Page 33 of Season of the Wolf

I nodded agreeing. Itdidsuck.

“The Council has stayed pretty tight-lipped about it,” I sighed. “I’m guessing that’s strategic; their way of keeping me on a short leash.”

I hated that they still owned me, but … I brought all of this on myself.

Including the part where I screwed things up so bad that my mom thought the only feasible solution was to bring the Sovereign into this.

“If theydidtry something like that, couldn’t Evie just override them?”

My thoughts drifted back to the last meeting I had with the Council, how clear they made it that they only honored Evie’s wishes as a courtesy, stating that they were under no obligation to do so again. Not as long as she hadn’t, technically, been named queen.

So, to answer Roz’s question, I shook my head again, stating what I knew to be a fact. “No. Not this time.”

There was a solemn silence that weighed heavy on us both. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was—that I should have taken her advice and ran while I had the chance, while I wouldn’t have been punished for doing so.

I glanced down at the uniform I still wore—dark shirt, pants tucked into military-grade boots. No, I hadn’t signed a contract or pledged my allegiance.

But this clan, the Council, still owned me.

“You’re quiet,” she observed. “Work stuff?”

There was alotgoing through my head, but ‘work’stuff was definitely part of it. During my shift, something big had gone down. Something above my paygrade. From what I gathered, a few of the guards had smuggled someone into town tonight. I had no clue if this was something the Council arranged or not, but it crossed my mind that I should speak up. Then again, my failing reputation had damaged my credibility to the point that I was certain no one would have listened anyway.

So, I kept quiet, even when I caught a glimpse of a huge, cloaked creature wearing sackcloth over its head being hoisted from the bed of a truck. Kept quiet even when I caught a whiff of the foul smell it emitted.

My guess? A witch—and not one of the good ones.

Failing to see the point in worrying Roz with bits and pieces of a much larger story, I never answered her question. At the sight of me yawning, she didn’t press.

“You look exhausted.” She stood, stretching her hand toward me. I wasn’t sure what her plan was, but stood, anyway.

“Go up and change,” she suggested. “Then, meet me back here on the couch so the TV can watchuswhile we doze.”

I smiled and it amazed me how she did that. How she somehow made sitting up on the couch with her all night sound more appealing than spending the night in bed.

Then again, I guess it shouldn’t have been that big a surprise.

After all, I was no longer fighting the truth—that Roz was kind of it for me.

Chapter Ten

Liam

A strange turn of events took me from lying beside my mate, my weakness, to sitting in a crowded bar with a burly, southern dragon with an appetite for cheap beer and chicken wings.

Agreeing to leave the house for a bit tonight was the only way I managed to convince Evangeline to do the same. Only, she wouldn’t return until morning.

Dallas knocked back another mug, bringing his total to five. I, on the other hand, settled for water per his request. Apparently, Evangeline wasn’t the only one who noticed I hadn’t quite bounced back yet. A night of drinking and a hangover in the morning wouldn’t help the matter any.

I’d been here a few times before. Most notably, to meet Evangeline face-to-face again, for the first time in ages. We didn’t make it inside, but did collide just beyond the front entrance, in an alley off Handler Street. At the sight of me, she’d nearly taken off running, but after tonight, I was certain I’d completely changed her mind.

About me.

About us.

I lowered my head as thoughts crept in—thoughts of her in my bed, thoughts of my name seeping from between her lips in a whisper …

I smiled to myself. Despite the chaos that followed, the time we managed to steal, the time we managed to feel like a normal couple those two hours … it was incredible.

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