Page 29 of Bred By the Beast

It was an odd angle to have his dick still inside her, and for her to be able to see him, but his dick was not leaving her pussy.

“I’m just thinking,” he said.

“What about?”

He looked at her and didn’t want to worry her. “Just the poachers.”

He felt her instantly tense up.

“They’ve still not gone?”

He shook his head. “They will.”

“But you’re worried.”

“No.”

This made her frown. “I’m confused.”

“They will move on eventually, or the forest will teach them a lesson about poaching.”

She gave a little shiver. “You make it sound like the forest is alive.”

“It is, Poppy. The trees, the wildlife, it’s all alive, and trust me, no one wants to fuck with nature. It has a habit of biting back.”

Chapter Eleven

Poppy had been alone for almost an hour. She was getting a bit bored. When she was bored, her imagination went wild. Sometimes it wasn’t a good idea to be alone with her thoughts. She started to overthink all Wilder’s oddities when she’d promised herself they weren’t worth the trouble. They were happy together, and that’s all that mattered.

All her life, she never dreamed of having a happily ever after, and each day with Wilder was a dream come true. But as she paced around the little log house, her attention kept diverting to that locked room in the hallway. The room bolted from the inside and the outside. The forbidden temptation that wouldn’t stop invading her thoughts. Maybe that room had answers. Maybe he was a serial killer. She shook her head, feeling like an idiot. She needed to just mind her own business.

But she couldn’t.

Poppy decided it would eat away at her until she knew what was inside. Maybe then she’d stop doubting Wilder. It was probably old storage, something boring and unimportant. She searched around all the drawers in the house, looking for a key. She wasn’t having much luck until she found a large key in his night table drawer. It was an old-fashioned skeleton key, and she admired it as she brought it into the hallway. Sure enough, it fit the lock.

She froze, her heart pounding in her chest. This felt wrong but she couldn’t stop herself. Poppy turned the key and pulled open the heavy, reinforced door. It was pitch-black inside, a waft of stale, musty air greeting her. It mustn’t have been opened in a long time. She cautiously stepped inside, feeling around for a light switch on the wall.

Once the lights flicked on, she gasped as she took in the scene. The walls were a mix of steel and heavy timber, appearing to have been repaired numerous times. All the walls were gouged over six feet high with thick claw marks. Broken chains hung from the ceiling and large tufts of fur were stuck in the wood, along with obvious bloodstains.

It was a torture room.

Her stomach twisted in knots.

That’s why Wilder wasn’t afraid of bears. He brought them here to torture and kill them. He is a poacher. Or was a poacher. Maybe something worse. She started to cry in deep waves, sobbing for everything she’d discovered and the future she knew was no more. She should have known everything was too perfect.

Poppy cautiously walked around the room, watching where she stepped, running her fingertips along all the deep claw marks. The poor bears were trying to escape. Maybe that’s where he got his money—selling bear parts on the black market. She wondered what he did to that poor bear cub. He’d disappeared with him. All the mysteries were shrouded in this dark secret.

Did he know the poachers coming after her? She didn’t know what to do or to believe.

Poppy wiped at her eyes, the tears blurring her vision. She almost wished she could have lived in blissful ignorance, but no, this was a major discovery. Wilder wasn’t the man she thought he was.

She needed to leave this fake paradise and go back to her real life. It may be hard back in the city, but at least she’d be able to sleep at night. There was no way she could ignore this nightmare room, whether he’d changed or not.

Poppy got dressed in warm layers, filled her backpack with her belongings and some food and water. Then she kissed the three dogs goodbye, which only made her cry more. She slipped out the front door and headed in the direction she’d come weeks ago. If she kept going straight, eventually she’d get to her car or at least find someone to help her.

If Wilder found out she discovered the truth, maybe she’d end up trapped in that torture room. There must be a completely different side to him, and she didn’t want to discover it.

She began her long trek, feeling nervous being alone, but more determined than ever to get away. No way could she be here when he returned from wherever he was. She needed to move quickly.