#Chapter 142: Love is a Game

The first thing I notice when lucidity returns is the searing pain in my wrists. Blinking through the haze, I take in my surroundings: damp leaves beneath me and goosebumps on my skin, a tightness around my limbs. My body feels weak and my senses dulled. I hardly register the sounds and smells around me, as though my nose and ears were muffled by something. Panic sets in as I try to move, realizing my hands and ankles are bound, and I'm unable to shift into my wolf form. "Wolfsbane." My head swivels rapidly to the sound of her voice. Susan. She's leaning against a tree. Her fingernails are splashed with ruby red to match her lips, and her hand is wrapped around a Starbucks cup. She smiles while she brings it delicately to her mouth to take a sip. The queen of England might have been impressed with her grace. She's always been the master of the feminine, but I think what hooked Kadeem most was her guise as a fragile thing - an innocent waif for him to rescue. Anger sparks at the p