nods. “Alpha Rourn issued me my fight or flight orders on the morning of my fifteenth birthday.”
No surprise there. “I hated that guy.”
“We had that in common,” Addie replies.
We did. I didn’t expect to have anything in common with the pretty blonde girl who smiled so sweetly at me, but we did.
“So you ended up here?” I ask, looking around the room.
A smile comes over her face. Not a nervous one. Not a shy one. A genuine smile. “Yep. Hugo took me in. He’s a good alpha.”
Her words make me pause. As far as I’ve ever seen, there are no good alphas. There are strong ones. Scary ones. Sadistic ones. Powerful ones. But good? That’s not a word I’ve ever used to describe an alpha.
Addie must sense the question in my mind because she says, “He’s nothing like Rourn or the others.”
I frown, trying to understand what she means. “What pack is this?”
“Aberrant.”
I blink at her in surprise. “Aberrant? As in the Pack of Misfits?”
Addie laughs cheerfully. “Yep, that’s the one,” she says, her voice lined with pride.
I’ve heard shifters talk shit about this pack. Horrible things. They degrade the alpha worst of all. From the rumors, he’s supposed to be a weak ass shifter who lures even weaker ones to him and then takes advantage of them—particularly the females.
I’ve also heard that Pack Aberrant isn’t even real. Just some pipe dream made up by prey shifters to tell their kids when they need to lie about the world not being so bad.
But neither of those scenarios rings true.
Because I felt Alpha Hugo’s power outside, and he is definitely not weak. In fact, he’s one of the most powerful alphas I’ve ever sensed.
And Addie? She doesn’t appear to be the scared, cowering female kept under his thumb. Those guards outside definitely weren’t weak either, so what the hell is really going on here? Is the pipe dream true?
Suspicious, I tip up my nose and scent the air, trying to see if I can pick up old traces of fear or violence, but there’s nothing in this alpha’s room except…
“You’re mated?” I can smell it on her, clear as day. Her scent is mingled with another’s, and it’s not the alpha, so I know he didn’t force-mate her.
A grimace crosses Addie’s face. “Kind of. It’s..plicated.”
Before I can open my mouth to ask what she means, Hugo comes striding inside and closes the door before sitting behind his large wooden desk.
“Okay. I’m listening,” he says, wanting to cut right to the chase.
I just stare at him.
Addie shoots me a look before clearing her throat to take over. “I met Jetta when I was fourteen. She was living with a band of travelling rogues.”
Hugo’s eyes dart over to me. “Family?”
I shake my head. “Hell no. Those assholes took me from a human orphanage when I was one. Someone sniffed me out, I guess. Perfect for them, because they preferred to grow their numbers with unattached shifters that they could mold and use.”
“Use for what?” Hugo asks.
“Fighting for Troupe Delirium.”
I see the shock filter over their faces. Yep, they’ve heard of us. Most Canes have.
“How long?” the alpha asks.
“I’m twenty-five now.”
“So you ran away?” Hugo guesses. “I thought the collars had trackers on them.”
“They do. But my tracker broke in my last fight. I’m not even sure how, but I left as soon as I figured it out,” I say, not divulging the entire truth.
Hugo hums in thought. “Unfortunately, it’s still legal. And if you’re under contract, then there’s not a whole lot we can do.”
I bristle. “I didn’t ask to be brought here. Open the gate and I’ll leave right now.”
Hugo waves a hand at my attitude. “Relax, I’m not going to put you out with Rockhead hot on your scent. You can stay here for a few days until they get off your trail, and then you’re free to go. Where’s your troupe?”
Alarm bells ring lightly in my ears. Is he asking because he’s going to contact Master Kaazu? Is all of this just a front to ease me into false security? My past tells me to be wary, to expect this, but...for some reason, I don’t think that’s it at all. I don’t get the impression that they’re trying to trick me. So either they aren’t, or they’re really fucking good at playing pretend.
“I left them in Arizona.”
“But your troupe master will be looking for you.”
I nod tersely. Yes, he will. And he won’t stop until I’m found dead or alive.