Page 7 of Clawless

He nodded at a crumpled piece of paper Vail was holding. She didn’t pass it to me and when I gave it a gentle tug, her hand fell into her lap. I realized her face was more than just pale; it had a waxy tone, with small beads of sweat along her hairline. And she was staring at me like she’d never seen me before. “You okay?”

“She’s had a sedative,” the driver said. “She’s not going to be able to walk on her own.”

I avoided his gaze, tilting the document towards the light. It was exactly as my dad had said. Alana Marrow, the long-lost daughter of Jonathan Marrow, had been involved with Parker West, a Marshall wolf. And the product of that forbidden union was the girl I’d helped drive off our lands only a week and a half ago.

Fuck me.

I glanced over my shoulder and beckoned my lieutenants, Carter and Beckett, to come closer. Vail stiffened as they stepped into the glow of the car’s high beams, and turned back to the driver. “Please,” she whispered. “I can’t stay here. Take me anywhere else.”

Which just went to show how clueless she still was about pack ties. Instead of enlightening her, the driver leaned across the console to eyeball me. “She’s your number one priority. Fuck this up, and I’ll return the favor.”

That seemed to rouse Vail, who pushed weakly against his arm. “Stop. Don’t make it worse.”

Could this get any worse? I fought down my own frustration. Vail probably didn’t realize I had as little choice in this arrangement as she did, since my dad had given me a similar ultimatum. “She’ll be safe here. We have the campus locked down.”

The guy just grunted, but he clutched Vail’s hand where it was still resting against his arm. Something passed between them that went deeper than her shock, or his aggression. My wolf never bothered much with male swagger, since every alpha felt the need to flex his rank at times. But there was a whole bunch of other stuff going on behind the driver’s threats. And my wolf was very interested in the way he was looking at Vail right now.

“I’m eighteen soon,” she said under her breath, the hurt plain on her face. “And you won’t have to dump me when things get too hard. So, let’s just make this goodbye.” She turned towards me, but when I moved to scoop her out of her seat, panic flared in her eyes. The sour scent of her fear filled the car and the driver growled. It was a low and possessive sound, full of frustration. My own wolf stalked across my vision, and when the driver saw it, he looked ready to leap across Vail and take me on. But then he sighed and ran his hands over his face. “See you for the holidays, sweet pea,” he muttered.

I motioned Carter forward. He was the gentlest of my alphas and looked like he shat butter curls from his ass. All the omegas were crazy for him, but even his best smile didn’t peel Vail off her seat. Instead, she fixed me with a hard look. “No Potter? Because I’m in the mood to punch a gropey asshole in the throat.”

I went blank. Better that than flinching with guilt, or telling her he was still recuperating from the ass-kicking I’d given him. Especially since the driver was strangling the wheel and watching me through slitted lids. Carter saved the day by offering his arm, the warm spice of his scent washing over all of us. “I always hate being carried,” he said in a low drawl, raising his brows in Beckett’s direction. “There’s just no good place for them to put their hands.”

Beckett still looked like what he was – a short-tempered sonofabitch – but even he smiled at that. Vail’s fear faded a bit and she took Carter’s arm as she climbed out of the car. But she barely managed a step before her legs gave out and he picked her up. The driver had already slammed into reverse, and I noticed Vail’s pale face as she watched him disappear through the gate. My wolf was a little too curious, nudging me forward as we headed up the drive. “Who was that guy?”

“No one.” She tried to keep her chin up, but we could all hear the wobble in her voice. Carter shot a concerned look over her head, but I avoided his eye. The guys were my seconds, but there was a lot of stuff I kept from them. Partly because it was my nature, but mostly because my dad had taught me to always be on guard. Secrets were our family business. And there was no way I was getting stabbed in the back by one of my own wolves.

Unlike the new Alpha of the Arras Pack, if everything Pearl said was true. I’d always liked the female alpha’s aggressive edge, but the stuff she was saying about Vail’s disappearance at the Hunter Moon Formal had left me cold. Jasper had been off-campus ever since, leaving Pearl to feed the rumor mill. She’d been careful to keep her alpha’s name out of her mud-slinging, but it hadn’t taken much for Vail to be painted as the traitorous whore who got her just desserts. The fact the Arras lieutenants weren’t talking spoke volumes. Vail was gone – either exiled, or she’d run off like the gutless little bitch Pearl claimed her to be. ‘Good riddance’ seemed to be the general consensus.

But now she was back. Not only as a Marshall wolf, but also as a Marrow.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck my life.

“Where are we going?”

Vail sounded nervous, and I wondered what she was worried about most: ending up in my dorm room, or running into Arras. But as we veered away from the main accommodation block, Carter jumped in to reassure her. “We’re taking you to Omega House. A few of the girls are waiting to welcome you. It’s a great house, actually, and you’ve got a room overlooking the garden…”

I blocked out Carter’s chatter. The guy had seen to the arrangements personally, and I knew he’d made the best of a bad situation. And Omega House made sense. Before Vail had left, her status had been unofficially changed from a dud to an omega. There’d been no scenting ceremony, just an update from the pack lab following her test results. Although Pearl had been questioning Vail’s new status as well. And I wasn’t convinced she didn’t have cause.

Because there was something about Vail Marrow that didn’t fit. Something that made my wolf sit back and study her with an intensity he’d never shown before. I suspected the only way I’d get him off her scent was with some answers, especially since I knew in my bones she was trouble. The only living female descendent of Jonathan Marrow, mated to a little-known Marshall wolf who the alpha of the pack refused to talk about. According to my dad, the best place for Vail right now was under my thumb. Or, if things played out a certain way, under my claw.

I clenched my jaw, not prepared to face that for the moment.

Some of the omegas were waiting up, just like Carter had said. Every omega in the school lived in the purpose-built dormitory, which had a state-of-the-art security system and looked like a high-end apartment block. In theory, the protective measures were in place to defend the valuable females from outside attack. But there were plenty of horny students who’d lost it over an omega and had to be deterred by more than just his alphason’s disapproval.

Beta males from all three packs rotated through as house security. They had an office on the first floor and monitored all comings and goings. Tonight, there was an Arras beta on roster, and he watched with a tight expression as we approached the house. He’d buzzed open the gate, but was standing at the mouth of the small lobby, right in the middle of the automatic doors. For a moment I thought he wasn’t going to let us through and I saw Beckett perk up a bit at the prospect of a confrontation.

I strode forward to intercept that shit. “New omega. Marshall pack. And I’m here, so that should tell you all you need to know.”

The guy lifted his chin. No doubt Carter had already briefed him as part of the relocation process, but he was clearly intent on making a point. “I need to get my alpha’s approval before she can be admitted.”

Vail stiffened at that, and even laid-back Carter looked outraged. The guy was full of shit. No alpha could dictate the use of this facility. But I kept my usual blank expression in place, although my wolf was listening intently. “Sure. I’ll talk to Jay myself in the morning. But right now, she needs some sleep.” Instead of stepping aside, the guard folded his arms, his gaze moving from me to Beckett. There was a lump in his throat he couldn’t swallow away, but I had to give him credit for standing firm under my lieutenant’s stare. I decided to throw him a bone. “Of course, I could just keep her in my room. It’s on the small side for two, but I’d probably manage. Yeah, maybe your alpha would prefer that arrangement.”

Vail had no poker face, but the guard was too horrified by my suggestion to notice. “No,” he said abruptly. “She can stay in a temporary room until I get direction from my alpha.”

Beckett made a hissing sound – his fuse was always half-lit, and this beta was pouring on the accelerant – but I just nodded and followed Carter and Vail inside. The lobby opened into a sitting area, with a lot of comfy chairs and coffee tables. The welcoming committee was waiting and they leaped to their feet as we entered. Carter and Vail were quickly enveloped in a flurry of hugs and pats, all of which my lieutenant basked in. Vail just looked overwhelmed and my Head Omega, Penny, quickly led Carter to a nearby room. He stopped in the doorway and shot the Arras guard a filthy look. “What about the room overlooking the garden?”

Vail tried to pat Carter’s arm, but she was clearly at the end of her strength. “This is fine. I’m just really tired.”

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