Scarlett

When I woke up I still felt drowsy. Panic set in when I realized I wasn't in Cade's room. It was hard to focus my eyes so I closed them for a moment before trying to open them again. This time they focused.

I gasped.

I was lying on a small bed in a room with white walls. I didn't recognize it. I turned over in the bed and looked around the room.

I rubbed my eyes again, hoping I was seeing things, because it didn't make any sense. But nothing changed when I opened my eyes again. I sat up and I felt a wave of dizziness hit me.

The room looked like an ordinary room except for bars that ran the length of the room a meter from the door.

What the hell?

To the one side of my prison was a door. I assumed it was some sort of bathroom or something.

Taking a few deep breaths I waited for the dizziness to pass before I tried to stand up. I heard the door open and I looked up to see Cade in the doorway.

He stepped into the room, facing me through the bars. My limbs still felt so heavy. I struggled to get them to obey my commands.

"Take it easy, the effects will take a few minutes to wear off," Cade said.

His features were tight and unreadable as he stood with his feet apart and his arms crossed over his chest, watching me.

Suddenly, I remembered that feeling. Horror filled me when pieces of what happened before I had blacked out began to surface in my mind again. I remembered the prick and then the pain.

My eyes flew to Cade as I realized he'd injected me with something. Why would he do that? I rubbed my forehead for a moment trying to figure out what I'd missed.

"I don't understand..." I began to say as I managed to walk to the bars that confined me. I was about to reach out to hold one.

"Don't touch the bars," Cade warned me, just in time for me to be able to pull my hand away from the object. My forehead creased at the warning.

"What's going on?" I asked. What was happening didn't fit with the fact that he was my mate and he loved me. If he cared about me, why on Earth was I caged up like an animal?

"The bars are covered in wolfsbane," he revealed. I had no idea what wolfsbane was.

"It will burn your skin if you touch it," he continued. "It's a security precaution we take to keep werewolves from escaping."

"I don't understand," I said. I felt the effects of whatever he'd injected me with begin to wear off. I couldn't help the feeling of betrayal at his actions and I still didn't fully understand why.

"After you came downstairs last night I knew there was something up, I just had no idea what. I went to talk to Jake and Gary came to me. He told me that you'd overheard what Blake and I had been talking about. I had this dreadful feeling that you were going do something stupid."

I remembered feeling that strange feeling in my chest when I'd been talking to Blake. Had I felt his emotions? He looked at me like he expected me to deny it but I didn't. I was angry that Gary had told Cade that I'd overhead his conversation with Blake.

"I began to understand why you were acting so strangely. I decided it was in your best interest to keep you confined so you wouldn't try and do something stupid. I knew you wouldn't be able to sit back and do nothing."

He paused for a moment and I saw his jaw tighten. Even though his voice and his features looked calm, I knew he was angry.

"It was only after I injected you with the sedative and I heard your jumbled thoughts that I realized how far you were prepared to go," his said, and his voice broke on the last word.

I couldn't deny it because it was the truth. He expected me to feel guilty for being prepared to go to extreme lengths to keep the people I loved safe, but I didn't feel that way.

"Do you have any idea what he might do to you?" he exploded when he didn't get a reaction out of me. "Do you have any idea what that would have done to me...your brother...or Gary?"

That made my heart crack.

"And you really thought that I'd just stand back and do nothing while you gave yourself over to a fucking lunatic!" he shouted. I tried my hardest not to flinch under his verbal attack.

"I would have started a war to get you back," he told me. Anger still visibly coursed through him as he ran a hand through his hair. He dropped his gaze to the floor—it was as if he couldn't stand the sight of me anymore. He struggled to contain his temper.

I'd remained quiet while he'd had his say, but it was my time to talk.

"Blake made a comment about the rogues not being a coincidence," I stated, watching his reaction. His features were veiled, and he remained quiet.

"How long was it going to take for you to tell me that you'd figured out that Victor was behind the rogue attacks?" I asked, feeling my anger rise at the fact that he'd kept that from me.

"It was only when Kyle told you about your parents and Victor that things started to make more sense. Jake confirmed it last night. A couple of the rogues were in our territory and Jake tracked them to the border of Victor's territory. He saw them talking to some of the pack members from Victor's pack. It explains how he was able to get the rogues to work together. He is an alpha," he said, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

"So when were you going to tell me?" I asked in a calm voice, knowing the answer already. His silence answered my question.

"You weren't going to tell me, were you?" I asked with my hands on my hips. He'd planned on keeping that information from me.

"I didn't want to worry you," he replied.

"How could you keep that from me? I had a right to know," I shouted, losing my temper.

"And when you found out? What did you decide to do?" he threw back at me with just as much anger.

"Do you really expect me to stand back and do nothing while the people I love are slaughtered trying to protect me?" I said, raising my voice even more. "I heard what you and Blake said. You'd be going into a fight that you would lose."

His gaze lifted to mine.

"You didn't even give me a chance to come up with a solution," he replied, sounding hurt. "Instead you decided you were going to go and hand yourself over to a monster."

I kept silent.

"You can't keep me locked up," I said.

His eyes met mine with a challenge.

"Yes, I can," he stated.

Damn it!

He was right, he could keep me locked up in this room for as long as he wanted to and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I'll hate you for it," I warned him.

"If hating me is the only way to keep you alive, I can live with it," he replied. "You can't hate me if you're dead."

Forgetting his earlier warning, I reached to grab a bar and I felt my skin sizzle against it. I screamed as the pain sliced through me and I let go. Cade tensed as he watched me, looking down at the red burn on my hand. He was clearly wrestling with the urge to rush to me and check my hand.

"I'll send Curtis to check on you," he said tightly.

"You told me you love me," I said, trying to figure out how someone that loved me could do this to me.

"I'm doing this because I love you."

He gave me one more piercing look before he turned and left me alone in my prison.

True to Cade's word, Curtis came in a little while later with some ointment to put on the burn on my hand. The guards wore gloves to be able to open the cell door.

I kept silent the entire time.

I'd discovered the little room inside my cell contained a toilet and a small shower. Later when someone brought me food I refused to touch it. I climbed onto the bed and lay with my face to the wall.

I ignored the next meal as well even though my stomach grumbled. My stubbornness made me refuse to give in. Later, I was still lying on the bed when I heard the door open. I didn't turn to see who it was.

"You have to eat," Cade said to me. I refused to acknowledge him.

"If you refuse to eat I'll have to get Curtis to sedate you and put you on a drip," he warned.

Silence hung in the air between us.

"You have till tomorrow morning, otherwise you leave me with no choice."

It was his final warning. I knew him well enough to know he meant what he said.

Once I heard the door close again, I rolled onto my back.

I felt like my life was spinning out of control and there was nothing I could do except hold on tight, hoping I wouldn't be swept away.