Page 33 of After Darkness Falls

Chloe redirected her attention to Jack. "Well?"

"Well," Jack echoed, "I am, believe it or not, not a kid having fun by pulling the wolf's tail, so to speak. I set up races through the entire territory—and yes, mostly close to dangerous sites—because my men need real-life training while we linger here. Sparring in the Institute’s courtyard is too easy, too clear-cut. Pissing off one of the most ancient wolf packs in the world? Running close to the cursed caves up in Coscnoc? That gives them real-life experience."

"But that's actually dangerous. They could get hurt."

Or worse.

Jack shrugged. "They certainly could get hurt raiding a bleeder's den in South London, too. And that's what we do, what we’ll go back to doing after we leave. I came back here because getting my PhD is a requirement in my position—and many huntsmen followed me. Too many. It wouldn’t do to let them go soft."

It made a lot of sense. Except…

"What about me?"

Jack didn't say anything. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest.

"What about me?" she repeated. "I could have been in danger."

Shit, she probably had been. What would have happened if Avani hadn't found her?

Jack shrugged. "I was curious. Besides, the guys push themselves harder when there's new blood in the race."

"You put me in danger because you werecurious," she repeated.

"And," Jack added, "fairly certain you could take care of yourself."

She was speechless for all of ten seconds. Then, the blonde thrust a pint of beer in her hand and Chloe did the only useful thing she could do: she drank half of it in three gulps.

Jack wasn't entirely an asshole, but he also wasn't the sort of friend sheshouldhave. She strongly suspected she didn't want him as an enemy either. Chloe made a mental note to keep a healthy distance in the future, which wouldn’t be easy. He was…magnetic. Charismatic. Maybe even fun. But she’d try.

Gwen had opted for a gin and tonic—not the best idea after a run. They were all parched and accumulating empty glasses faster than they should. Really, they all should have ordered a bottle of water before even drinking anything alcoholic, but failing that, beer was a better alternative.

Chloe was halfway through her second pint when Gwen ordered her fourth gin.

She didn't know the woman very well, but after abandoning her in the woods, Chloe decided not to let her face this trial alone.

"Do they have snacks here?" she asked the group.

"Yeah—pork scratching, crisps, olives, that sort of thing. They also cook basic food until nine."

It was just past eight. Chloe went to the bar and ordered ten cheesy fries, digging into her pocket for the newly acquired wad of cash.

The whole lot was twenty-five pounds, and she added a fiver of tip on top. When the food arrived, she definitely was popular.Chloe let everyone help themselves but did her best to shove a plate in front of Gwen as often as possible.

An hour later, they walked back to the edge of Adairford—well, Gwen wobbled—and returned to the dorms.

"Come this way," she said, herding Gwen to the kitchen.

She didn't want to mess with the screaming kettle, so she warmed up water in the microwave and, just like Blair had the previous day, made Gwen a hot chocolate, hoping to get some non-alcohol-infused liquid into her.

"You'll want to put an alarm clock on before crashing," she told her, remembering Levi's advice.

Gwen's eyes were closing where she stood. She smiled happily and nodded.

Right. That alarm clock would never be set.

"Where's your phone?"

She handed it to Chloe. Remembering that Gwen had professed to want to study art, Chloe decided to set the alarm for seven o'clock, giving her plenty of time to sleep off the drunken stupor if she crashed soon.

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