Later I would regret my actions. In a sober state I would be able to pin point the exact moment it had escalated and the point I could have and should have done things very differently but I was drunk, caught up in the moment and allowing my temper free reign in a delicate situation.

“What do you want?” I asked, taking an unsteady step in the stranger’s direction.

I should have high tailed it out of there as fast as I could but I did the opposite.

“You will learn respect little pup.” The distaste was evident in his voice. “And I’ll be the one to teach you.”

I frowned. “What did you call me old man?” My stomach turned. It wasn’t possible, was it? Pup. There was no way he could know what I had only recently discovered myself.

I’d spent my whole life not knowing, and no one around me had ever suspected. How was it possible this stranger knew?

I straightened up. “Who are you?” There was a touch of fear in my tone.

This man knew things about me that weren’t possible, what else did he know?

“You have no need for my name,” he replied and moved closer.

I took a hesitant step back. It wasn’t often I was caught off guard but in this situation, added with alcohol, I wasn’t my usual confident self.

“What do you want?” I asked, fearful of what that might be.

“My only desire is money and lots of it.” His eyes narrowed.

I frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“You are very valuable, Mary.”

My world tilted. How did he know my real name? It brought back all the years of feeling unwanted and unloved. How on earth had this man tied my past with a future I had only recently discovered?

“How?” I uttered, feeling the situation slide into his control.

I was shaken, drunk and reeling.

His smile gleamed like he was enjoying every second of my angst and pain.

“You will find out soon enough.”

I shook my head. “I’m not valuable. You have to have me confused with someone who actually has someone who wants them.”

There was no one to pay him money if he took me. This guy had clearly not done all his homework. If he really knew me, he would know I had no one in my life who would care what happened to me. For a moment I thought about Maverick. He didn’t count. He would carry on with his life and he would find someone who was more deserving of him.

I had a way of turning everything I touched bad. I wouldn’t do that to Maverick. He would move out of my life unscathed by me.

“I know who you are Mary. And you are by far my most valuable bounty.”

Bounty? Was he after me because of my trouble with the law?

“Who is paying this bounty?” I asked, trying to get as much information as I could.

It was still only the two of us in the street, and I was already trying to figure a way out but it wasn’t looking good. He was bigger than me. The chances of me fighting him off were slim and he definitely wasn’t someone who would fall for any of my usual tricks.

He shook his head. “Someone who doesn’t want their identity revealed.”

“So what happens now?” I asked. I knew how this would play out but I was trying to buy myself some time to try think of a way to escape him.

“Well, we can do this easy way or the hard way.”

I was already shaking my head. There was no time in my life I had ever taken the easy way out of any situation and I wasn’t about to start now.

“I can’t do that.” I rolled my shoulders, knowing this was going to escalate and preparing myself for the inevitable.

“I knew you were going to make this fun.”

This guy wasn’t behaving the way I expected, it made predicting what he would do next impossible. Which made it more likely I would not be able to outsmart him.

Fear gripped me, and I turned to run. Survival kicked in. Instinctual.

I didn’t get very far before he grabbed my arm and spun me around. I tried to push him but he was a wall of strength and I was no match.

“I like it when my marks fight.”

That set me off and as he lifted me off my feet with his arm around my waist I twisted, scratched but none of my actions stopped him.

He carried me to a car and that’s when I started to scream. His hand slapped against my mouth, smothering any further sound. The intensity of my fear spiked and bit his hand, as hard as I could.

He swore and dropped me on the street. I landed with a hard thud and I yelped. And then I was on my feet running again.

This time when he caught up with me he shoved me against the wall and back handed me. My face stung and I tasted blood.

I had never been hit like this before. I was stunned. It took me a moment to try and gather my bearings then he lifted me to my feet.

He growled and I knew he wasn’t human. He was like me. A werewolf. It explained his strength.

“I’m trying to do this without any permanent damage but I’m warning you. If you pull another stunt like that I will teach you a lesson.”

Permanent damage? My face was still throbbing and my eye was already starting to swell.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I begged, forcing the tears that I hoped would make him take pity on me. It was the only thing I had in my defense, even though I was pretty sure he wouldn’t fall for it.

“That’s up to you Mary.”

I hated that name. It represented everything wrong in my life.

“Don’t call me that,” I warned, resentfully.

He released me to grip my arm and he led me to the car.

I knew enough about kidnappings to know that once he had me in the car my chances of survival fell dramatically. Physically I couldn’t stop him. He could beat me into submission. Tears and begging hadn’t worked.

Had I finally landed in a situation I couldn’t get out of?

“Please let me go,” I begged as he dragged me. My side hurt but I ignored the pain.

He stopped to glare at me. “Stop talking Mary. If you know what’s good for you, you will keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?”

I pressed my lips together but I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. It was the part of me that never did what I should.

“Please let me go. I’ll disappear and no will know you ever laid eyes on me.”

“Unless you can top the bounty on you, I won’t be letting you go.”

“How much is it?” I asked, knowing full well I wouldn’t be able to pay it.

I had been living pay check to pay check. The money I had stolen from the car was the only money I had. I think it totaled a couple of hundred dollars.

The guy laughed. “Unless you’re some sort of millionaire which I doubt, you can’t top it.”

Millionaire? Horror filled me? Who would pay that type of money for me? A nobody, an orphan who had no family.

It was making less sense, the more I discovered.

“I don’t know who you think I am but I can tell you there is no one that would spend that type of money for me. You have to have the wrong person.”

He shook his head as he approached the car and opened the passenger side.

I made one last attempt to resist him as he pulled me to the open door.

“Please don’t do this,” I pleaded with him.

But he grinned, showing his teeth. “I’m already counting the money I’m going to get for you.”

Panic set in. I yanked my arm but his grip was vice like. When I couldn’t get free I screamed, hoping it would alert someone to my rescue.

He hit me and my head flew back. “Get in the car.”

I fought with everything I had to stop him but he shoved me in the car and slammed the door closed. I grimaced, the pain in my side throbbed.

As he straightened up to get in the car, I heard a growl. A deep animalistic one. It wasn’t coming from my kidnapper.