and the loss of her awkward teenage years, I feel that same sense of camaraderie when I look at her.
“You’re safe here. I swear it,” she tells me.
I snort at her. She’s still as positive as ever. “I’m not safe anywhere.”
“Please, Jetta. Let us try to help you.”
I haven’t seen this female for a good ten years, but I find myself wanting to trust her. And then it dawns on me. Addie was part of Pack Rockhead before. That’s why the name sounded familiar.
If she left them and joined this pack, then maybe this one isn’t as bad. Here’s hoping.
Clenching my jaw, I look around at all of the guards, clearly waiting for one word from their alpha to take me down.
“Fine.”
The fight leaches out of me, and the guards respond by backing away, until only the first two that I attacked stay at my side. The one who grabbed me keeps a firm hold on my arm.
Addie and her alpha talk quietly for a moment, and then Hugo looks back at me, taking an intimidating step forward. My animal recognizes his dominance, and I immediately start to back up, but the guard’s hold on my arm ensures that I’m stuck in place.
“You are here on my pack land as a guest,” Alpha Hugo tells me. “Which means you are beholden to my word and law. You will not cause harm to my pack. Is that understood?”
I hate his show of dominance almost as much as I hate how my animal automatically defers to it. “Understood,” I snap.
I get escorted away, and I feel everyone’s eyes on me as I go. My spine tingles with the need to flee.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, my eyes jumping around every which way.
Judging by the stretch of the metal perimeter fence that stretches far in both directions, this place is fucking huge.
I can see large metal buildings in the distance, a smattering of houses, and shifters all over the damn place. There are so many scents in the air that it makes my head spin.
“We just wanna talk,” the alpha says, his arms swinging as he leads the way to a building straight ahead.
“Yeah, right,” I mutter.
He opens his mouth to say something, but a ringing sound erupts, and he digs into his pocket to pull out his phone as we approach the modestly-sized wooden structure. Hugo looks down at whatever is on his screen and then nods at the door. “Go on in,” he tells me and Addie. “I’ll be right there.”
Addie nods, and the male holding my arm releases me. Both him and the other pack guard stay outside to stand watch, while Hugo answers the phone.
Addie gives me a small smile that I think is meant to comfort me. “Come on,” she urges.
I follow her inside, feeling apprehensive as I go through the entryway and into what appears to be the alpha’s office. Addie and I both take seats in front of the desk, waiting as he talks in low murmurs outside.
I study the female from the corner of my eyes as she fidgets in her seat. It’s almost like she’s the nervous one. I’m suspicious about that for a second until I realize it’s because she’s intimidated by me, even though she’s trying not to show it.
Well, now I feel like a bitch.
She stood up for me in front of her whole pack—even her alpha. For me. A prey female shifter doing something like that? Yeah, it’s a big fucking deal.
I clear my throat and look over at her, really hoping she’s not going to get punished for speaking out on my behalf. If they fuck with her, I will fuck with them.
“You still fidget when you’re nervous, I see,” I say, trying to break the ice.
She looks startled that I spoke to her and then smiles sheepishly. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
“I remember you biting your nails down to the nubs,” I reply.
“Still do that too,” she jokes.
I remember how nervous she was when I first met her too. I remember thinking she just looked so damn innocent and young, even though we were about the same age. By that time, I’d already developed my thick skin.
And although I knew Addie had a shit life with that shit pack, she hadn’t turned hard like I had. I was curious about that. Pitied it, even. I thought, there’s no way this female is gonna make it in this world.