Autumn shook her head slowly. "If we were truly mates, you wouldn't treat me like this. You wouldn't kidnap me and tie me up like a prisoner!"
Jacob laughed dryly. "Isn't it ironic? I have to physically bind you because you tried to break our spiritual bond."
He walked over to the small table beside the bed and poured a glass of red wine from an expensive bottle. Drinking it slowly, he looked at Autumn with an unreadable gaze.
"Three days," he said suddenly.
"What?"
"I'm giving you three days to adjust to this situation. Three days to realize that this is your true place by my side." Jacob put down his wine glass.
"After that, we will continue with the postponed wedding plans," Jacob continued with finality. "And this time, there will be no cancellations."
Autumn felt despair wash over her. "You are crazy, Jacob. You are crazy to think I will marry you after all this."
Jacob just smiled, a smile that did not reach his eyes. "We will see, my love. Time can change many things."
He sat on the edge of the bed and began to untie the knots on Autumn's ankles. His movements were gentle, in contrast to the situation.
"I will untie you, but don't think about running away," he said as he moved to Autumn's wrists. "This house is guarded by my loyal pack members. And we are far from civilization, in the middle of the forest on the border of the pack. No one will hear your screams."
Once all the knots were untied, Autumn immediately pulled her hands away and rubbed her reddened wrists. She wanted to fight, wanted to run, but knew that would only make the situation worse.
"Why are you doing this, Jacob?" she asked in a soft voice. “We could have worked things out better. We could have talked like adults.”
Jacob raised his eyebrows. “Talk? Like when you left me a goodbye note and disappeared without a trace? Like when you ignored all my calls for the past six months?”
He took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions. “No, Autumn. The time for talk is over. The time for action is now.”
“You don’t understand why I left.”
“Then tell me!” Jacob snapped suddenly, making Autumn flinch in surprise. “Tell me the real reason you left me!”
Autumn stared at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Because I was afraid of you, Jacob. I was afraid of what you did to the pack, to yourself. I was afraid of the power that blinded you.”
Jacob paused, his eyes darkening. “Afraid? Of me?” His voice sounded hurt even as he tried to hide it. “I never, ever, meant to hurt you, Autumn.”
“Maybe not physically,” Autumn replied. "But you hurt me in so many other ways. You stopped listening to me. You ignored my advice on how to run the pack. You kicked out families that had been part of our community for centuries. And when I questioned it, you overpowered my every argument with your power as alpha."
Jacob stood up, walking to the window, his gaze gazing out into the darkness of the forest beyond.
“I did what was best for the pack,” he said quietly. “My father was too weak. He let our pack get trampled by other packs. When he died, I swore I would never let that happen again.”
He turned, looking at Autumn with unreadable eyes. “Do you know what happened while you were gone? The Barrett pack tried to invade our territory, thinking we were weak because of internal divisions. They even tried to poison our water supply.”
Autumn gasped. She had never heard of this.
“And what did you do?” she asked hesitantly.
A cold smile formed on Jacob’s lips. “I did what an alpha should do. I protected my pack.”
Autumn didn’t need to ask any further to know that ‘protect’ in Jacob’s vocabulary could mean a variety of horrible things.
“That still doesn’t justify the way you treated me just now,” Autumn said firmly, her voice shaking. “You can’t kidnap someone and call it love, Jacob.”
Jacob took a deep breath. He walked over to the large closet in the corner of the room and opened the door. Inside hung a variety of women's clothing—dresses, blouses, skirts, all in Autumn's size.
"I've got everything ready for you," he said. "The bathroom is right next door. I'll send Beta Diana to help you clean up and change."
"And if I refuse?" Autumn challenged.
Jacob closed the closet door and walked toward the bedroom door. His hand paused on the doorknob as he turned to answer.
"You always have a choice, Autumn. You can do everything willingly, or..." he paused, his gaze darkening, "I'll make sure you do. In the second case, I guarantee you won't like it."
With those words, Jacob stormed out of the room, leaving Autumn alone with her confused thoughts.
As soon as the door closed, Autumn jumped out of bed and ran to the window. She tried to open it, but it was locked shut. Her gaze swept the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon or a means of escape.
"It's no use," a feminine voice said from the doorway.
Autumn turned in surprise, seeing a platinum blonde woman standing there with a cold stare. Beta Diana, Jacob's right hand and one of the strongest wolves in the pack.
"Jacob has thought of everything," Diana continued as she entered the room. "There is no way out of this house unless he allows it."
"Diana, please," Autumn tried to plead. "You know this is wrong. You and I used to be friends."
Diana snorted. "Back then, before you dumped our alpha and drove him nearly insane for months." She walked over to Autumn.