A wolf.

I was a furry, wet-nosed, eat-your-grandmother, sniff-all-the-booties WOLF.

I'd had fur in places that fur should've never been.

Where was Ava and her new waxing kit when a girl needed it? Oh yeah, she was wherever two-timing, drug-your-bestie-and-sell-her, lying liar pants' went after they were done screwing everyone without the use of lubricant.

Mr. Thompson and the Hag had left sometime yesterday. Once I had calmed down my body shifted back to a completely naked human, much to my chagrin. And no one had been back since.

I was okay with that. No visitors meant no stick of doom. And no Philip. I suppressed a shudder.

Unfortunately I wasn't sure how long it would take for Mr. Thompson to pay the Hag. Every minute in this cage was one minute closer to the unknown of the Thompson house.

I still felt like one large bruise. The left side of my face was full of them due to it being shoved into metal bars. My left hip was more bruise than skin. And I smelled so bad I didn't want to be around me.

The sound of the door opening caused me to shrink into the farthest corner of my cell. It couldn't be time yet. I haven't had enough time to plan an escape.

I needed more time.

The Hag, posh as always, gracefully descended the staircase and looked me over with a disgusted expression.

I'd like to see her in top form whilst being held prisoner, the festering pustule.

"The payment has been made. He is en route to collect you." She snapped her fingers and two large security guard types ran down the stairs.

Maybe if I snapped my fingers… Focus, Harper!

"Don't make this difficult." She raised a dainty eyebrow at me, possibly expecting me to comply.

Fat chance of that.

I sat perfectly still as Beefy One and Two opened the door to my cage. Then, once they got within arm's reach, I channeled my inner Jackie Chan and let the limbs fly.

I ended up stomping a heel into one of the Beef Brothers' dangly bits, and kicked the other in the nose. Not bad for someone who probably looks like she's fighting off a swarm of hornets, but it got the job done.

Well…

Not enough.

Beefy One and Two collected themselves and headed straight for me, one with a syringe in hand.

Before I could let out the scream that was building in my chest, an alarm started blaring so loudly I had to clamp my hands over my ears. It had an immediate effect on the Beefies and the Hag. They locked my door and ran up the stairs.

As soon as they were out of sight, I ran to the door and yanked as hard as I could. Because of course that would open a locked door…

"Miss me, Harpy?"

I spun around so fast my head started pounding.

Nope, I wasn't hallucinating. There stood Ava, brunette curls as bouncy as ever, beaming at me with a huge smile on her face.

"Now now, before you start, I already know. Did I inject you and sell you to Chuckles? Yes, I did. But I hated every minute of it. It just didn't sit well with me. So, your bff is here to save the day!" Her eyes gave me a once-over. "And what did I tell you? You should've let me use my wax. Now there's probably a yeti hiding in all of that shrubbery you got going on there."

That was it.

I screamed the loudest scream I could muster and tried to melt her with my eyes.

"No need to get all screamy. You're being a tad ungrateful, since I am here to rescue you and your pelvic forest. Also, stop the screaming! I'm trying to be stealthy here!"

In all of the shock I didn't notice the heavy duty bolt cutters in her hands. She snapped the lock on the door before freeing me from the manacle on my ankle.

Ava dropped the bolt cutters and shrugged her long, black jacket off, wrapping it around me. "Your sausage platter is waiting not so patiently outside. If I don't produce you soon they'll chomp on my innards."

She wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me toward the window. "I'll boost you up, then you grab me."

I stepped into her twined fingers, opened the window and painfully dragged myself through it.

I was free. I could've cried.

Turning back toward Ava, I laid down onto my stomach and stretched down to grab her arms. Her hands just gripped onto mine when I heard a cracking noise loud enough to mess with my hearing. Immediately Ava stopped pulling and stared at me with wide eyes.

I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I could read her lips. "Run."

And then she crumpled up onto the floor over a growing pool of red.

"NOO!!!" I shrieked, tears running down my face as I tried to crawl back into the basement to get to Ava.

I didn't make it far before strong arms scooped me up and held me to a warm, solid chest. My first and only thought was that the Beefies got me, so I screamed and thrashed in an attempt to escape their hold.

I could barely make out someone speaking. Not because of my hearing, that was pretty much back to normal. Everything was just becoming very fuzzy.

"Harper! It's me! It's just me!" Thane's ocean eyes took up my vision for a split second, calming my terror, before he started running.

"No! Ava! We have to get Ava!" I started clawing at his arm, hoping he would drop me.

He paused his running to hold me more securely to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Harper. There is no going back for her."

I felt a gentle kiss on my forehead before he started running again.

And I couldn't help but fall apart.