The Silver Swan (The Elite King's Club 1)

Stepping between my legs again, he drops his mouth to my ear, and growls, “Tell me what you know.”

“What?” What does he mean what I know?

“Wrong answer, kitty. You lose round one.”

“Round one?” I scoff, yanking at the cable ties that are digging into my wrists. “What the fuck do you want?” My anger is kicking up a notch. Sure, I may be timid and a quiet girl at times, but my fuse is very short. I can’t be bothered with killing people with kindness; that shit takes far too long. He pushes me back, his grip tightening until my air supply is stolen.

“What do you know about the Kings, kitty?”

My eyes close, the desperation to gain more air strengthening with each passing minute. Legs! I draw my leg back and kick him straight between his.

“Fuck!” he roars, bending over but not letting go of my throat. The rest of the boys watching behind us jolt forward, but they’re too slow. I kick him again, in the same spot, and his grip around my neck unlatches.

I quickly spin around and bolt. Running through all the scattered leaves, on broken sticks, and jumping over fallen logs, I run until my chest is burning and my vision is blurred. Something’s wrong. Silence. Complete silence. Slowing my running, I suck in heavy breaths as chills break over my flesh and what feels like a hundred tiny slithering snakes crawl up my spine. I shouldn’t have stopped. Stupid rookie move. Cranking my head over my shoulder a little, I see the shadow of someone coming up fast behind me. Just as I’m about to run, someone pushes me from behind, and I’m falling, face first. Because my hands are tied, I have nothing to break my fall.

“Fuck!” Bishop yells from behind me, and then a heavy body is pressing into my back. He digs his knee into the center of my spine, shoving my already pounding face that’s shoved into the dirt deeper. His hand wraps around the back of my neck as he squeezes again. I inch backward, my shoulders coming up in an attempt to stop his assault. “Don’t. Fucking. Run, kitty. You wanna know why?” he grates, dropping down to my ear, and my eyes sting with unshed tears.

“Why?” I croak through my parched throat.

He laughs, and I swear to God that laugh is enough to fuck with any demonic being. “Because I will always catch you, kitty, and trust me when I say,” he murmurs into my ear, his warm breath gliding over my neck, “I’ll always find you.” He gets up off me and flips me over onto my back.

“Tsk, tsk, little sis.” Nate walks toward me, but I focus my eyes on the sky. The branches frame my vision like a small circle, and I tilt my head, studying them closely. Nate bends down, but I can’t look at him. I always knew Bishop hated me somewhat, and when we slept together, it was more of a hate fuck, but Nate straight up betrayed me. Surprise, surprise. Most people do, I’ve come to learn. “Answer the question.”

“Fuck you.”

He laughs, his hand coming down to my throat. He looks up at Bishop and then grins over his shoulder. I quickly look back up to the stars once he’s brought his attention back down to me. Gripping me roughly, he yanks me to my feet and shoves my back up against a tree trunk. My head smashes against the hard bark and I groan, my eyes closing. That fucking hurt.

“B, come grab her legs so she can’t kick…” Nate studies my face, his wolf-colored eyes looking over my body. He grins. “Or scratch us.” I snap my mouth closed before opening it again.

“Nate, what the fuck are you doing?”

“I need to know the truth, kitty. And I need to know tonight.” I look over his shoulder to see the other five boys there, standing in the weak mist of the foggy night. The air is thick, and I know the fog is about to get a lot worse.

“I don’t know what the fuck you mean!” I scream.

Bishop steps forward, pushing Nate over slightly and grabbing onto my legs. Before I know it, they’re wrapped around his narrow waist and he’s pressing his groin into my center, the bark from the tree once again digging into my back. I should have worn the damn hoodie. He shoves me again, using his waist to move me. “Answer the fucking questions, kitty.”

I don’t ignore the way his bulge has expanded against me either, and as much as I hate him and hate what’s happening, my body has a mind of its own. “I am answering the questions! You’re just not listening!” I yell, pissed off at all of them. Do I think they will hurt me? Yes. But my anger trumps my fear, and that’s a dangerous trait to have against Bishop and Nate, because they love the fear. I can feel it, see it in their eyes. When they know I’m afraid, they get a kick out of it.