me to refuse. Too bad for him, I didn’t care about being watched.
“Deal. Knock yourself out,” I said, storming out of his office to reclaim my life.