her vision. She could make out a line of vehicles and a mass of people outside the gates, winding down the cliff side and into the city below.
Wolf also had his fierce eyes focused on the approaching palace, but she could sense no amount of awe from him, only impatience. His knee wouldn’t stop bouncing and his fingers kept flexing and tightening. Watching him was making her nervous. He’d been so subdued back at the Rampion, so impossibly motionless. She wondered if this burst of energy was the first sign that the bomb inside him had started to tick.
Or maybe he was just anxious, like she was. Maybe he was tracing over their plan in his mind. Or maybe he was thinking about that girl. Scarlet.
Cress was sad that she hadn’t met her. It was as if the crew of the Rampion were missing a vital piece, and Cress didn’t understand how she fit. She tried to think of the things she knew about Scarlet Benoit. She’d researched her a little when Cinder and Thorne had landed the ship on her grandmother’s farm, but not very much. At the time, she’d had no idea that Scarlet had joined them.
And Cress had only spoken with her once, when the whole crew had contacted her and asked for her help. She’d seemed nice enough, but Cress had been so focused on Thorne she could hardly remember anything other than curly red hair.
Fidgeting with the straps of her dress, she glanced at Wolf again, catching him in an attempt to loosen his bow tie.
“Can I ask you a question?”
His eyes swept over to her. “It’s not about hacking security systems, is it?”
She blinked. “Of course not.”
“Then fine.”
She smoothed her skirt around her knees. “This Scarlet … you’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
He froze, becoming stone still. As the hover climbed the hill to the palace, his shoulders sank, and he returned his gaze to the window. “She’s my alpha,” he murmured, with a haunting sadness in his voice.
Alpha.
Cress leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “Like the star?”
“What star?”
She stiffened, instantly embarrassed, and scooted back from him again. “Oh. Um. In a constellation, the brightest star is called the alpha. I thought maybe you meant that she’s … like … your brightest star.” Looking away, she knotted her hands in her lap, aware that she was blushing furiously now and this beast of a man was about to realize what an over-romantic sap she was.
But instead of sneering or laughing, Wolf sighed. “Yes,” he said, his gaze climbing up to the full moon that had emerged over the city. “Exactly like that.”
With a quick twist to her heart, Cress’s fear of him began to subside. She’d been right back at the boutique. He was like the hero of a romance story, and he was trying to rescue his beloved. His alpha.
Cress had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her imagination from skittering away with her. This wasn’t some silly story. Scarlet Benoit was a prisoner on Luna. It was very likely that she was already dead.
It was a thought that settled heavy in Cress’s gut as the hover pulled in front of the palace gates.
A greeter opened the door, and thousands of voices crowded in around them. With a shudder, Cress gave the greeter her hand as she’d seen girls do on the net dramas. Her heel hit the tiled drive and she was suddenly surrounded. Crowds of journalists and onlookers—both peaceful and angry—flocked around the courtyard, snapping photos, calling out questions, holding up signs that urged the emperor not to go through with this.
Cress ducked her head, wanting to crawl back into the hover and hide from the piercing lights and throbbing chatter. The world began to spin.
Oh, spades. She was going to faint.
“Miss? Miss, are you well?”
Her throat went dry. Blood rushed through her ears and she was drowning. Suffocating.
Then a firm grip was on her elbow, drawing her away from the courtier. She stumbled, but Wolf put his iron-solid arm around her waist and squeezed her against him, forcing her to match his strides. Beside him, she felt as small and frail as a bird, but there was also a sense of protection. She focused on that, and within moments, a comforting dream slipped around her.
She was a famous net-drama actress making a big debut, and Wolf was her bodyguard. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She simply had to hold her head high