Page 28 of Huntress and the Thorn Court
“Whoa.” I held my hand up silencing him. “Reed, I’ve not served my full year. I’m here as a favor for Gideon.”
“Gideon?” he asked narrowing his eyes.
“The Alpha.”
“I know who he is. I’m just surprised you call him by his name.”
I rolled my eyes that that was what Reed had heard, not the favor part. “It’s what the pack calls him, Reed. You don’t call my father by his title, do you?”
“I suppose not.”
“Why are these kids being detained? And why in the hell are they wearing silver?”
Adam growled from behind me. It was hard not to react when you saw innocents being harmed.
“Come here.” Reed ushered me a few feet away. I held my hand up to Adam to stop him from following. I wasn’t running off, but Reed wanted some semblance of privacy and I was curious why. “Those wolves were bad mouthing Chad. When he told them to leave, they tried to attack.”
“Really?” I spat cynically glancing at Chad, whose appearance was pristine without a speck of dirt on him although his knuckles looked bloody. “It looks like he took a real beating.”
“We were here, Isabel. We broke it up before things got out of hand.”
“And if I asked those kids?”
“Wolves,” he corrected. “They’re animals, Izzy. They’d have killed Chad if we hadn’t been there.”
I glanced at the three boys on the curb. They were dirty and bleeding like they’d been in a scuffle, while the three hunters stood with not a hair out of place. If I were a gambling person, I’d say the boys had tried to be agreeable, but the hunters had used their authority unjustly.
“You’re going to let them go, Reed. You know silvering a wolf is forbidden unless they’re shifting.”
“It was a precaution.” He nodded his head to his crew who went to release the boys. “Are you sure you want me to release them?”
“Of course, Reed. They’re kids, regardless of their species.”
“What I mean is,” he lowered his voice, “they only sent you with one guard. We could take him out with the kids confined and bring you home. After everything that’s happened to you there, you can’t feel safe. We could claim it was just.”
Surprise jolted me but I did my best to keep my face neutral. I wanted to ask what he meant bywhat happened to me there. I got the feeling it’d been a slip of the tongue. That wasn’t what startled me. What he was proposing could lead to war. Why I found it unexpected was beyond me. This was Reed.
“My father nor I are willing to go to war with the wolves. Even if I slipped away without us killing anyone, Gideon wouldn’t let that slide. My father would send me back and I wouldn’t blame him. No one should have to die when a year is barely any time.”
“I promise I’ll find a way to get you out.”
Internally I groaned. To protest would be pointless. Reed wouldn’t hear it. He wanted to be a white knight, but what he didn’t understand was I was no damsel.
Once the three boys were safely in the vehicle, I climbed into the passenger seat. Reed stared at me through the window as we pulled away and I wondered if he could actually see me through the tint. Once we were out of sight, I turned to Adam who sat behind the wheel. “We need eyes on him.”
Adam’s brow furrowed. “Why? He’s an asshole but not anything more than we normally deal with.”
“He knew about the attacks.”
Adam shook his head. “He didn’t say anything.”
“He didn’t have to. I know him. He slipped up. If I had to bet, I’d say he’s got a connection on the inside, either directly or indirectly, but he’s being fed information on the going ons inside the pack.”
Adam fell silent mulling over what I said.
When we arrived back at the manor, Adam insisted we both head to Gideon’s office to explain what had happened, and my thoughts on Reed. The list of excuses I made in my head sounded unreasonable. My heart pounded the closer we drew to his office.
“Why are you nervous?” Adam asked.
