Chapter 27: 5

It was six in the morning, and Darrell had to get to the job site. With Katelyn missing, it was important for him to keep up appearances, so people did not suspect he had any involvement in her disappearance. He was going to have to go back to her house and pretend as nothing had happened.

However, he could not leave Katelyn tied up all day. She would no doubt need food, water, and to use the restroom. He needed someone to check in on her while he was at work. He knew just who to ask too. Darrell hopped into his truck and drove the short distance to Stanton’s cabin, which was his closest neighbour.

Pulling into the driveway, he knew Stanton was still home because his SUV was still parked. Getting out of his truck, Darrel mounted the wooden porch steps and knocked on the door. It took a moment for Stanton to answer the door. He was only wearing his jeans and not a stitch more except for the police-

grade handcuffs attached to his left wrist. He had not had the chance to take it off before answering the door. Darrell smirked. No one talked about it, but Stanton and his new wife Aurora were both a little bit freaky when it came to the bedroom games. Darrell never asked, but he suspected that little Aurora was the dominant one in the bedroom. It was amusing to think of big bad Stanton submitting to anyone, let alone a woman he dwarfed in size.

Darrell smiled, trying not to draw attention to the handcuffs. “Is Aurora around?” It was a rhetorical question. He could see her from where he stood at the door.

She was pulling on a tiny little tank top. She was now dressed… sort of. She was wearing nothing but a pair of fitted black and pink lace panties that barely covered her amazing bottom and the tiny tight tank.

It hugged her body in the most seductive way. Aurora was far from modest or shy. Before she married Stanton, Aurora had been a legitimate prostitute. She was drop-dead heart-stopping gorgeous, and Darrell, like every other man, were both envious of Stanton and confused as to what he had done to make this woman love him. Stanton was a great guy but butt ugly. What Aurora saw in him, no one would ever know.

Stanton stepped aside as Aurora came to the door dressed only as she was. The bottom of her tank top riding up because of the small baby bump she had recently developed. She was a good six months pregnant, but she had only started showing not long ago. Aurora came to stand in front of Stanton with a playful grin. “What’s up, Cowboy?” Aurora addressed him with the little pet name she had given him.

No one else called him Cowboy, he wouldn’t allow it, but he let it slide when Aurora did because she did so with affection.

“I need you to do a favour for me,” he said.

“Sure,” she said, eyeing him up like he was a steak. “But, you will have to wait until Stanton goes to work,” she said suggestively. Cowboy snickered because he knew she was not actually offering to service him. She was just playing.

Stanton growled at Darrell. “She’s kidding,” Darrell said quickly. “Aurora, tell him you are just playing before he disembowels me.”

Aurora laughed as she turned and caressed Stanton’s face. “Big Daddy knows I’m just teasing,” she said, standing up on her toes as Stanton leaned over to kiss her. She then patted him on the chest. “Go get dressed for work,” Stanton muttered something under his breath as he wandered off to get ready for his day. Aurora turned to face Darrell as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “What’s up, buttercup?”

“That girl from last night.”

“The one you won’t kill?”

“Right. I have her tied up in my house. I need you….”

“Say no more. I’ll kill her.”

“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t want you to kill her. I need you to drop in a few times during the day to let her use the restroom and give her a little food and water. Just until I get home.”

“Are you sure killing her wouldn’t be easier?”

“No, you can’t kill her. You take care of her and be nice.”

Aurora frowned as though insulted. “I’m always nice.”

“Look, she’s scared, don’t make it worse.”

“Just what exactly do you intend to do with this girl. You can’t keep her tied up in your house forever,”

he understood that.

“I just need some time to think this through. Will you check in on her?”

“Sure. I’ll swing by before I open the store and again on my lunch break. I can close up for an hour,”

Aurora owned and operated the new organic grocery store in the hub. The hub was a small one street where they had a few shops that did business within the pack. It was not very big, but it served the community well.

“Thank you.”

Darrell said goodbye and then hopped back into his truck and headed off to work for the day.

***

Katelyn lay on the couch, struggling to get the ropes loose enough to slip out of. She did not know where Darrell was, but she needed to escape before he came back. She was making no progress. This man knew how to secure someone. Katelyn’s heart skipped a beat when the front door opened, and in came one of the women from the bar the night before. She was very pretty when not tearing a man to shreds.

The woman smiled at Katelyn as she came to the couch and sat down on the coffee table facing her.

She looked at the rope abrasions on Katelyn’s wrists. “I see you have been up for a while. You shouldn’t struggle so much. The knot he tied only gets tighter when tugged on,” she told Katelyn. Well, that explained why she was not getting anywhere. “I’m sorry we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Aurora Bradshaw,” she said, reaching out to help Katelyn sit up. “I’m a friend of Cowboy’s.”

Cowboy? Oh, she understood. It was a pet name. “Are you Darrell’s girlfriend?”

Aurora laughed. “Are you kidding? No, I’m married to a friend of his. I’m just here to feed and water you.”

“I’m not a plant,” Katelyn snapped.

“Fair enough. I could have worded that better. Cowboy asked me to check in on you while he was at work. Make sure you have everything you need while he is gone. I imagine you must have to use the restroom?”

Yes, she did desperately. It had been way too long, and after everything, Katelyn had drunk the night before she had to relieve herself.

“Ok, let’s use the facilities first,” Aurora stood up and walked out of the room. She returned shortly with a knife, using it to cut the rope around Katelyn’s ankles so that she could walk. Taking Katelyn by the arm, Aurora helped her to her feet and walked her through the house to the washroom.

Katelyn took in the large country-style house as she walked through it. She was looking for any means of escape. The living room, which had been the only room she had seen thus far, was large with an old wood potbelly stove in the corner. The floors were hardwood, and there was a midsized plasma TV in a homemade entertainment shelving unit. The furniture was dark brown and cozy, probably from one of the Lay-Z-Boy lines. The coffee table was unique. It was one large thick slab of treated wood that looked as though it had come from the truck of a hundred-year-old tree. The walls were a warm off-

grey with large windows.

They walked into the kitchen, which was just as rustic as the living room. There was a wooden table with four chairs and a long bench along one side. It was something out of better homes. The walls were grey like the other. The cabinets and the counters were light-coloured wood. There was a deep double sink. Stainless steel appliances, a gas range, and a pantry shelf along one wall was a chef’s dream come true.

Aurora led Katelyn to a small bathroom. It was small with a toilet, antique claw tub, a closet filled with towels and clothes, and a sink that looked like an old washbasin one would find two hundred years ago. Only this one was equipped with running water and a proper drain. It was really quite quaint.

Aurora stood outside the door, giving Katelyn some privacy while she relieved herself. While the door was closed, Katelyn searched the small washroom for something she could use as a weapon, but she found nothing. She turned to see the window. It was small, but she might fit through it if she could open the window enough. Katelyn gave it a try, but the window only opened six inches. There was no way she could squeeze through.

Giving up, Katelyn opened the door, and Aurora smiled at her. “Feel better?”

“Yes, thank you,” Aurora led Katelyn to the table and sat her down.

“Let’s see what Cowboy has to eat,” Aurora said, opening his fridge and going through the cupboards.

“How about some cereal for breakfast?” She said, taking out a bowl and filling it with Sugar Crisp and milk. She placed the bowl and a spoon on the table in front of Katelyn.

“Thank you,” Katelyn took the spoon and began to eat. It was difficult with her wrists bound, but she would make it work. She was starving.

“He likes you,” Aurora said. Katelyn gave her a funny look. “Cowboy, he likes you.”

“Abduction is a funny way to show it.”

“You should be nicer to him. We wanted to kill you in the alley. He’s the only reason you are a corpse in the City Morgue. He went to bat for you against his own kind. He’s never done that before. You should thank him.”

“Thank him for kidnapping me?” She hissed. “If he just wants to protect me, why did he tie me up?”

“Would you have stayed had he not?”

“No.”

“There, you just answered your own question. You might not realize it, but these walls are the only thing keeping you alive. Outside, this house is fifty miles of woods and mountains teeming with Lycans who want you dead. Lycans who can track you by smell and rip you apart when they catch up to you.

You wouldn’t be the first mortal the pack made disappear.”

Katelyn looked around and noticed a curving staircase that led up to a loft above them. There was a wooden banister that looked made out of thick branches. She could not see what was up in the loft.

“What is up there?” Katelyn asked, nodding at the loft above.

Aurora looked up. “That’s Cowboy’s bedroom up there,” she said. “I have never been up there. You know he built this house with his own two hands from the foundation up. That man can do wonders with a hammer and a saw. It is only got the one-bedroom, but he’s always going on about building an addition for a nursery after he and Aster tie the knot.”

Katelyn looked at Aurora funny. “He said he didn’t have a girlfriend,” great not only had she attracted a psychopath, but she also attracted another cheater. What was it about her that drew dirtbags to her?

“Oh, he doesn’t. Cowboy and Aster are just friends right now.”

“But you said they were getting married?”

“One day, probably. See, Cowboy is a young Alpha. He’s next in line to be the pack leader. He’s distended to be top dog, if you know what I mean. Aster is a Luna. Which means she is distended to be the mate of an Alpha. Since the only Alpha that isn’t related to her is Cowboy, it is only a matter of time before they hook up and breed. It is just biology.”

“So, they are going to get married simply because they lack other options?” That seemed sad.

“We are almost extinct. The species has to perpetuate itself somehow. Alphas marry Lunas. Batas marry Batas. Omegas marry Omegas. That’s just nature at it is finest.”

“What are you?” Katelyn asked. She was curious because this woman seemed so confident.

Aurora smiled. “I’m a Bata. So is my husband.”

“You are married to that big guy I saw holding you in the bar?”

Aurora grinned. “Yup. He’s mine,” Katelyn did not know what to say. She could not understand the attraction. The man looked like a monster, even when he was not a monster. Aurora laughed. “I bet you are wondering why I married him?”

“Are you a prisoner too?”

“No. I’m with him by choice.”

“Why? He’s so….”

“Ugly?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s sweet. I know he doesn’t look it, but he’s just a big teddy bear when it comes to me. Before I joined the pack, I was a prostitute. I grew up in an orphanage. I ran away as a young adolescent and turned tricks to survive. I never knew another Lycan. I didn’t know what I was. All I knew was that I was different. I was turning tricks outside a bar across from his worksite. He would talk to me. He bought me meals. He realized that I didn’t know what I was. He showed me there were others like me. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone. I was not scared anymore. Stanton showed me kindness when I need kindness the most. The man has a beautiful soul, and when I look at him, that is all I see.”

Katelyn smiled. That was a beautiful story. It must have been nice to be loved that much. She could not even get Nigel to tell her where he was going. “That is so sweet.”

Aurora grinned. “Well, maybe if you stick around for a while, we might get better acquainted.”

Katelyn knew it was strange, but she actually liked Aurora. She could see them becoming friends were it not for this little abduction that she was now an accessory to after the fact. Still, she could have been stuck with someone far worse.

Katelyn finished eating. “Well, let’s secure you again. I have to go open my store, but I’ll be back around noon to let us use the washroom and eat again,” Aurora said as she took Katelyn by the arm and walked her back to the couch, where she tied her up again so she could not get up and run away.

Aurora picked up the TV remote and turned on the TV. She then placed the remote in Katelyn’s hand.

“Here, this should pass the time faster than sitting here staring at the walls,” she said goodbye and left, leaving Katelyn alone once more. At least she could watch TV.

***

Darrell went about his job, as usual, watching Nigel pace the floor of his house, fuming about how his girlfriend had run out on him. When asked, Darrell admitted he took Katelyn out for drinks but told Nigel she had abandoned him at the bar shortly after they arrived for some guys with a Rolex and a Porsha.

Nigel seemed to buy it without question. Darrell was slightly insulted by the fact that this man did not think Darrell could hold his fiancée’s attention. What an egomaniac. He would just finish out his workday and head home. He still did not know what he was going to do with Katelyn, but at least he knew the cops were not looking into her disappearance… at least not yet.