Page 28 of Wolf Forsaken

Cole slammed his fork down on the table. "Don't tell my omega what to fucking do."

"You're in my den now, I'll tell him and your betas what to fucking do if I want. Oh, wait... your betas deceived you." Silas took a bite of bacon with a smug look on his face.

Cole stood and Ivy clutched his arm, yanking him back down before he could lunge across the table. I was a little disappointed because that would have been fun to watch.

"Both of you need to stop." Ivy handed the bowl of fruit to me. "It's like I'm herding cats."

Silas's grandfather coughed on a piece of food. "Are you just going to let her insult you like that?" He scowled at Silas, his face seeming to be in a permanent frown.

Ivy didn't even flinch at his remark. If anything, it spurred her on, all pleasantries put aside. "Maybe I should start calling him kitten since he calls me bunny." She stabbed a piece of melon and brought it to her lips. "Or I could call him pussy."

"Puss would suit him well." Cole chuckled, and the tension was almost visible across the table where Silas and his grandfather were.

Eli made a plate for himself before looking over at my still empty plate. "Do you want my plate? I'll make myself another."

"No. There's no guarantee it’s not poisoned."

Instead of saying anything, Silas dropped his half-eaten piece of toast onto his plate and slid it across to me. I stared at it and then back up at him as he took my empty plate and filled it up.

I waited until everyone else resumed eating before I took a bite of the half-eaten toast. It was a ridiculous fear, but I couldn't stop myself from worrying something was wrong with it. It's funny how you can be aware of your own anxiety, but be helpless against it.

There had been instances when I trusted the food I was given only to regret it. Unless I was making it myself, there was no guarantee it was safe, and I couldn't take that risk again. Not when there was so much on the line.

A man at the end of the table took a big bite of eggs and frowned at me, picking at my own with a fork. "If we wanted to poison you, we wouldn't be eating it ourselves."

"Or did you take the antidote in the kitchen and are just waiting for us to pass out so you can lock us away?" Before I was taken, I was an avid movie watcher, which made everything ten times worse. Life really could be as fucked up as in the movies.

Silas laughed. "Do you really think I would poison Ivy?"

Stranger things have happened, but I shook my head and picked up a piece of sausage, nibbling on the end of it. After the flavor hit my tongue, I was tempted to inhale it and the rest of them on the platter in the center of the table.

It was quiet as we ate, everyone seeming to be in their own head about recent events.

Once we finished eating, Ivy stood, putting her napkin on her plate. "Thank you for letting us stay here. I know it's a little hard to have someone you don't know come into your home, but hopefully we won't be in the way." Her eyes landed on Silas. "And I hope you don't mind us taking your room, unless you have another room here that has an attached bathroom and a large bed."

Silas's jaw ticked, and he looked at Ivy with something akin to a challenge. I wasn't about to tell him it was a losing battle. I hadn't seen much of Ivy in action, but I could already tell she was a force to be reckoned with.

"And where am I going to sleep?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's not my problem. You have plenty of places out here." She looked around the room, her eyes landing on the beanbags. "There are even some human-sized cat beds over there just for you."

Cole snorted, and she shot him a look. He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, it was funny."

After getting clean towels and fresh sheets, we followed Ivy up the metal stairs that led to a room that was all by itself. The building was some kind of old factory or warehouse, and the room probably used to be an office.

She opened the door, and we filed inside, shutting and locking the door behind us.

Cole groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "I really don't know if staying is a good idea."

"Then what else do you recommend? You know as soon as Dante can't find us he's going to look in Arbor Falls. He knows where I live, doesn't he?" Ivy walked over to the bed and started stripping off the sheets with Eli.

"Dante knows. We can always go somewhere else; you forget I have money. Although it might be a bit tricky to get it without my ID or card." Cole was sauntering around the room, looking at the posters of motorcycles and pictures on the dresser. I wouldn't have been surprised if he started going through the drawers. "He actuallyliveshere?"

"It appears so." I stayed near the door, not liking that there were no windows besides the skylight in the ceiling. Technically, it was a window, but it didn't open, and we couldn't climb through it. What if there was a fire? What if an enemy came and blocked our exit?

"We need backup, but I'm not sure if I trust Silas's pack." Cole picked up an empty picture frame, examined it, then set it down.

Eli changed the pillowcases while Ivy picked up the blankets and sniffed them, wincing and putting them down. "Smells like a wet dog. Probably from me."

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