Secrets Of The Alpha 2: (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (His Secrets Series) (4 page)

This time, the children were all lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Their little bodies had bite and claw marks. Their perfect little flawless faces were disgraced. The tall blonde was there too. Her rich golden shiny hair was now blood stained. She was on the floor next to the kids. The fluffy white carpet below them was soaked, and Vincent was standing at the corner of the room looking down at the bodies. He was breathing hard and heavy, and there was blood dripping from his hands. His clothes had blood spatter on them, probably as a result of when he attacked them.

By that time, I couldn’t even feel anything. I was breathing hard as I looked at Vincent. Could he have done it? Could the man I love have killed his family in cold blood and then just moved on as if it was nothing? I was gasping for breath as the voices started becoming clearer. I was looking at the interrogator who was looking right at me.

“Is that the kind of man you want to pledge your heart to, Miss Campbell?” She asked as she looked at me. I was breathing hard, and I could feel myself shivering.

“That monster right there murdered his family. Three young children that had no idea what was going on.” Vincent looked at me and shook his head.

“Baby, look at me…please. Just look at me,” he said in a soft voice.

I turned away from the interrogator and looked at the screen. I could still see the exhaustion written all over his face. But there was something in his eyes, some kind of honesty that I knew I could count on. I could feel my heart breaking. It was not that I didn’t trust him; I was scared that there was a part of him I didn’t know about.

“Look at him, Miss Campbell. Think about it.” The interrogator had her hands on the desk. “Don’t you think that you might have trusted him too much that you became blind to what he was really capable of?” I shook my head.

“Winnie, you have to face the fact that Vincent Muse will do anything and everything to cover up his secret. I mean, if he did this to his family, you must imagine what he would do to you when he is finally done with you.” The interrogator looked at me and shook her head. “He is a ticking time bomb, and you know it. Your time is almost up.” I felt a fresh flow of tears running down my already sensitive cheeks.

“Baby, please. Don’t listen to them, please!” Vincent was pleading with me. He could see that the woman’s words were getting to me.

“I love you, baby. Just remember that I love you,” he was saying as the interrogator went on speaking. She was hell bent on breaking me, and by the way I was feeling, I could feel her bending my will. I was gasping as I cried, and Vincent was yelling louder.

“For God’s sake, will you just shut the fuck up!” The interrogator said as he shocked him once more. I screamed out loud when I noticed that she was zapping him longer than usual. Vincent was struggling and shaking as the million volts of current went through him.

“Stop it!” I cried out in fear. “Stop it, please. You are killing him.”

“Come on, Winnie. Monsters don’t die; they just sleep.”

I cried out loud and tried getting up when I saw him finally collapsing. The torture was over, but he was not moving.

“Oh my God,” I said in a whisper. “What did you do?” My voice was quavering.

“Relax, Winnie. He is just sleeping,” she said as I saw the masked figure walking towards me from the corner of my eye. “Think about what I said, Winnie. Remember, tick tock.” She looked at me and smiled.

“If Vincent is willing to lie to you about killing his family then you’ve got to ask yourself; if the age old question: what else is he lying about? Remember, Winnie. Where there’s one rat, there are a thousand more, and where there is a wolf, there is a blood trail a mile long following their name. I’ll let you sleep on all these. I know it’s a lot to take in.” If she said anything more, I never heard it because a needle had been jabbed in my neck. The sedative was already in me, and it was working…

Chapter 3

When my eyes fluttered open, I gasped in relief. I was no longer shackled to some table in a dark room. I was outside in a meadow of some sorts or a park. I was wearing a long flowing white maxi dress, and I was barefoot. I could feel the sun on my bare arms, and my hair was long, longer than I had ever let it grow out. Vincent was standing in front of me looking as casual as ever in blue jeans and a t-shirt. His fingers were running in my hair, and he was standing so close to me I could smell his beautiful cologne. He kissed me softly and let his tongue find mine. I was breathing hard and deep as his hand found my breast. I pulled away from him and wagged my finger in his face.

“What is it?” He asked as he looked at me.

“What are you trying to do? We are outdoors, and the kids are here,” I said in a whisper. He shrugged and looked around.

“Look at them, they are hopping about flying kites and what not. I bet they wouldn’t mind it if mommy and daddy went off for a nooner.” He was now running his hand up and down my back. I smiled at him and shook my head.

“Can we have the sandwiches now, mommy?” A beautiful chestnut haired girl asked as she ran up to where we were. I pulled away from Vincent and turned around to get the picnic basket.

“Get your brother so we can eat, honey,” I said as I slowly spread the blanket.

I sat down and began getting the sandwiches and fruit I had packed out of the basket. I opened a bottle of water and took a long sip as I looked at the two beautiful kids who were now running towards me. I smiled and took another long sip of my bottle.

“Mommy, can we play a little hide and seek first?” The beautiful boy asked. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

“I thought you were hungry.” I said as I held his small face in my hand.

“No, that’s Tara. I’m fine,” he said. I ran my fingers through his thick hair and shrugged.

“Fine. But only for five minutes,” I said, but he had already run off.

I sat there wearing a smile as I watched them running off to a nearby tree. From where I was sitting, I could tell that the tree was not thick enough to hide them both, but they were trying to stuff themselves behind the tree as they counted back from a hundred. It was adorable. Vincent hid behind another tree and waited for the two to begin looking for him.

“Ready or not, daddy, here we come!” They yelled as they ran from behind the tree to look for Vincent.

I took another sip of the water, but as I lowered my bottle, I noticed that Vincent was no longer a man. He was in wolf form, and he was lunging at the kids. At our kids…at my kids. I watched in horror as they screamed in fear. I stretched my hand out and gasped in fear as I watched him ready to end my kids. I suddenly cried out loudly as I saw him growl loudly and ready to pounce on my kids.

I shrieked as I woke up, startled. It was another nightmare, but this one was so…weird. It almost felt real. I had smelled Vincent’s cologne and the texture of my son’s hair and face. I was sweating and breathing hard. It was like that dream had pulled me into a different realm. I put my head down on the table and sighed.  

“You’re okay, Winnie. You’re fine. It was just a dream. A silly, stupid dream,” I whispered to myself, trying to calm myself down.

I raised my head, looked around at the room, and noticed that I had been left all alone. The interrogator was gone. The masked man who usually sat in the shadows was gone. It was just me and a light. I looked around and gasped silently when I saw the screen on the wall had been left on.

“Vincent,” I whispered as I looked at my sleeping boyfriend.

He was still caged, and I found myself wondering if there was a way we could ever manage to get out of there. How are we ever going to get out of here? I wondered as I looked at Vincent sleeping in the cage.

The chances of getting out of this hell hole were getting slimmer by the minute. For me, I totally relied on Vincent’s superhuman strength. And so far, I had not seen them give him anything to eat, not even a drink of water. He must have been weak, weaker than ever, and there was no way I could be able to fight off all those armed guards. I just couldn’t manage it, not without Vincent’s help anyway. I noticed the moonlight shining through a high window in the room the cage was in. It was close to him, but not close enough. Something in me made me wish I could move him to be right in the light. Maybe the fact that he hadn’t had any nourishment in a while wouldn’t be a factor once he transformed since something in him just seemed to take him to a whole new level of strength when he was in wolf form.

As I looked at him, I could remember the first time I saw him in wolf form. That night at the mansion when I had doubled back for him. I could remember how scared I was, how hard my heart was beating in my chest. How I had been looking at him like he would come at me at any time. At that moment, I could have sworn that he was planning on ripping my throat in one stroke of his paw.

But somehow, seeing him in wolf form wouldn’t have intimidated me at this point. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were other things about him that would have scared me in the past that wouldn’t surprise me anymore. Stuff that I would have probably ignored. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were certain aspects about Vincent that I had subconsciously chosen to ignore because of the feelings I had for him.

Chapter 4

I was still sitting there looking at a sleeping Vincent when I heard a knock on the door. I shrugged and shook my head. If that interrogator bitch was trying to get to me, she was succeeding. I mean why the hell would they lock me up and then knock? It was like they were taunting me and probably filming the whole thing on some hidden camera. I heard the knock again and shook my head. I turned around and looked at the door wondering if they expected me to drag the table to the door. I rolled my eyes.

“How the hell do you expect me to open the door with these…” My voice trailed off when I noticed that I could lift my hands off the table.

I was no longer shackled to the table. I sighed and looked around surprised. What the hell is going on? I wondered as I looked around the dark room. Or was it that I was still dreaming? I pinched my arm and winced in pain. Okay, that settles that. I am still awake. I pushed my seat away from the table and stood up. It felt great to stretch out for the first time in God knows how long. I was breathing hard as I walked to the door wondering what I would find on the other side of the door. My hand was shaking as I opened the door. I opened the door and gasped when I saw who it was.

“Fran…what are you…” I started as I looked around. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?” I couldn’t understand anything. For all I knew, the place was a fortress.

“Hi, Winnie,” Fran said in a soft voice before she walked into the room.

I looked at her feeling confused. I had a million and one questions. But most importantly, why was she there? And how come she got to walk free while her brother was caged and I was shackled? I looked at her as she walked to the table and sat down.

“Have a seat, Winnie. We need to talk.” My mouth was open as I walked up to where she was and sat down.

“What are you doing here? How did you get here?” I looked around and shrugged. “Where the hell are we anyway?” Fran took a long deep breath.

“I was asked to come here, Winnie,” she started. I shook my head in confusion.

“You were asked to come here? By who? Who put us here?”

“I was asked to come out here and talk to you,” she said. I was confused. Fran was Vincent’s sister and blood tramped bitchy interrogators any day. I couldn’t understand why she would comply with anything these people – whoever they were – asked.

“Why? Are you working with them?” I knew that the contempt in my voice was obvious. She looked into my eyes and sighed.

“Don’t…” Fran started before she sighed and shook her head. “I was asked to come here and talk to you,” she said again before she leaned in. “And by the way, we are being watched right now.”

I rolled my eyes. I knew there was a hidden camera somewhere, and she had just confirmed that for me. Was this one of their tactics? To use the people close to Vincent so that they could get him to talk? But even though I was thinking about this, I knew that nothing made sense. As far as I could tell, it was Vincent that they wanted, and it seemed like they wanted to finish him, so why were they so hell bent on getting him to admit to murders he never committed?

I suddenly realized that I had been thinking about all this, and Fran had been talking. I shook my head and sighed.

“I’m sorry…I wasn’t listening…” I started as Fran looked at me. She flashed me a sad smile.

“You look terrible,” she said in a soft voice as if I didn’t already feel it.

“I kind of feel it,” I said as I touched my dirty hair. Fran shook her head.

“Trust me, I don’t think you know how bad you look,” she said. I rolled my eyes.

“You don’t need to rub it in, Fran,” I said. She shook her head.

“I’m not trying to rub it in. It’s just…” she sighed, reached into her purse, and pulled out a small mirror.

She frowned as she handed it to me. I looked at her and then took the mirror from her. I took a long deep breath and looked into the small frame. What the hell…I thought as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Fran was right. I looked terrible. My hair was a mess thanks to not being washed in days, plus the damp air in the small room was not helping the situation. I had dark splotches on my skin from where I had been sleeping on the dirty table. I tilted my head and looked at the roots of my hair sighing. And here I was thinking that short hair was manageable. This sucked.

“How are you doing?” Fran asked.

I looked up and gave her a dirty look.

“Apart from the obvious being kept captive?” She added.

“You remember a few minutes ago when you said I looked terrible?” Fran smiled uncomfortably and nodded. “I think that is a perfect answer to your question,” I said as I put the mirror down on the table.

I knew I was being a little insolent with her, but I didn’t think I had anything to lose at this point. I was someone’s prisoner, and the man I loved was being caged at some unknown location. All I knew concerning him was what I could see on the screen. I looked at Fran, feeling a little offended that she was even there in the first place.

“What are you doing here, Fran?” I asked as I looked at her.

She took a long deep breath and then began twiddling her thumbs. I thought this was weird. She had always been this confident person, and doing something like twiddling thumbs was definitely not her thing.

“Listen, Winnie. I know you and my brother are close,” she started.

I almost burst out laughing in disgust. I know you and my brother are close. Those were the words she had used as if she didn’t know that Vincent and I were involved. If there was anyone who knew all about my relationship with Vincent, it was Fran, and now she was acting like I was a mere acquaintance or something.

“Vincent and I are closer than you are implying,” I pointed out.

“Maybe but I know things, about him that you may not know about,” she said. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow wondering what she was on about.

“Winnie, Vincent is not just the loving man you know. There is so much more underneath the surface.”

“Wait…what are you talking about, Fran?”

“My brother has always had a temper. Especially when it comes to people he loves,” she said as she looked at me. With every word she said, she made me want to punch her in the face. It was like she was intentionally trying to discourage me.

“He would do anything and everything to protect his loved ones. Once he almost broke a man’s hand because he touched me inappropriately at a club,” Fran said. I raised an eyebrow and shook my head, confused.

“Touched you inappropriately?” I asked as I looked at him on the screen.

“He touched my butt. But in his defense, he was drunk so…there’s that,” she said. I shrugged.

“Then don’t you think he was right to defend your honor?” I asked. Fran shrugged and shook her head a little too sadly.

“Yes, but you didn’t see him. He was about to rip the guy’s arm off. And you and I both know that he is more than capable of doing something like that.” I rubbed my temple and shook my head.

“Fran, I really…” I started before she reached out and held my hand.

“Winnie, I haven’t told you everything yet. Once, I saw him beat someone into a coma,” she said as she looked into my eyes.

“I love him, and I know you do too, but Vincent can be dangerous.” I frowned and pulled my hand away from her.

“Fran, I really don’t need to hear anymore,” I said angrily.

“I know about the others, Winnie,” Fran suddenly said. I looked at her and shook my head.

“What others? What the hell are you talking about?” I asked as I looked at her.

“Don’t play with me, Winnie. I know about the man from Vincent’s company and the butler and your acting agent,” she said. If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn that she had been listening in to everything the interrogator had been saying. I looked at her wondering what I was supposed to say.

“I think you need to go,” I said as I looked at her.

“Think, Winnie. If he has done this before, then how long do you think it will be before he turns on you?” She asked. I couldn’t believe she was saying this about her own brother. I looked at her and shook my head.

“You know as well as I do that Vincent would never hurt me,” I said as I looked at her.

“That’s what I thought too, but every psychotic person has a breaking point,” she said.

“Did you just call Vincent a psycho?” I asked in disbelief.

“Like I said before, I love my brother, but I have to admit to what he is. It isn’t helping anyone to cover all this up anyway,” she said.

I was trying as hard as I could not to lunge at her. I took a long deep breath as I bit my nails nervously. It was all I could do to keep me sane. Fran’s words were getting to me. And I was not so sure she realized the effect her words were having on me. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Her words were making me sadder than I could imagine. I looked at her and shook my head. She, Ophagia, and Penny were my last hope of ever getting me and Vincent away from the hell hole we were in, but the way Fran was talking, it looked like I was down one. She seemed to have given up on Vincent.

“You need to leave,” I said in a small voice. I was looking down at the table just so Fran wouldn’t see that her words were getting to me.

“Vincent is not the man you think he is. He will hurt you,” she said in a soft voice.

“Seriously Fran,” I said looking up. I didn’t care if she saw the tears streaming down my face. She reached out and gently touched my shoulder. I felt her leg brush up against mine under the table when she did.

“Think about what I said, Winnie. If you don’t do anything at all, just promise me you’ll think about it,” she said patting my hand before she stood up.

Since I met Fran, it never once occurred to me that I would one day resent her as I did that moment. My heart was beating hard as I looked at her walking out. I looked at the door closing and wished I could just walk out as simply as she had. But the cameras… I wouldn’t get far without the interrogator and the guards catching up to us. Plus, there was the obvious fact that I just couldn’t leave Vincent behind because he wouldn’t leave me behind either.

Don’t do that. Don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing that their tactics got to you, I thought as I brushed off my tears. I was about to move again when I felt a light weight on my shoe. I moved back a little and leaned back in my chair. I was trying as much as possible to be discreet lest the people who were watching the free show noticed what I was up to. Fran
,
you sly dog, I thought as I noticed a mini saw on my shoe.

Suddenly, it all made sense to me. The way Fran had been acting. The way she had been asked to come and talk to me. It was all to help me and Vincent without being so obvious. I scratched my wrist and then slowly began scratching another non-existent itch on my leg and then down to my ankle before I picked up the mini saw and put it in my pocket. I then picked up the mirror and looked at my reflection. I did look terrible. I hated what I looked like. Pitiful. I put the mirror in my pocket, and then I looked up at the camera and shrugged.

“What the hell are you people doing? Are there any more family members or loved ones you wish to turn against us?” I cried out angrily.

I shook my head and rubbed my arms warming them up. I turned my attention to the screen and looked at Vincent, waiting for the door to open. I waited and waited and waited, but no one ever came. I was all alone in that room. I didn’t understand why they would unshackle me and leave the door unlocked.

Could it be that they were tempting me? I wondered. Did they really think I would leave without Vincent? I shook my head and forced out a laugh. I wanted to scream at them. I wanted to tell them that it would never happen, but I had lost all will to talk. I was just sitting there, watching the screen, and waiting for one of the guards to walk into the room.