Page 6 of Claiming Xan
“I attacked one of them. I was out of my mind. My wolf was screaming at me to protect you,” I told him quietly. “The Alpha is not pleased with me. At all. We had words. I barely held my tongue.”
“Oh, River…” His hand cupped my cheek, fingers grazing lightly over the rasp of stubble already growing along my jaw. “It’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it, though?” I barked out a sardonic laugh. “Isn’t this why Mom sent us away? Because we’re a couple of fuck-ups? I can’t control it, Sky. I’m just so fucking angry all the time.”
Sky pouted at me, then nuzzled in close again. “You’re not a fuck-up, River,” he murmured. “We just have issues.” He was quiet for many minutes before speaking again. “So… What now?”
“I don’t know,” I told him. “The Alpha said we’d need to talk in the morning. It didn’t sound like good news. As much as I don’t love the idea of running wild in the city, with no protection whatsoever, I think that’s going to be our only option.”
“But Dr. Thompson…” Sky’s voice was thin and breathy with fear.
“I know,” I growled, gritting my teeth together before they could gnash into fangs in my human mouth. “I’m sure he’s still out there, looking for us. We’re his prized specimens, after all.”
The thought made me sick to my stomach. Having spent the last several years as a living test subject, I knew one thing for certain: If I ever saw Dr. Thompson again, I would make sure his next breath would be his last.
Sky’s hands fisted in my shirt. He curled closer, so I wrapped an arm around his waist to hold him to me.
“It’ll be okay,” I told him, even though I knew it was probably a big fat lie. Nothing felt okay right now, but if I wasn’t the strong one, then Sky would crumble to pieces. He needed me to be his rock, so his rock I would be. “Just go back to sleep.”
He relaxed, but neither of us slept another wink.
4
RIVER
In the morning,there was a knock on our door. Sky jerked away from me with a soft growl and sat bolt upright in bed. I joined him, throwing my legs over the side of the mattress. But before I could stand and head for the door, it opened.
The Alpha from last night stood in the doorway, peering in at us with a guarded expression on her face. Her dark hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, but when her eyes met mine, I had to fight the urge to bear my fangs and snarl at her.
“Good, you’re both awake.” She swung the door open wider. Sunlight poured in through the window at our backs, but the room suddenly felt small and dark. She gestured towards the doorway. “Why don’t you join us in the kitchen and we can have a little chat before breakfast.”
It wasn’t an invitation or even a request. It was a command veiled in kindness, and it made me bristle. Sky’s hand at my back tightened in my shirt, and I knew he felt that same dominant energy wash over him.
Bitch.
When we didn’t immediately jump out of bed to come to heel, she looked me in the eye and smiled, but it was forced. “We’llbe waiting. Whenever you’re ready,” she said before turning and walking away, leaving the door standing open like the gaping maw of a predator.
“River,” Sky whispered, a barely-there sound, but I turned to him. My gaze searched his worried face and I gently ran my fingers through his hair. “I’m scared.”
“I know,” I hushed back. “But she saved your life. We owe her at least this much, as much as I hate it.”
Little did I know, I’d end up hating her even more before breakfast ever hit the table.
Together, we left the sanctum of the guest room and walked down the hall, towards the dining room, which was attached to a spacious kitchen with an island separating the two halves.
Seated at the long dining room table were several shifters, a few I recognized from last night, like the guy I’d attacked, but a few others I didn’t.
Sky clung to my arm as we made our way to the table and sat down on the opposite side, so our adversaries were in sight at all times.
“There we are,” the Alpha said with a smile, a more genuine one this time, before glancing around at the others. “Before we begin, I think we should start with introductions.”
She gestured to the wolves sitting alongside her, then to herself. “My name is Gracie Howell. I’m the Alpha of Rubydawn, and these are a few members of my family. My eldest daughter, Tasha, and eldest son, Kace…who you are already familiar with.”
Right. The guy whose flesh I’d torn up. I glanced over at him to see that his forearm was wrapped in fresh white bandages, resting on the table in front of him. At his side was a youthful blond man cradling a baby in his arms. They both smiled at me.
I didn’t return the gesture.
“Kace is joined by his mate, Nevin, and one of our enforcers, Pike Noble.”
