“Don’t cry,” Ocean said, his voice gentle. “We’ll be all right.”
He had turned and scooted to the edge of his cage.
Did he know who I was?
Not likely. He was blind, and I was wearing scent blockers.
He was merely trying to comfort someone he’d heard in distress.
“No, we won’t,” I replied, my voice thick with tears. “We’re both trapped here, and they’ll drive you feral and they’ll use me up until there’s nothing left.”
“Don’t give up, sweetheart,” he said. “My pack’s out there. They’ll come for me. We’ve just got to hang in there until they figure out how.”
I started trembling.
I hadn’t considered he had a pack, but of course he did. They’d want him back, which was a problem. For them. My father was probably his boss’s boss’s boss, which meant if his pack was stupid enough to try anything, they’d end up dead or in here as well.
How many people had I doomed tonight?
TWENTY-THREE
LAUREL
I stumbled up to my villa. It took two tries before I swiped the card correctly.
I didn’t bother to turn on the light as I sank against the door, setting my bag down with a thump. Muppet, all anxious floofball, came running up to me, pushing his way onto my lap. I needed him, and I buried my nose in his soft fur as the tears came. He let out amrewand started butting my head. I sat there for a bit, stroking him, before I noticed something was wrong.
After pushing Muppet off my lap, I took a shaky breath and tried to focus. It should only be my scent here, but I was catching scents that didn’t belong.
One was heady and sharp, ripe persimmon and the bite of lime, bright and tangy in the air. The other was bittersweet, a lingering dark scent of absinthe with crackles of static that almost burned in my nose.
Alpha scents.
They were fresh, and breathing them in seemed to wakeup my brain. They were invigorating, refreshing. They made me slightly dizzy and summoned a warm pulse of yearning in my core.
I stilled as my brain caught up to my body, shoving away the arousal and replacing it with fear as I realized this must be the rest of Ocean’s pack.
In my home.
Panic started in my veins, a fast flutter that put every nerve on edge.
How? How had they known so quickly?
My line of thought was cut short as I heard a floorboard creak near the patio.
I swallowed, my heart beating like crazy, trying to keep the fear out of my scent. There was an emergency button in the bathroom.
If I could make it there…
My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I crawled along the floor into the kitchen, pressing my back up against the island and listening. Muppet was following me, green eyes wide, but luckily, he was quiet.
I froze, my scalp prickling as footsteps padded across the room toward the front door. I controlled my breathing, trying to stay quiet.
The footsteps stopped by the entrance behind me, and I heard a chuckle that made my blood turn cold. “Are you here,Duchess?” a male voice hissed as I edged along the island, trying to make it to the corridor. I heard him start to walk again, singing as he sauntered closer.
“Where is the Duchess, walking free?
Or hiding away where nobody sees?”
