Read Online A Dragon for December (Wiccan-Were-Bear Book 11) by R. E. Butler - Free Book Online Page B

room. Her wrists were covered in heavy shackles,
with a thick chain that attached to the floor with a bolt. She
tugged on the chain, and it rattled loudly, but the bolt didn’t
budge.
    The air in the room was cool and chilled her
skin. Without the protection of her beast, she was more susceptible
to cold temperatures. Unfortunately, she was nearly naked. She
could be thankful that she was still wearing her panties, but being
chained the way she was didn’t lend any comfort to the
situation.
    Thinking back to what happened, she realized
that Meiling must have put something into the steam that had been
directed at her face. The question was, why?
    The lock on the door of the windowless room
clicked loudly, and Deci struggled to her feet and moved as far
away from the door as the chain would allow, trying once more to
reach her bear.
    The door creaked open, and a man in a white
lab coat entered the room, followed by another man in a suit. She
didn’t recognize the man in the lab coat, but the other man looked
familiar. It took her only a heartbeat to realize it was Tosh’s
uncle. Behind them, two men in gray uniforms armed with guns stood
in the open doorway. Her only exit was effectively blocked, and
without the use of her beast, she knew she wouldn’t even make it
out the door.
    The man in the lab coat said, “So this is the
one who’s trying to steal your throne?”
    Yuon stared at Deci. His face twisted into a
grimace as if he were looking at something unpleasant. “It is.”
    “Good. We can get started in a few minutes.
Do you want to watch?”
    “Watch what?” Deci demanded.
    The men ignored her.
    Yuon shifted his body until he had virtually
turned his back on her. “It won’t be pleasant for her, correct? I
don’t want her to enjoy herself.”
    The man snorted. “She’s mated. Nothing about
this will be pleasant for her, but it will help me a great
deal.”
    “And she will never appear again?”
    The man in the lab coat looked at Deci, his
gaze roaming over her with curiosity. “If she survives the trials,
I’ll ensure she never surfaces. You needn’t worry about being found
out.”
    Yuon marched toward the open door, and the
guards moved away to allow him to pass.
    “What’s going on here? Who are you? What is
Yuon doing here?”
    The man smiled coldly. “What’s going on here
is that I paid Yuon handsomely for you. Polar bear shifters are
unique. There aren’t many of you in the states.”
    “You paid for me?”
    He hummed. “I’m working on a breeding drug
for shifters. You’re going to help me test it.”
    Her mouth fell open. “What? No, I will not. I won’t have sex with anyone but my mate.”
    “You’re not really going to have a choice.”
He turned on his heels, glancing over his shoulder to give her
another cold smile. “Have fun.”
    He disappeared from the room, the door
swinging shut behind him with a loud bang. Deci stared at the door.
What had just happened? Had Tosh’s uncle really betrayed him by
selling Deci to some doctor who wanted to use her to test a
breeding drug? She tugged on the chain, wrapping it around her
wrists a few times and reaching for her beast’s strength. The faint
connection to her beast offered her no increase in strength, and as
she pulled on the chain she knew she wasn’t strong enough to break
it.
    Releasing her hold on the chain, she closed
her eyes and reached for her connection to Tosh. What had once
appeared like a golden tie in her mind to her dragon mate was now
so dull that it was barely a spark. She felt tears press against
her eyes, but she fought them back. Falling into a weeping mess of
emotions wouldn’t help her. She needed her wits about her if she
was going to get through this. Her only hope was that Tosh knew she
had been taken and would be able to find her before the drug did
whatever the scientist was hoping it would do.
    There was a sliding sound, and Deci looked up
at the ceiling to see a row of black tubes descend