Page 23 of Shadowlands Sector

He takes a deep breath, followed by a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Mihai’s gaze slides from Lucien to me. “I delivered nine girls.” He fiddles with something in his pocket and pulls out a folded-up piece of paper. Placing it in front of me, he unfolds it.

I read the list of girls, with the last one being Meira. Each has a tick on them, as per all other delivery slips. We’ve never had this problem before.

Looking up, I don’t see a wolf who looks like he’s hiding something. The telltale signs of lying aren’t there; neither is he nervous sweating.

“So, you sure nine girls got on that aircraft?”

His eyes hold mine, never once looking away. “I supplied them to Mad at the plane like I always do, then I left. I didn’t do a damn thing different.”

Without Mad here, I can’t corroborate either story. But I do have Meira, who has no reason to lie about how she escaped. The only problem is getting her to open up.

“And Mad?” Lucien asks. “Anything different about his behavior?”

Mihai barks a laugh. “Mad was his usual prick self, telling me to fuck off because they were running late.”

I blink at him, unaware of the flight being delayed. So, from what I gather, the girls arrived at the aircraft. Except somehow, Mad lost one between loading them up and taking off, since Meira was still in our woods and not two countries away. I don’t need fuck-ups. I glance over to my video com and reach for it to call Mad.

“Excuse me.” Jay, one of my close guards, abruptly sticks his head into my office. Panic crawls over his face. “I’m sorry for barging in, but we have an emergency.”

“What is it?” I snarl.

“Something’s wrong with the new female wolf. She was crying from pain and just passed out.”

My heart clenches. Lucien steps closer, his breaths quickening.

“Bring her to my room,” I order.

I stare back at Lucien incredulously after our discussion that something is different about her. Mihai, still in his seat, furrows his brow in confusion.

“You can go,” I tell him. “We’ll discuss this later.”

Meira

My eyes fly open, and my heart races. Sweat rolls down the sides of my face and neck, my whole body flaring with heat. I squint against the sunlight pouring into the room from the arched window. I don’t know where I am at first… and slowly my surroundings come into view.

Stone walls remind me I’m in a castle with the Ash Wolves. A soft bed is beneath me as I lie on my side staring at a wardrobe made of dark timber, the corners carved ornately with wolves howling at the moon. There’s a lush rug on the floor, and I haven’t seen anything so clean and new for a long time.

I smell him all over the bed…Dušan. His musky and wolf scent floods me, just as it did back in my treehouse. This is his room. The Alpha has placed me in his bed, which confuses me, considering he abruptly left me to be sent to the waiting room for shipping out.

“How are you feeling?” a deep voice asks from behind me.

I roll over to find Lucien sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at me with concern.

“You had us all scared when you passed out and wouldn’t wake.”

“My throat is dry,” I croak, glancing around the room and finding a black leather lounge chair against the window.

Lucien reaches over to the bedside table next to him and picks up a glass of water.

I blink at him and shuffle to sit upright in bed. That familiar ache pulses through me. My sickness has come at me harder than before, the pain excruciating. What is going on with me? My stomach tightens because letting these wolves see me this sick does me no favors. It will get me cast to the bottom of their pack hierarchy… too broken to be anything other than their slave.

He hands me the full glass. Our fingers brush, and a jolt of energy dances up my arm. It spreads through me and overwhelms me with a scorching heat. I lose my breath and swallow hard, trying to push past the sensation that draws me to this Alpha. Everything about him consumes me. Part of me wants to give in, to ask him to protect me. Another part hates those thoughts, but my body betrays me.

When I lift my gaze to his, I see his wolf stirring behind those stunning steel-gray eyes. The ones I want to fall into and get lost in.

I mentally shake myself, needing distance away from these Alphas.

“I’m feeling better,” I lie, as I drink down the icy water, chasing the heat that clings to me.

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