Through the corner of my eyes, I watched him roll up his sleeves before he smashed his fist into the wall, making sure he hadn’t hidden anything. I couldn't help but study the way those strong forearms tensed up before he swung. When he tugged his armout, his white shirt getting all dirty and his hair skewed, it made my stomach clench. Maybe this place was too confined. His sophisticated citrus-and-spice scent was too strong for me to escape its pull on me.
Turning away to keep myself focused, I called over my shoulder, “We need to make sure there’s nothing else. I don’t want anyone stumbling upon something they shouldn’t. That’s how issues with the human government start.”
“You’re the fucking Syndicate,” he said as I made my way over to the kitchen where he was. “Tell the human government to pound sand.” He made the motion of wiping his brow, though we both knew he wasn’t sweating. It was just an automatic response from his human days when his body overheated.
Leaning against the wall, I crossed my arms as he tore down the last of the cupboards. “Oh, yeah, sure. Start a war with the human government, one I’m sure they’ve been waiting for, with both sides dropping bodies left and right.” Kicking at some of the mess we’d made, I sighed. “That just sounds like… a whole lot of hassle.”
He flung his head up to look at me, genuine curiosity sparking in his eyes. “So, what, are you saying the Syndicate can’t handle it?”
Rage burned hot in my veins, and I was on him in a flash, knocking him onto the floor with a loud thud. Claws around his throat, I choked him out as I transformed my teeth into fangs, snapping them in his face. His face contorted, real fear finally making an appearance as he kicked and shoved at me, pulling at my arms to break free, but I only pressed in harder. As his face started turning blue, I let my fangs retreat, but I kept him pinned to the floor, claws digging into his throat.
“We may not want a war,” I leaned in close, making sure he understood every syllable, “but that doesn’t mean we’ve grown weak. We just see the world through a different lens.”
Retracting my claws, I rose and stared down at him as he turned on his side, gasping for air. “We understand the nature of things. We’ll always need ants, lieutenants, and kings. That’s what makes the world go round. It puts money in our pockets and fuels our pleasures. Killing all the ants doesn’t mean the lieutenants will pick up the slack, and there’s no way the kings will go backward without trying to destroy everything just to keep their spot. It’s a delicate balance of keeping the status quo while building insurances and counterpoints to ensure success.”
He glared up at me, clutching his crimson-covered throat, and I backed up a few steps to let him rise. His gaze landed on my hands, and I lifted one to my mouth, licking my bloody fingertips.
That acidic taste filled my mouth, and a jolt struck me like a lightning bolt. My tongue went slack as my muscles locked up. Heat surged through my veins, curling around my core and pulsing with need. Staggering back from the shock, my spine hit the wall, reminding me to breathe.
Taking a few quick breaths, I focused on the pounding of my heart, the sound echoing in my ears. To make matters worse, my wolf raced in circles in my head, growling something inaudible over and over.
A pulse of heat bloomed at my wrist, but I ignored it, trying to stop the spinning in my head and push away the fuzzy, consuming sensation.
“Hey,” he rasped, his voice still raw from my claws tearing at it from the inside. “Hey… are you okay? Nova?” He stood up and moved closer to me, one hand outstretched, but I jerked away.
“B-boss. Rossey,” I croaked, desperately clinging to the line I’d drawn in that parlor. I could not afford to look weak in front of him. Attracted? Fine. Horny? If I couldn’t hide it. But weak?Never.
Pressing my palm to my chest as if that would keep my heart from busting out of it, I glared at him. A rumble of a growl came from my lips, letting him know I was seconds away from tearing him limb from limb, and he sighed heavily, dropping his arm and his head. That signal of submission helped my fear of looking weak begin to dissipate.
I didn't know what was happening, but everything was somehow heightened and blurred all at once. Whatever this was, I had to shake it off. I needed control again, but there were still burning questions that only he could answer.
“Follow me,” I barked, kicking off the wall so I could dart out of the trailer and into the forest.
His footsteps trailed after me, though the deeper we went, the more hesitant they became.
“Nov—I mean, Boss Rossey, where are we going?”
I drew in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the forest. The damp musk of soil rose first, rich with decaying leaves. The air was cool and crisp, sharp enough to clear even the densest mind. Aromatics like pine and juniper wrapped around us, grounding me. Slowly, the fog in my head thinned.
The trickle of a babbling brook sounded only a dozen steps away, and I bolted toward it. I just needed a splash of that water in my face, and I’d be fine—better than fine. I’d be back in control and ready to face Conrad.
“Okay,” he huffed behind me. “If this is some tactic to confuse and disorient your prey, then, yes, you’ve succeeded. What the hell is going on, Nov—I mean, Boss Rossey?”
He kept calling me by my name. Why did he keep doing that? Did he not fear me? Did he not respect me as a leader, as a Syndicate boss? Had I been too lenient with him?
My shoes stopped right at the edge of the brook, and I bent down to scoop up some of that ice-cold spring water and splash it across my face. Thankfully, the burning heat inside of me subsided. The fog in my mind cleared, and I could finally focus. That feverish want that had taken over my body lingered in the background, almost like it was simply biding its time, but it no longer consumed me.
Standing on shaky legs, I lifted my chin high, ready for the next round. A glance at the moon told me it was the early hours of the morning, so I had to make this quick.
When I began to stalk toward him, he backed up a step, eyeing me, until I crouched and swung my leg around, hooking it behind his. He dropped like a felled tree.
He slammed onto the ground with a groan. “Ahh! What the fuck, Nova!”
This time, I fully shifted into a wolf, pouncing on top of him. My body hovered over his, paws pinning his arms to the ground. Instead of squirming or screaming like I expected, he simply stared up at me, waiting.
“If you're going to kill me, just do it.” He stuck up his chin, and his muscles underneath me relaxed as he accepted his fate. My wolf whined in my head.
That wasn't the reaction I was going for, so I shifted back. Now naked on top of him, I asked in the most menacing tone I could muster, “What do you know about that substance? Tell menow.”
