by Lola Glass
I didn’t blame him. That man could be one scary son of a bitch when he tried. I considered myself lucky that he’d never tried to scare me.
“It’s great. Thank you.” My lips tilted upward. Zack relaxed and grinned.
“Knew you’d like it.” He said.
Liar.
Takes one to know one, after all.
Arla paid, writing it off as her Christmas presents to me and Jamie. I left a fat tip.
We were piling into the cab when London’s phone dinged and she groaned.
“Ugh, I forgot it’s fight night.” She made a face. My forehead wrinkled.
What was fight night?
“Roman didn’t invite you?” Arla checked.
“Nope.”
“He’s a protective moron. You need to learn to fight, so you’re coming with us.” She declared. “Do you have workout clothes?”
“All she wears is workout clothes.” Jamie pointed out.
I flipped her off and Arla cackled.
“Those are athleisure.” London waved her hand through the air. “We’re talking high-impact workout clothes. Your girls will be bouncing all over the place in those pitiful excuses for sports bras you own. Take it from the lingerie expert.”
The cab driver looked at her like she had three heads and we all coughed back laughs.
“I’m a model for Victoria’s Secret.” She explained to the middle-aged man. He looked her up and down, checking her out. Another cackle burst from Arla and then Jamie and I started laughing too. London folded her arms over her chest awkwardly.
Luckily for London the drive wasn’t much longer, because it was crazy awkward and utterly hilarious.
When we got out of the cab, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and the rest of us burst out laughing again.
“Maybe you shouldn’t tell random men that you’re an underwear model.” Jamie suggested, as the last of our giggles faded and we entered a place called Lululemon. I hadn’t realized fancy stores dedicated to workout clothes were even a thing, but they were.
When I saw the price tags on the clothes, the poor orphan in me was horrified. I pulled up my bank account on my phone and realized I’d be more than fine to buy as many as I wanted. Especially in the name of learning to protect myself. So I pushed away my worries and accepted the clothes the girls piled in my arms to try on.
“Black clothes, guys. I like black.” I warned them.
“You can’t buy black workout clothes. It’s practically illegal.” Arla protested.
The other two girls agreed, which is how I ended up trying on a pair of tight but ultra-comfortable leggings covered in what looked like watercolor flowers. The sports bra I had on was a dark pink color that squished my boobs to a level they’d never been squished before.
I turned side to side, checking out the silhouette it gave me.
Not bad.
It wasn’t black, but… I kind of liked it.
Even though it showed my WOLFSBANE tattoo. I had only seen one high-necked bra in the store so there probably wasn’t a way to avoid that.
“We want to see.” London reminded me of the order the girls gave me before shoving me in the dressing room. I’d started to feel a bit like their working-class Barbie, but I didn’t entirely mind.
I pulled the door open and they oohed and ahhed before deciding neither of the items fit well enough and instructing me to try on another pair. When I did as they said, they turned down that outfit too.
There were a surprising number of styles for the workout clothes, and they made me try on every single one of them. I went home with four sets, every piece in a pattern or corresponding color. None of them concealed more than half of my tattoo, but I’d sacrifice it to avoid bouncing boobs while I learned to protect myself.
We stopped for lunch at a healthy place that I’d heard of before. Healthy crap wasn’t my jam, nor was it any of the other girls’ as I learned, but they said if we ate anything heavier fight night would be hell so I choked down the healthy food.
I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize and stepped outside to take it while the other girls finished up.
“Hello.” I answered.
“Henley Clark.” Ledger purred. My stomach dropped.
“How did you get this number?”
“I have connections everywhere, the New York Pack included.” My blood chilled at the revelation. “Love what the artist did to that tattoo of yours. I can’t wait to see how it tastes on your skin.”
My eyes rocketed around the street and all the people moving around. Where the eff was he?
“What do you want?” I ground the words out, still trying to find him.
“You.”
It was the exact thing Roman had said to me after camping in my hallway, and that fact had me fighting a bout of anxiety about both of the men.
“My sources tell me you’re considering mating the New York Alpha. I’d advise against that if you want me to leave him alive when I retrieve you.”
A humorless laugh slipped from my lips.
“Good luck with that.” I hung up and resisted the urge to throw the phone down and stomp it to bits. The girls came out of the restaurant then.
“What’s wrong?” Jamie asked, looking around for threats the same way I had looked for the Colorado Alpha.
“Ledger called me.”
Three sets of eyes widened.
“How did he get your number?” Arla demanded. Roman was the one to give me the phone, and not many people had my number.
“Said he has connections in the pack.” I forced myself to take a long breath in and out. “Fight night is sounding more appealing by the minute.”
We won’t let anything happen to you.” Jamie promised, giving me a quick side hug.
“Thanks.” I gave her a tight smile, but I knew that would be easier said than done. Roman was strong, but he couldn’t spend every minute of every day with me. The near-abduction when I was in the nightclub could’ve easily gone another way and I could be back in Ledger’s storm cellar instead of on the receiving end of his phone call.
He wasn’t going to give up, and there was a good chance he’d get lucky one of these times. I either needed to stay in the pack and accept that he’d get to me eventually or make a run for it again.
That knowledge made me uneasy. I’d finally found a place I felt like I belonged. My relationship with Roman was still developing, but it was one of the best things I’d ever had going for me. The friendships I’d built with Arla and her enforcers were important to me too. Running away from all of that would leave me feeling more alone and angry than ever.
But could I really risk letting Ledger capture me again?
While I was thinking and we were walking, the girls decided we needed to get manicures and pedicures to ease some of the tension and took us and our shopping bags toward a salon. My mind continued whirling as we sat down in chairs with our feet soaking in warm water, jets blasting our toes to comfortable mush. Not even the massage chair working on my knots could distract me from my thoughts.
“Have you thought about mating with Roman?” Arla asked me quietly. My chair was sandwiched between hers and Jamie’s.
“Hmm?” I looked at her. Of course I’d thought about mating with Roman; I assumed that was obvious.
“To get Ledger to leave you alone.”
It took a second for me to put what she’d said together, and then I shook my head. It was a good thing werewolf hearing was slightly better than humans’ so we could have this conversation without the chattering nail-techs hearing us.
“Ledger is even more obsessed with me than your brother. If I mate with Roman and Ledger gets ahold of me, his entire focus will be on causing me pain rather than hurting me to convince me to mate with him.”
The girls’ eyes widened in horror and I realized I’d told them something they didn’t know.
“What did he do to you?” London demanded.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
I tried to get out of the conversation, but it wasn’t happening unless I decided to be a real jerk to them.
They all stared at me with laser-eyes. I decided I trusted them enough to tell them.
“He ordered me to mate with him. You know Alpha orders don’t work on that, so when I turned him down he locked me in his storm cellar. He came down every day to torture me in various ways in an attempt to force me to mate with him. I’d been there six months when I finally escaped.” The short version of the story was easier to get out.
None of the girls said anything for a long moment. Their gazes ranged from pity to shock to fury.
“I can’t believe Roman hasn’t killed him.” Arla sat back in her chair, radiating fury and a bit of Alpha power. I hated the feel of the Alpha power grating against my free will but didn’t say anything.
“He doesn’t know all the details.” I looked forward so I didn’t have to make eye contact with any of them. They didn’t know all the details, either. No one did but me and my torturer.
“What?” Arla demanded.
“He’d look at me differently.”
“He wouldn’t.” Jamie looked as angry as I’d ever seen her.
“You have to tell him.” Arla grabbed my hand. “Roman does better when he has all the details. He needs to know so he can make sure you’re better protected.”
“It’s my trauma. My choice.” I said sharply, pulling my hand from her grip and meeting her eyes with my own steely gaze. “I told you what I’ve been through in trust. Don’t break that trust.”
I wasn’t one to trust easily. If Arla broke it, that would be the end of a real friendship between us.
“Please, Henley. Roman deserves to know.” She was practically begging.
“I’ll tell him when I’m ready.” I looked away again.
Would I ever be ready?
It wasn’t likely.
The manicurists worked on our nails for a bit before London asked,
“So who do you think the mole is?”
By mole, I assumed she meant whoever had given Ledger my phone number.
“There aren’t many options. Just the Alphas and our enforcers.” Arla chewed her lip. “Lilac is still pissed, but I don’t think she’d betray us to the enemy. She knows Roman will challenge him for Alpha if he needs to for Henley. I went to lunch with Kylee and Shy the other day and they don’t like Hennie either, but they’re definitely still loyal.”
“Well Roman has what, fifteen enforcers?”
“Seventeen. He promoted Bryan and Parker last week. It’s probably one of the newer guys; they’re never as loyal.”
“Roman will have a better shot at figuring it out than us.” Jamie said.
“It would be better for the wolf if we find out first.” Arla wore a grimace.
I had no doubt she was right.
After the manicures and pedicures, the girls decided I needed a haircut. When I was a kid the packs that had been in control of me hadn’t given me a choice on what my hair looked like, keeping it cut to my chin or shorter in an attempt to attract less attention with the red locks. One of the Alphas had even forced me to shave it off and wear a hat at one point. The pack before Ledger’s hadn’t cared about my hair so I’d started growing it out, and Ledger liked it so he hadn’t cut it.
It fell to my waist and tangled easily, so I was on board with a tiny haircut. The hairdresser only took off an inch or so, evening everything out and making it look healthier. I loved the way it looked long, even if it had the tendency to look more pink than red on occasion. The hairdresser talked me into a few sun-kissed-looking highlights too.
At the end of the girls’ day, I felt like an entirely new person. Even after Ledger’s call.
TWENTY-FOUR
When seven PM rolled around, the other girls and I arrived on the eighth floor, which hosted a gigantic gym and a padded area for whatever fight night was. Every machine in the gym was occupied.
“Do people watch fight night?” I asked. I’d been assuming the Alphas and their enforcers got together and practiced their moves or something, not the spectator event it was turning out to be.
“Yep!” Jamie wore a cheerful smile. Everyone there was staring right at us.
Not my cup of tea.
“I changed my mind.” I turned back toward the elevator. Arla and Jamie grabbed my arms and towed me to the side of the padded area, on which a dozen male enforcers already stood along with Lilac and two other girls I knew as her friends. Gray walls and blue floors gave the place a much calmer feel than it deserved being the gym and the place fight night took place.
“What’s she doing here?” one of Lilac’s friends growled under her breath.
“Why does she smell like him?” Lilac muttered.
I looked away. No need to rehash the biting episode for everyone in the gym to hear. Although, the lovely new scar on my neck wouldn’t exactly be easy to hide.
“This is where the Alphas and Enforcers sit and stand.” Jamie explained as we sat down on a bench along the outside of the mat and room.
“I’m neither of those things.” I said, leaning back on the bench and eyeing the men in the room. In theory Roman’s bite had toned my scent down with his enough that none of the men would go berserk and attack me, but the theory was untested and I didn’t relish trying it out in a room with at least a hundred men. Probably more like two hundred.
“You’re Roman’s girlfriend. That counts.” Arla stood up and began to stretch. Jamie joined her while London waltzed off to talk to someone I didn’t know.
Was I Roman’s girlfriend? We hadn’t talked about it.
“Chin up; every unmated girl in the pack wants to be you.” Arla added.
I lifted an eyebrow, getting up and stretching with the other girls as I scanned the men in the room again, just to be safe.
“Are Lilac’s friends enforcers too?” I asked Jamie.
“Kylee and Shy? Yes. They’re the only other female enforcers you haven’t met. They said no to helping guard you when Arla asked.” She confirmed it. “Kylee is Kyler’s sister. She’s about a year younger than him.”
“Ah.”
Kyler came strolling in with Gunner, London’s mate. Kyler headed straight toward us, wearing a monstrous grin.
“Something tells me no one told the Alpha you were going to be here.” He tried to mess up my hair and I dodged his hand.
“Don’t mess up her blow-out.” Arla slapped the same hand away. Her wolf shone through her eyes and I had no idea why.
“Sorry, sorry.” He raised his hands in surrender. “The nightclub has been missing you.” He told me.
“Went on a bit of a bender. Bad memories and what-not.”
Kyler nodded that he understood. With how well he knew his drinks, I didn’t doubt he’d had his fair share of benders.
“Nice new accessory.” His eyes caught on my neck.
“The bite or the tattoo?” Jamie teased. I rolled my eyes and Kyler squinted, eyebrows lifting when he saw the bite.
“No wonder he was so much calmer today.” He looked around. “Roman’s going to be pissed when he sees you here. If I were you, I’d run.”
“If I ran, he’d chase me.” My lips lifted when Jamie and the guys laughed. Arla’s face twisted in a grimace.
“TMI, sis.”
“Really though, Roman doesn’t want the pack to know that you can’t fight. He’s going to lose his mind.” Kyler scratched his head, glancing at the elevator. “We need to get you out of here.”
Arla scoffed.
“Every girl deserves to know how to protect herself. Henley’s even more at risk than most of us, so she stays. End of discussion.”
I’d always wanted to learn how to fight, so I was glad she’d put her foot down.
At least until the elevator opened on Roman. His head lifted as he caught my scent, and his eyes narrowed on me the second he stepped out. I could hear his low growl from the other side of the room, and a chill ran up my spine.
“Good luck.” Kyler strode over to his sister.
I looked away from Roman as he stalked toward me, trying to look as casual as possible.
“Henley Clark.” The threat was heavy in his voice.
“Oh, hey.” I tilted my head to the side so he’d notice his bite mark on my neck and maybe chill a bit.
His eyes zoned in on my tattoo instead, his body stilling as he lifted his fingers to the shiny skin. I’d taken the bandage off after the three hours Zack had instructed me to wait and put Vaseline on it as I’d been ordered.
“Ahem.” Arla coughed to get his attention to the large crowd we had watching our every move.
Roman’s knuckle went under my chin, lifting my face so he could press a quick kiss to my lips before striding out to the middle of the mat.
“Welcome to fight night.” His voice boomed.
Everyone cheered. I wasn’t sure if they were cheering for fight night or our kiss, or both. Lilac and her friends definitely weren’t cheering. I’d hoped Lilac would forgive me at some point, but it wasn’t looking good.
“Do we get to fight Wolfsbane?” some chick yelled from the back of the room.
“No.” He didn’t hesitate. Discomfort flooded me, and I tried to tamp it down so no one would scent it.
I shouldn’t have come.
Arla quickly strode across the mats to stand beside her brother.
“Me and my enforcers will be the only ones fighting Henley Clark.” Arla announced. I saw her arm reach around Roman’s back and pinch him
Definitely shouldn’t have come.
Lilac and her friends were smirking at the announcement. Things weren’t looking great for me. Not only was Roman pissed, but I was about to get pummeled by girls who wanted to challenge me for my Alpha and they could probably all fight better than me. I could be savage in fur, but my limited number of human self-defense classes wouldn’t help me beat anyone in my skin.
“Kyler and Kylee will be emceeing today.” Arla finished, she and her brother walking straight back to me when they were done. Jamie and I sat on the bench together, but since I was on the edge of the thing she scooted over to make room for Roman. He didn’t sit.
