Niv did not know what to do in this situation, and that was a feeling she did not like in the slightest. She was used to knowing exactly what to do at any given moment, whether it was tracking prey through thick forest, bringing something down with clean and efficient force, or navigating the quiet, unspoken rules of her people. All of that came naturally to her, like breathing, like instinct.
This did not. She had never had a bond-mate before, and everything about this was new and confusing in a way that made her chest feel tight. Juno was always so bright and warm, always patient with her, always smiling even when she didn’t understand something, and seeing her like that, small and shaking and hurting in a way that Niv could not fix with claws or teeth, it made something twist painfully inside her.
Juno had told her to leave and Niv had listened. That alone felt wrong.
She padded through the forest beside the Mother, her movements quieter than they usually were, her thoughts too loud in her own head. She kept replaying the image of Juno sitting in front of the den, crying, her voice weak in a way Niv had never heard before. It made her jaw clench, her claws flex slightly against the earth as she walked.
She was a brutal and efficient hunter. There was no prey she could not track, no creature she could not bring down if she truly committed to it. If this were anything else, anything at all, she would have already solved the problem.
If she thought she could get away with it, she would have hunted that awful, mean female down, tracked her scent across every path and road and place humans gathered, and scared her so badly that she would never, ever come near Juno again.
The thought was tempting.
Veeeeeery tempting.
But humans had their own ways of doing things, their own strange rules and systems, and Juno had asked her to let them handle it. Niv did not like that answer, but she trusted Juno, even if she did not fully understand. And she would never be able to scare off the mean female herself. There was always more than one human.
“Niv?”
The Mother’s voice cut through her thoughts, sharp and grounding, and Niv blinked, lifting her head slightly.
“Yes?” she replied.
“Prey will get away. Focus.”
Niv paused for a fraction of a second before nodding, forcing her thoughts to settle, pushing the image of Juno aside for now, even though it did not want to leave.
“Yes, Mother.”
She lowered her head again, drawing in a slow breath through her nose, letting the scent of the forest fill her senses. The trail was still there, the heavy, musky scent of tusk-prey cutting through everything else. She latched onto it, following it with practiced ease, her body slipping back into familiar patterns even if her mind still lingered elsewhere.
They moved together in silence after that, weaving through the trees, stepping lightly over roots and underbrush as they tracked their quarry. Tusk-prey were dangerous, far more so than antler-prey, their bulk and aggression making them a real threat if approached carelessly, but they were worth it. They had thick layers of fat, heavy muscle, and more than enough meat to share.
It didn’t take too long before they found it.
The hunt itself was quick, brutal, and efficient, just as it always was. There was no hesitation once they committed, no wasted movement, just coordinated force and instinct honed over years. When it was done, the forest fell quiet again, the only sounds were their breathing and the faint rustle of disturbed leaves.
The Mother wasted no time, as expected.
She opened the carcass with practiced ease, pulling free the best organs, eating what she wanted immediately while the meat was still warm. She tore into it with the same intensity she brought to everything, blood staining her hands and mouth as she took her share, then moved on to the fattier cuts, clearly satisfied.
Niv, for her part, waited. She had other plans.
After the Mother had taken what she wanted, Niv began preparing the rest, shifting her grip and hoisting what she could manage. It was heavy, but that didn’t bother her. She had carried worse.
She wanted to take this to Barry and Lou. They had told her before that they could help cut it up properly, process it in ways that made it last longer, and then she could share it properly. It had worked before, and it made Juno happy when there was plenty of food.
And after that… she could surprise Juno.
Bring her hot meats.
The thought brought a small flicker of warmth back into her chest, so she set off, moving steadily through the forest, taking her time. It was late now, or early, depending on how one looked at it, and she knew the humans would likely be asleep. That was fine. She could wait.
By the time she reached the edge of the rock path that led to Barry and Lou’s den, the world was quiet, as the light returned. And then she heard it. A human loud thing, and it was heading towards Juno’s place.
Niv quickly hid back into the bushes and kept out of sight.
There was no one else who lived near Juno, she was at the end of the road.
Then as it passed, her heart sank. Driving the loud thing was the mean female, the one that made Juno cry.
It disappeared down the flat rock trail.
Juno’s eyes slowly dragged themselves open, the world coming back to her in a dull, hazy blur as a heavy, pounding ache pushed its way through her skull. The headache sat deep behind her eyes and spread outward in slow, relentless waves, the kind that came from drinking far too much the night before, and for a few long seconds she simply lay there, disoriented and sluggish, trying to gather her thoughts through the fog.
Her throat felt dry and scratchy, her tongue heavy in her mouth, and out of habit more than anything else she tried to reach for the glass of water she always kept by her bed. The motion never completed, and instead of the familiar stretch of her arm, she felt a sudden, uncomfortable pull at her shoulders that made her body jolt faintly.
Confusion crept in first, slow and uncertain, as she tried again, this time with more intent, only to be met with the same resistance. Her arms refused to move the way they should, held fast by something she couldn’t immediately see, and that sluggish confusion quickly began to twist into something colder as her mind started to catch up.
She shifted slightly, testing her weight, and the truth of it revealed itself all at once.
Her wrists were bound tightly together behind her back, something rough and unyielding pressing hard into her skin, holding her in place no matter how much she tried to pull away from it. A flicker of panic surged through her chest as she instinctively tried to move her legs as well, only to find that her ankles were tied just as securely, leaving her trapped in a way that made her stomach drop.
The haze of sleep and alcohol vanished completely, burned away by a sharp spike of fear that sent her heart racing as her breathing quickened, her entire body tensing as she began to struggle in earnest, twisting and pulling against the restraints in a desperate attempt to free herself.
“You’re awake! Good, good.”
The voice slid into the moment entirely familiar and unwelcome, soft and almost pleasant on the surface, yet carrying an undercurrent that made Juno’s blood run cold.
It took her only a heartbeat to recognise it, and when she did, her body went rigid.
Her head turned as much as it could, trying to find the source, her pulse hammering in her ears as a deeper, more visceral kind of dread began to take hold. That voice was one she had hoped she would never hear again, one she had run from, tried to bury, tried to leave behind along with everything else.
And then she realised something else.
Her mouth didn’t feel right.
There was pressure there, something wedged between her teeth, forcing her jaw slightly open, while fabric had been pulled tight across her lips to keep it in place. When she tried to speak, all that came out was a muffled, strained sound, swallowed almost entirely by the gag.
“Actually, maybe not,” Marie continued, her tone light and almost conversational, as if they were discussing something trivial instead of the reality Juno was now trapped in. “Would’ve been easier to get you into the boot of the rental if you hadn’t woken up, but I suppose we can’t all get what we want.”
The words settled slowly, each one hitting harder than the last as their meaning sank in, and Juno’s eyes widened as a fresh surge of panic flooded through her. She made another desperate sound against the gag, louder this time, more frantic, her body straining harder against the bindings as she tried to force any kind of movement, any kind of escape.
Marie let out a soft, almost indulgent sigh, as though Juno’s reaction was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
“Well, don’t fight too much, okay?” she said, that same saccharine sweetness coating every word that somehow made it all the more chilling. “We have a long trip ahead of us.”
Juno’s heart hammered violently in her chest as she continued to struggle, her breath coming fast and uneven through her nose, her thoughts racing in all directions at once as the full weight of the situation finally settled over her.
Juno forced out another muffled cry against the gag, the sound coming out strained and desperate as she twisted in Marie’s grip, trying to pull away even though she already knew it wouldn’t work.
“MMMMM!”
Marie’s hand came up almost immediately, her touch far too gentle for what was happening as she brushed her fingers along Juno’s cheek in a slow, soothing motion that made Juno’s stomach churn.
“Shhhhhh, it’s okay,” she murmured softly, her voice dripping with that same sickly sweetness, as if she were comforting her instead of being in the process of kidnapping her. “There’s no need to worry anymore. I’ve got everything sorted out.”
Juno shook her head as much as she could, breath coming fast through her nose, panic clawing its way higher in her chest as she tried to make any kind of sound that might resemble a protest, but it all came out muffled and useless. Marie didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
“I’m going to load you into the boot of the rental soon,” she continued almost cheerfully. “Then we’ll head up to Picton and take the ferry across to the North Island. It’ll be a bit cramped for you, I know, you’ll have to spend most of the trip back there, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for your own good, okay?”
The words hit Juno one after the other, each one making her feel sicker than the last as the reality of it all settled in properly. This wasn’t just some impulsive outburst, not just Marie showing up and refusing to leave. She had planned this. She had thought it through, mapped it out, decided on it like it was something normal, something reasonable.
Tears spilled down Juno’s face, hot and uncontrollable, soaking into the gag as her chest hitched with uneven breaths. She had always known Marie was cruel, manipulative, capable of twisting anything to suit herself, but this… this was something else entirely.
This was unhinged.
“So don’t fight me, ‘kay?” Marie went on, still in that same soft, coaxing tone. “We’re going to live out our happily ever after, just like we’re supposed to.”
Juno shook her head again, more frantic now, her entire body tensing as she tried to resist when Marie shifted her grip and lifted her up off the bed. Being moved so easily, so completely without control, made something inside her twist even tighter, the helplessness of it almost worse than the fear.
Marie carried her as if she weighed nothing, steady and unhurried, like there was no possibility of anything going wrong. Juno writhed in her arms, trying to kick, trying to throw her weight in a way that might make it harder, but with her ankles bound and her balance gone, it did nothing except make her own body strain painfully. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
They moved through the house and out into the open air, and the sudden change hit her all at once.
It was still early, where most of the world was still half-asleep, the sun only just peeking over the horizon and casting a pale, weak light across everything. The forest around the house was beginning to stir, faint sounds of movement and distant calls breaking the quiet, but there was no one close enough, no one who could see what was happening.
No one who could help her.
The car was already waiting.
The boot stood open like a dark, waiting mouth, and Juno’s panic spiked sharply as Marie carried her straight toward it without hesitation.
“No, no, no,” Juno tried to say, but it came out as nothing more than another muffled, desperate sound against the gag, her body thrashing harder now as she fought against being put inside.
It didn’t matter.
Marie lowered her in anyway, careful in a way that felt almost mocking, arranging her inside the confined space as if she were handling something delicate instead of forcing her into it.
“Okay,” Marie said lightly, looking down at her with that same composed expression. “Just make sure you stay quiet, alright? Otherwise I’ll have to knock you out, and I’d really rather not do that unless you make me.”
Juno stared up at her, tears still streaking down her face, her chest rising and falling rapidly as the reality of where she was, what was about to happen, pressed down on her from all sides.
And there was still nothing she could do to stop it.
Then the boot slammed shut above her with a heavy, final sound that echoed through the confined space, plunging her into complete darkness so sudden and absolute it felt like the world itself had been snuffed out. The air inside was stale and close, pressing in on her from all sides, and for a moment she couldn’t even think properly, her mind flooding with panic as the reality of it settled over her. It felt like being buried alive, trapped in a cramped, airless coffin with no way out and no way to even see what was around her.
Outside, she could hear movement, the crunch of gravel underfoot, followed by the sharp sound of a car door opening. The vehicle shifted slightly as weight settled into the driver’s seat, the suspension dipping just enough for her to feel it through the thin lining beneath her. A second later, the engine roared to life, loud and overwhelming in the enclosed space, vibrating through the metal frame and into her bones.
This is it. This is how I die, Juno thought, the words coming unbidden and settling heavily in her chest as her breathing grew faster, tighter, the panic threatening to spiral completely out of control.
The car began to move.
Or at least, it tried to.
Almost immediately, something went wrong.
There was a scream from outside getting through the steady noise of the engine, and then the revving intensified as Marie pushed the vehicle harder. The wheels spun against the gravel, struggling to find traction, the sound loud and frantic as stones spat out beneath them. The entire car jolted unevenly, and Juno was thrown slightly to one side within the cramped space of the boot, her shoulder slamming painfully against the interior.
Then, just as suddenly, the car lurched to a stop.
The wheels were still spinning, though, whining uselessly against the ground, and Juno lay there, disoriented and breathless, trying to make sense of what was happening through the darkness and the noise. She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t orient herself, but she could feel everything, the vibrations travelling through the car as something shifted outside.
A sudden, violent impact rang out, followed by the unmistakable sound of glass shattering.
Marie screamed again, louder this time, her voice no longer controlled or sweet but raw and panicked, and the sound carried strangely through the metal around Juno, muffled but unmistakable. There was a struggle of some kind, movement, something heavy hitting the side of the vehicle, and then—
Silence.
Not complete silence, the engine was still running, a steady, low rumble beneath everything, but Marie’s voice was gone, cut off so abruptly it made Juno’s heart stutter in her chest. A new sound followed, the sound of metal tearing.
It started as a strained groan, like the car itself was protesting, and then gave way to a sharp, ripping noise that made Juno flinch despite herself. Outside, she could hear footsteps on the gravel, heavier than before, coming closer.
Then something pierced through the edge of the boot, punching through the metal with a force that made the entire structure shudder. Juno gasped against the gag, her body going rigid as she stared into the darkness, unable to see what had just broken through, only able to hear and feel it as it shifted.
The tearing sound grew louder, more violent now, as whatever had punctured the metal forced it wider, peeling it back with brute strength. The resistance didn’t last long, the metal giving way with a series of sharp, protesting cracks until, all at once, the back of the boot was wrenched open.
Light flooded in, blinding after the darkness, making Juno squeeze her eyes shut for a moment as the sudden brightness overwhelmed her.
But it wasn’t the light that mattered. When she forced her eyes open again, blinking rapidly to adjust, the first thing she saw was Niv.
She stood there, looking down at her with wide, frantic eyes, her chest rising and falling heavily, her entire presence radiating a kind of barely-contained urgency that Juno had never seen from her before.
And just like that, the suffocating panic that had filled Juno moments ago cracked, replaced by something else entirely.