Addie (Pack of Misfits #1) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,52

this time in animal form, I slunk back, keeping my eyes on Jetta. She was around my age, but that wasn’t what fascinated me. It was how strong she was. I envied her. She fought against five male shifters and still walked away on her own two feet. But when I’d snuck into the performer’s area and I saw her strip off her costume to tug on loose sweatpants and a shirt, that was when I’d first noticed the collar. It was also when she first noticed me.

It was weird. We didn’t know each other. We’d never even seen one another before. And yet, we hit it off immediately. Maybe it was just because we were around the same age, but I think it had more to do with the fact that we hated being stuck living under the thumbs of ones who didn’t care for us.

We’d snuck into the cafeteria and ate leftover pie and milk while we talked for hours. She was the first shifter I ever met who didn’t look at me with hate, and I was the first to see the person behind the collar.

Her troupe had performed two more nights after that, and then they left, and I never saw her again. But I always remembered her. It seems almost surreal that she’s here now, and our paths have crossed again.

“Master Kaazu likes his troupe to have a certain look,” she says, glancing down at her arms.

Hugo looks to me. “Can you get her situated in the warehouse?”

“Of course,” I nod.

“Good,” he says, turning back to Jetta and running his gaze over her collar. “We could try to get that off of you,” he offers.

Jetta’s hand goes up to the offending metal automatically. At least it’s loose, so there’s plenty of space around it that it can move freely, but it looks heavy, and the symbolism alone is enough to make me sick.

“I’ve been trying to get this thing off since I was eight. There’s never been a shifter in the troupe that got theirs off.”

“We’ll try anyway,” Hugo says.

For a split second, Jetta relaxes just the tiniest bit, and I see a fragment of hope in her eyes. “It’s against Cane law to remove a shifter’s collar unless it’s with the implicit permission from that shifter’s owner,” she says, almost in challenge.

Hugo lifts a shoulder. “I don’t care much for that law.”

The corner of her lips tilt the tiniest bit, hinting at a smile. It’s gone the next second, but I saw it, and I know Hugo did too. “Me either,” she replies.

Hugo nods and then calls to Stinger and Joseph, and the enforcers quickly step inside. “Escort Jetta to the singles’ warehouse. The same one as Addie. Get her set up in a room. Addie will be along shortly to show her around and get her what she needs, but I need a minute first.”

The guys nod, and Jetta gets to her feet. She narrows her eyes at Joseph and Stinger and strides past them toward the door.

Just before she walks through it, she looks over her shoulder at Hugo and takes a deep breath. “Thank you,” she says quickly, and I can tell how much it cost her to say that.

Jetta doesn’t trust easily, she’s blunt, and she’s prideful. So the fact that she’s extending her gratitude to Hugo says a lot. He nods in return, and she continues on her way, the guys following behind her.

When Hugo and I are alone, he relaxes back and loses the tough alpha look as he runs a hand over his face. I like that he feels comfortable enough with me that he can be himself, minus the alpha title. “Give it to me straight. How bad is her troupe master?”

I blow out a breath and shake my head. “I only saw him that one time, but from what I could tell, and what Jetta told me...he’s not a good enemy to have. I’m not even sure what kind of Cane he is. I don’t think he’s a shifter.”

Hugo groans. “He’s not a fucking vampire, is he?”

My alpha isn’t so fond of vampires.

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

Hugo nods and taps his finger against the desk in thought. “Do you trust her?”

“I only spent three days with her when I was fourteen,” I answer honestly. “But...she was the first shifter to ever act like a friend. She’s strong, and she doesn’t take any shit, and I didn’t know her long, but she left