is watching me, and I realize I’ve begun gripping the armrests of the chair. I force myself to relax.
“You have a lot more now,” she muses, looking at my tattoos.
“Master Kaazu likes his troupe to have a certain look,” I say numbly. Which is why he’s made sure to freshen mine up every few years and add a few more. It hurts like a bitch, because they use either vampire or warlock venom to infuse with the ink, ensuring our shifter bodies don’t just burn it up and heal the tattoo right out of our skin.
The two of them are quiet for a moment, like they’re taking in everything I’ve told them. Hugo studies me, as if he’s taking my measure. So I use the lapse in conversation to take his right back.
I’m usually good at getting a read on people, and try as I might, I don’t get the impression that he’s like any other alpha I’ve ever seen. He’s different. I can see it. Right down to the fatherly way he glances at Addie, and the way she’s perfectly at ease around him. And his people outside? I sensed zero fear or excitement at impending violence. All I sensed was respect and worry about me. Like I was the threat.
I think...I think this pack might just be a goddamn shifter fairytale come to life.
Hugo finally breaks the silence. “Can you get her situated in the warehouse?” he asks Addie.
“Of course.” Addie smiles and lets out a breath of relief. But I’m surprised he’s actually going to let me stay here. No challenge issued, no threats, nothing.
“Good,” he says before looking back at me. “We could try to get that off of you.”
My hand automatically goes up to my collar. Now I’m not just surprised, I’m goddamn shocked. He’s going to try to help me get this off? I wouldn’t have dreamed that in a thousand years. Why the hell are these people being so nice? It’s throwing me the fuck off.
“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,” I tell him.
“We’ll try anyway,” Hugo says.
I look at him warily. “It’s against Cane law to remove a shifter’s collar unless it’s with the explicit permission from that shifter’s owner.”
Hugo lifts a shoulder. “I don’t care much for that law.”
I’m baffled. So much so, that the corner of my lips actually quirks up, and I find myself accidentally liking this alpha against my better judgement. “Me either,” I reply.
Hugo nods and then calls to the guards still waiting outside. “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 two males nod, and I get to my feet and head for the door. But just before I walk out, I look over my shoulder at the alpha enigma sitting behind the desk.
“Thank you,” I say quickly before heading out of the room, following behind the pack guards before Hugo can reply.
The moment we’re outside, I start looking around again, but Officer Mac is gone, the gate is shut, and I only see a couple of the shifter guards hanging out—the rest have dissipated.
I follow behind the two who are escorting me, careful to stay alert in case either of them decides to try and teach me a lesson for getting the jump on them earlier.
So when the one with blond hair turns around, I bring my arms up in front of my face, ready to defend myself. The guard blinks in surprise. “Whoa, there. I was just going to introduce myself,” he says before holding out a hand. “I’m Stinger. This here’s Joseph.”
My eyes dart to them back and forth, looking for any deceit, but their bodies are relaxed, their heartbeats even, and they’re looking at me like they’re hoping I don’t attack them.
Huh.
I lower my arms and when I still don’t get jumped, I carefully shake his hands. “Jetta.”
Stinger pumps my arm once before letting go. “Damn. You have a firm handshake.”
“Uhh...okay.”
This pack just keeps throwing me off-kilter. Why is everyone being so goddamn nice?
“Warehouses are this way,” Stinger explains, as we all start walking again.
Joseph, the brown-haired guard, points to the distance. “Laundry building, gym, dining hall where you can grab easy cafeteria food, mate cabins, we got pretty much everything,” he says,