Natalia took her time in the shower, scrubbing herself down, desperately trying to get Anthony's scent off of her. Her mind was elsewhere as she tried to analyze her situation. Obviously she'd been dosed with wolfsbane at some point. She didn't exactly know when she'd been disconnected from Nala. She tried to remember if it had happened when she'd been so drunk, but she wasn't sure. Her mind had been much too muddled during that time. She'd been more concerned with her mate, why he was pissed and how badly she wanted him. She blushed, annoyed with herself.
There was a clock in the bathroom and she saw it was about nine. Based on the light coming in from the window, she guessed it to be the next morning. How long had she been disconnected from her wolf? That was the main question. Wolfsbane would only last for so long.
She could still vaguely smell Anthony's scent on her and she hated it. She scrubbed her skin hard, washing him off of her. Knowing she'd slept in his arms last night made her want to puke. She stopped. Maybe puking would be a good idea.
She has a feeling the wolfsbane was in the alcohol she'd consumed. The bottle had been sealed, but if it was made here.. she groaned. She got out of the shower, and grabbed a towel, then dried herself off quickly. She was going to force herself to throw up. But before she got the chance, the door opened and Alpha Anthony walked in. So much for privacy.
The good news was that he was dressed now, and less likely to force her to mate him. But the only thing she had was a towel. She froze as he stepped closer to her, closing the distance between them. He breathed in her scent, his nose rubbing over her ear as he wrapped an arm around her. She shuddered, completely disgusted by his touch.
"Good, now you smell better," he said with a smile. He let go of her and walked out of the bathroom.
She breathed a small sigh of relief when he left her alone, but he was back a moment later with some clothes.
"Put these on," he said, handing them to her.
She waited for a moment, hoping he'd leave. "Can I have some privacy?"
"No. You don't need privacy," he said, crossing his arms.
She glared at him. "Could you at least turn around then?"
"I've already seen you naked, sweetheart," he said with a smile.
She crossed her own arms.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine." He turned his back to her.
She breathed a small sigh of relief that he'd agreed to that one thing and she quickly dressed, not wanting him to change his mind. They were his clothes and that didn't make her happy. The shirt alone would make her dress, and hung off one of her shoulders. He'd also given her a pair of shorts and she folded them several times, hoping they wouldn't fall off.
She was fairly certain her bag was still in the car. Dominic hadn't pulled them out before they'd come into the house. But what she really needed was her smaller bag. The one that contained her phone. She'd brought it in and hoped it was still in the room they'd been in.
Anthony turned around after several moments to see if she was dressed yet. "You look good in my clothes," he complimented.
"I'd like my own," she told him.
"Did you bring any others?"
"Yes, I have a bag in the car," she told him.
"I'll have that brought up here then. Later. For now, you'll eat," he said, walking out of the bedroom.
Natalia followed him out. "And my purse?"
"It's safe," he said, walking over to a small table where two plates of food were waiting for them.
The smell of food made her stomach growl, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since she'd been aboard the plane yesterday. She stopped, staring at it warily.
"Come, eat. You passed out before you could eat dinner yesterday," he admonished her.
"You got me drunk," she reminded him.
"I didn't force you to do anything," he said calmly. "You drank the stuff. I didn't."
"What was in it?" She sat down across from him.
"Wolfsbane, silver, and some pretty strong narcotics. I really wanted to put an aphrodisiac in there, but I didn't want to deal with a horny Beckham." He smiled at her. "I'll just have to give you one of those later so that you're more willing. If I give you a strong enough dose, you'll be willing to mate anything that comes within ten feet of you."
Her mouth dropped open as she stared at him, suddenly afraid to touch anything on the plate. She dropped her fork.
He laughed. "Don't worry. There isn't anything in the food."
"I'm not eating it," she told him, crossing her arms.
"Suit yourself." He continued to eat his own food, then took her plate and ate all of it too.
Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. She didn't want to eat or drink anything in this place. She was afraid to.
She looked around the room slowly, carefully probing her own mind for her wolf, but Nala still wasn't present. "How much wolfsbane did you give me?"
"Enough. Probably a third of the bottle was wolfsbane," he said with a smile as he popped the last piece of bacon in his mouth.
Her mouth dropped open, though she immediately snapped it shut. It reminded her of the cut on her cheek. "What happened to my face?"
"Yeah, sorry about that, but Beckham needed a bit of convincing so I had to ram a silver knife through your cheek. That was all it took though, fortunately for you. I was afraid I might have to carve up your face to get him to comply," he said.
She stared at him in horror. If he thought she was going to be his mate, he was insane.
"You're going to have a scar from that," he said with a shrug, like it was no big deal.
She wouldn't, but she wasn't going to tell him that. Instead she was focused on something else he'd said. "Comply to what?"
He looked up at her and smiled. "To drink the poison I gave him."
Her heart stopped. He's immortal, Natalia, she reminded herself. He can't die. "Why?"
"Because I needed him out of the way. Don't worry. It didn't kill him. He's still alive. It just knocked him out." He folded his huge arms over his massive chest.
Natalia breathed a small sigh of relief. "Why?"
He frowned at her. "I already told you why. Because I want you."
She glared at him. "What if I don't want the same?"
"You will. I will treat you like a Queen," he told her.
And the moment I'm reconnected with my wolf, I'm going to take your pack from you. "Where's Dominic?"
"Who?"
She really wanted to roll her eyes at him. He knew exactly who she was talking about. He was just being difficult. "My MATE. Dominic. The man I arrived here with. The one you wanted to poison," she growled vehemently at him.
"Oh. Beckham. The pussy cat. He's no longer your mate. You need to forget about him, Natalie," he told her.
"It's Natalia, but to you, it's Alpha or Princess," she growled. She was growing more pissed by the second. Who did he think he was?
He waved a hand at her. "I'm the Alpha, not you. You'll be my Luna. Would you prefer I call you that?"
"No. I am not a Luna." And I never will be.
He smirked. "Not yet. But you will be. Luna Natalie."
She stared at him in disgust. Did he hear what she'd just said? Though she supposed she'd rather he didn't call him by her first name. He hadn't earned the right. Not when he was hell-bent on destroying her life. "Where is my mate, Alpha Anthony?"
He sighed. "Do you really need to see him?"
"Yes," she gritted out. "I do. And you're going to take me to him." Or I'm going to come across this table and kill you. Wolf or not.
He sighed. "Fine. I'll take you to him." He stood, and Natalia did as well, and followed him to the door.