“Dad,” Rave said softly. “She’s Omar’s niece and she’s not one of us.”

“I don’t give a damn who she is or what she is,” Elroy snarled. “If Grady dies because she won’t care for him then she won’t leave here alive.” The cell door slammed closed loudly.

Mika spun, watching Grady’s father and brothers walk away. Only Anton turned, glancing at her over his shoulder, and she saw regret for an instant before they turned out of her sight. She gripped the bars, giving them a jerk, but the door didn’t budge.

She was locked in a ten-by-eight foot cage with Grady. She looked at him, staring at him really, seeing that he was still partially changed, the drugs not reducing him back to his normal human-looking self. She shivered, leaned against the cage door, and watched his chest rise and fall.

* * * * *

A strange sound made Mika jerk awake, confused at first, and her body ached. Her ass was sore and her shoulder hurt. She frowned, lifted her head, and realized she was slumped in a corner, sitting up, with something hard digging into the pained shoulder.

Her eyes opened and memory was instant as she stared at the man chained to a cot just feet from her.

Grady was staring at her, his black eyes open and still not human. He pulled again on the chains, the strange sound repeating, and then he softly snarled. “Let me go.”

“If I had keys I wouldn’t still be here.” She studied him. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” he groaned.

She watched, fascinated, as his face transformed back to human. He strained, pulling on the chains again, his muscles in his arms and abdomen tightening and bulging as he fought them, but they held. His h*ps shifted, nearly losing the sheet that barely hid his groin, and that drew her attention to the fact that it was tented by a thick, hard pole of arousal that reached Grady’s waist. She stared.

“Come here,” Grady ordered.

Mika moved but she just got to her feet. Her ass protested from sitting on the hard floor for too long as she moved her legs, trying to alleviate the soreness. She stayed back from him as she shook her head.

“I’m fine right here.”

Grady frowned. “I need you.”

Her gaze shifted to his lap. “I see, and forget it.” Anger tightened his features. “I didn’t call Megan over to f**k her, damn it. I bit you and you’re my mate now. I have been seeing her for months and wanted to tell her in person that we were over. I owed her that much.” It hurt. She turned her back on him, staring between the bars at the other side of the room where the carpet started and she could see white plaster walls. Grady sniffed and a low growl came from him.

“Mika, I swear I wasn’t going to f**k her. She has a key to my place and let herself in. She assumed I called her to meet up for sex but that wasn’t my reason. Please come here. I didn’t touch her.” He paused. “I can smell your pain.” She spun. “Stop smelling my emotions, damn it. It’s rude.” He stared at her. “I need you.” His voice was soft. “I’m still in heat and I’m hurting.”

“I was hurting when you bit me and terrified me. You just left,” she shook her head.

“You destroyed my damn bedroom, Grady. I can’t afford to fix that shit. You took out the damn walls, broke all my furniture, and then didn’t even come back while I waited for you to return. If you’re hurting that’s your own damn fault for going so long without sex. I was there and you chose to stay away from me to go talk to another damn woman.”

“I needed to clear my damn head. You know I didn’t want a human mate, damn it.” His voice deepened. “And after I spoke to Megan I was planning to return to your house. I’ll pay for the damages. Repairing your room isn’t a problem.” What about the damage he had done to her heart? He couldn’t write a check and pay someone to fix that but she refused to say it aloud.

“Mika,” his voice softened. “I need you, babe. I’m in agony. Can you at least touch me and get me off? I am fighting it hard but I’m going to lose my mind soon if you don’t. I can’t take care of myself.” He rattled his chains. “We can discuss this when I’m not feeling like my balls are on fire.”

Anger burned in her, probably equal to his discomfort, she decided. “Fine.” She closed the distance between them. “It’s always about you, right? It’s about what you want and what you need.” She grabbed the sheet and tugged it off him, dropping it to the floor. “I don’t want you to go nuts since your father said he’ll kill me but when your father lets us the hell out of here, I’m leaving. I’ll help you through mating heat but afterward I want your word you’ll let me leave.” She looked into his eyes. “That’s the new deal, Grady. Your choice. Agree to my terms or I’m going to go back to my corner over there and you can just suffer.”

He sniffed, annoying the shit out of her, after she’d told him to not do that. He frowned. “Come a little closer.”

“I’m pissed off. That’s what you smell.”

“That’s not it. My scent isn’t strong enough on you.” He looked confused. “How many hours have I been asleep?”

She glanced down at her watch. “Nearly two hours.”

“How long since I bit you?”

“It was over nine hours ago.”

“Son of a bitch,” he rasped, his eyes going wide. “It didn’t take.” It took her a second to understand what he was saying but then she did. “We’re not mated?”

His mouth tensed into a line and for some reason he didn’t look happy about that as he took a deep breath. “No. You’re marked by me, that scent is strong, but your scent is still there under it. If the mating took, it would be totally replaced by mine.” Mika didn’t know how to feel. Part of her was relieved. It meant that she could go home after Grady was out of heat so he wouldn’t resent and hate her, but another part of her grieved. She was going to lose him for sure. She carefully sat down on the bed, refusing to look at his face, as she reached for the firm, hard flesh pointing straight up his abdomen.

“I guess we don’t have to worry about deals anymore,” she said softly. “Now I know you’ll let me go when this is over.”

“Mika―”

“Don’t talk to me, Grady. I’m going to take care of you and you’re going to be silent until we’re released from this damn cage.”

“Mika, we need to―”

She licked her lips, bent and took Grady’s c**k into her mouth. He groaned, whatever he was about to say lost as she worked him, sucking on him. She moved fast, nearly removing him totally from between her lips and then taking him as deep as she dared, lifted as she sucked hard, then pushed down again. The sounds Grady made were loud as he panted and groaned. She cupped his balls with her hand, feeling how hard and taut they were, drawn close to his body, and she knew he was going to come fast. The second she realized he was going to, she released him completely, straightening up, and wrapped her hand around his thick shaft to finish getting him off.

She watched Grady throw his head back, his body arching, and he snarled as he came. Her gaze lowered and she watched him shoot out his release with each hand motion she made, drawing it out until his body relaxed and he stopped spilling his se**n. She released him and bent, grabbed the sheet off the floor, and dropped it over his lap as she stood, moving away.

“Now you don’t need me for a few hours.” She walked to the bars, gripped them, and stared out.

His breathing slowed within minutes. “Mika, we need to talk. We need to―”

“You need to shut up if you want me to touch you in two hours.” She lifted her wrist, twisting it to show off her watch. “That’s the deal, Grady. You keep silent and I’ll attend to you when you need me to.”

He sniffed and softly growled. She closed her eyes, pressing her forehead to the bars. She knew what he smelled and she recognized that damn growl. She was turned on, was always affected by the sight of his na**d body and touching him, and he usually f**ked her when he uttered that type of growl he’d just made.

“Come here, Mika. I can take care of you.”

She took a deep breath. “No thanks. I’m not in heat. I’m just fine, and again, shut up.”

“You can put your knees beside my shoulders and grip the wall and fit over my face,” he said softly. “I want to taste you, babe.” Her eyes snapped open. “Damn you,” she spun, glaring at him. “You think I’m going to let any part of my body near your damn mouth again? You bit me and you left me bleeding, huddled in a room, terrified that you were going to come after me and kill me. You didn’t even give a shit enough to make sure I was alive.” Something flashed in his eyes. “I knew you were fine and I smelled your terror so I left to give us both a chance to calm.”

“Fine. You stick with that bullshit excuse of why you abandoned me. Shut up, Grady. I really don’t want to talk to you.”

He watched her but he didn’t speak. She was stuck with Grady until his damn family released them.

Chapter Fourteen

Elroy was grim as he unlocked the cage door. Mika was in the far corner, definitely not going near the angry man. She thought about trying to run past him but knew, after three days of being locked up, that it wouldn’t work. She’d tried twice but one of Grady’s brothers always caught her before she made it to the stairs.

She had been fed four times a day but she also had to feed Grady. The stack of towels and hand towels they were given daily had been used to give her and Grady sponge baths from the sink. She’d bathed him, cared for him, and taken care of all of his needs. Every time he’d tried to talk to her, she’d threatened to stop. He’d watched her though, silently, hour after hour. She just wanted a real shower, fresh air, and to get the hell out of the cage.

The pack leader ignored Mika as he stepped into the cell, his full attention on his son. “How are you feeling?”

Grady was frowning at his father. “Fine.”

Elroy paused. “How are you feeling now that you’re out of heat?” Surprise flashed through Mika as her gaze darted to Grady.

He shook his head. “I’m still in heat.”

Elroy’s eyes narrowed and then he looked at Mika. He returned his attention to his son. “I see.”

Grady stared at his father. “I want my chains removed.”

“No,” Mika instantly said. “If we stay locked up, he stays locked down.”

“You don’t give me orders,” Elroy told her. He reached in his pocket and withdrew a key. He stared into Grady’s eyes. “How much longer do you think you’ll need to be here so she can’t take off on you?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know when I have this heat thing under control.” Elroy bent, unlocking Grady’s wrists, staring at his son the entire time. “I’m going to leave the cage open and instead just lock the door to the basement so you can be more comfortable in the apartment down here.” He made a face. “You both need showers.”

Grady’s wrists were free. He moved his arms, wincing a little and sat up. “Thanks, Dad.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Elroy said softly. “I’m taking heavy shit upstairs so I hope you go out of heat soon.” He paused. “Am I clear?”

“Yes.” Grady’s legs were released and he sat up as Elroy straightened, moving away.

Elroy shot a glance at Mika. “Don’t try to escape. I have four guards set up around the house outside. You wouldn’t make it to the gate that separates the property from the street. Am I clear?”

“Don’t threaten her.” Grady stood up.