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“I had to speak to Franklin about something.” He closes the door.

We’re back in a room together with a queen size bed. My untouched meal is right where I left it on the bedside table, and the smell of it now fills the room, making my stomach grumble since it’s been a while since I last ate.

“About?” I turn my back to the bed, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Just something,” he says evasively.

“But—”

“We’re eating in the dining room tonight. Franklin invited us both.”

He says it so blankly that I can’t imagine he had a choice in the matter. My dad was like that sometimes. Very good at making it clear what was happening, whether you liked it or not. And Shane looks very much like he has just been told what to do.

What must that be like? To go from leading your own pack to being someone who does what they’re told.

“Who else will be there?”

He eyes me for two beats, and the same hint of suspicion from the hallway returns. “Who do you mean?”

I mean the kidnapped omegas. But if I mention them, he might wonder where I had wandered to, and that might lead to consequences I don’t want to deal with: like being locked in this room 24/7 with Shane.

“I mean, is this meal with the rest of the pack? Or is it just with Franklin?”

His expression relaxes, and he shrugs as he walks to the bathroom. “The rest of the pack. You need the bathroom?”

I shake my head.

“I need a quick shower.” He pauses in the doorway and gives me a long look. “If I were you, I wouldn’t go wandering around out there. You don’t want Franklin to be the one to find you.”

He waits until I nod, then he walks into the bathroom and closes the door behind him.

I sink onto the edge of the bed, twisting my fingers together and woefully unsure about what to do.

Escaping isn’t going to be easy. We drove through a pretty long drive to get to this house, and with all the Raleigh contractors outside, someone would hear me, see me, or both.

And I can’t just leave the other omegas behind.

I chew my lip as I consider my options.

Will Mack and the others know I’m here? Or are they still in Winter Lake, dealing with the fire a Raleigh pack member must have set, or trying to save Chris’s life because he has to be alive? I refuse to believe he’s dead.

Although the scent of the chicken meal tempts me, I spend the next several minutes chewing my lip, then my nail, as I stare out through the balcony and struggle to come up with a way I can rescue myself and the omegas.

I’m still no closer to deciding what to do when the bathroom door swings open and Shane steps out. He has a towel wrapped around his waist and water slides down his bare chest.

I immediately get to my feet and walk over to the corner of the room, training my sight outside. Shane knew I was in this room, and could have dressed in the bathroom instead of leaving it still dripping.

Is this his attempt to seduce me?

“You can look,” Shane says.

Yep. Seduction it is.

“I’m not interested in looking,” I say.

I tense at the sound of his footsteps, only relaxing when they move further away from me instead of closer. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot him standing in front of the dresser and sliding one drawer open.

He pulls out a top, and it must be one of his to fit him so well.

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