My chest squeezed, and I bit back the need to grimace. Still, a tiny growl rumbled forward, and Kit noticed, her eyes flaring.
“Don’t fucking growl at me!” She practically leaped off the bed. “Your fucking wolves took me prisoner.”
Gods, both old and new, this woman was infuriating. I took two swift steps forward, jabbing a finger toward her.
“And why exactly did the Williamses take you in? If they dislike humans so much.”
Kit cocked her head, narrowing her eyes at me as she chewed on her lip. There was so much fire and brimstone in that glare that even I was impressed—an alpha who’d killed to protect wolves. There certainly was a lot about Kit that had changed.
“They weren’t happy about it. About as much as you are now. But they figured I could be useful. Menial labor was just beneath them, and maybe I could spread gossip about Jet’s pack. So, I got in. As their fucking servant.”
That bitter tinge to her scent was still there, but it hadn’t changed. I had to guess that she was just angry—I mean, that would be clear enough, even if I had just been another human. There was more, however, behind the layers of bite that mingled with the lilac differently.
Warmer, richer.
That scent wasn’t altogether unpleasant. In fact, it was…no, I did not have time for this. And besides, I still didn’t know where she sat in relation to the Williamses. I couldn’t just trust someone on their word. I’d been betrayed a bit too recently, and I wasn’t about to allow that to happen again. Especially not now that I was the alpha of my own pack.
“You’ll be staying in this room until I can sort all this out. Understood?”
“What?! You can’t just keep me locked up in here. I’m not one of you.”
I raised my brows at her. “That’s precisely why you’ll be staying.”
“Ugh!” Kit threw up her hands, sitting down on the bed again with an exaggerated huff.
My wolf practically purred to see her there again, to see Kit’s breasts shoved up by her arms. Knock it off.
Internally, I tried to remind my wolf that this wasn’t about any of that. She wasn’t my mate. Kit was a human, and this was not what mattered. We needed to stop the enemy pack, the Williamses. That was the priority.
Still, every instinct I had screamed at me to protect her, to get close to her, to mark her, to breed her. Fucking hell, this was worse than when I was a teenager.
And it was also a considerable risk to my pack and status as the alpha. If the few wolves here believed I was harboring an enemy, a human that couldn’t be trusted and was being used to hurt us, I’d lose all respect. Many would probably cut and run altogether. That couldn’t happen. There were too many that wouldn’t survive on their own.
“Look, Kit,” I stared down at her, lowering my voice as that alpha command funneled through my blood, “you can either get comfortable and enjoy being cooped up in here, or you can decide to be helpful and earn your way to freedom.”
Kit just glared, but I could see the subtle bob of her throat as she swallowed.
“So, what’s it going to be?”
Chapter 6 - Kit
Unsurprisingly, Kaiden was being completely fucking ridiculous. Oh, of course, I couldn't be trusted. I was just some human. And a Williams.
Fury made me sick to my stomach, and the truth was that behind it all, I was most upset with myself. Luck, fate, stupidity, whatever you wanted to call it, I’d wandered into the Williams territory and gotten roped into being their maid after days of questioning. Now, I’d wandered back into Kaiden’s life by the same stroke of sheer serendipity.
I hadn’t planned on being here. I was running; that part was true. The Williams were clearly doing something with their “supply,” and now I knew what Eli had been talking about when I escaped.
Drugs.
It had killed young wolves, and my soul ached for them and their families. But this was way over my head. I had no way to defend myself if Eli came looking, and I didn’t trust Kaiden to actually protect me when push came to shove.
I needed out of here. I needed to get back to humans. Where I belonged.
And maybe playing nice was the only way that was going to happen.
Sighing, I let my head fall forward as I slumped into the admittedly very comfortable mattress.
“I left them, Kaiden. I have no loyalty to the Williams pack. I just wanted to get away. I still want to get away. So I’ll answer what I know, but I expect you to, at the very least, uphold your end of the bargain. I want out of here.” I leveled him with a glare, trying to put my entire being behind it. “I don’t know how or why you’re alpha now, but I remember one thing, and that’s an alpha keeps his word.”