Romance: My Bear Boss: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (BBW Shifter Romance, Paranormal Shifter Romance) by Ashley Hunter

plunge that knife into that man…
    Different. I’m a prisoner. A hostage. This would be self-defense.
    But in all honesty, she had been prepared. She had even felt that surge in her blood, the desire to kill him, to actually watch him cave beneath her for causing her so much pain. It felt hideously right to think of that then.
    Was she… no different?
    No… no. She was a good person. Because even while she had thought that, she didn’t make a move.
    She didn’t kill anyone, he did. In the end, they could all have the same thoughts and desires but action defined everything.
    “I have got to get out of here…” Ingrid muttered to herself as she stared out the window, and when she approached, she felt her frustration only mount when she saw nothing but a steep drop into a lot of trees and the unknown forest.
    To her relief, Ingrid didn’t see Leo for the rest of the day. She just hoped this would remain until she could clear her head enough to hatch a good enough escape plan. She just had to hold on.
    --

The next day, Ingrid was woken by Nadya. There was a little bit more daylight filtering through the window and while Ingrid could only note the situation with some curiosity it fell flat when she saw familiar handcuffs on the woman’s hands.
    “No way,” Ingrid shook her head, frowning at the maid. “I’m not putting those back on. I don’t care if you can’t hear me.”
    Nadya blinked at her and in this lighting her gray eyes appeared a soft blue. Nadya took a step forward and when Ingrid made to bolt, the woman’s narrow eyebrows dipped into a look of warning. It was the most expression Ingrid got from the girl, but it was enough to remind her of their little grappling match from yesterday.
    With a loud groan, Ingrid relented and stood, hating feeling the cuffs around her wrists again before she was following the maid out the door. They walked past the bathroom and straight toward the dining room, this time at an easier pace and for that Ingrid was somewhat grateful for.
    Their footsteps echoed back to them, emphasizing the ever present silence between the two women and Ingrid vaguely wondered about Linda. She had been gone a total of maybe a week… a week of nothing but white noise between the two friends. Would Linda know she was in trouble?
    Finally, the two women reached the dining room and the table was arranged yet again in a lovely spread of breakfast foods. This time it was different. Croissants and éclairs stood amongst foods Ingrid had never seen before but guessed where they came from.
    This time, Leo was already sitting at the table, quietly discussion something with the butler on his right. At the sound of their footsteps, the men ceased their speech and Leo rose to see them enter.
    “Good morning,” He spoke nothing at all how he had spoken to her yesterday. Instead Leo watched her with something akin to sheepishness but Ingrid dared not make any assumptions and remained on her guard. “Did you rest well?”
    “Better,” She admitted. “Since I didn’t have these.” She motioned to the cuffs before taking her seat and waiting for Nadya to take her place behind her shoulder.
    “Then you considered the deal, I hope.” Leo said and took his seat not long after Ingrid settled in hers. Still, Ingrid made no move for the food ahead, settling on grabbing her hair and plaiting it to calm her uncertain nerves. After a long moment of just sitting, Ingrid finally nodded.
    “Yes,” she said. “I’ve thought about it.”
    “And?”
    She took a breath, hoped that she would be strong enough. “I’ve decided to live here. As your guest.”
    She had expected a smile, maybe a response that was more than what she got. Instead, Leo stared at her before his eyes narrowed. “Why?”
    Ingrid made an exasperated motion with her hands, wanting nothing more than to shake his attention off of her. “Because there’s no point?” a pause. “Fine… it’s… it’s because there’s no where I could