Right now, from where he was seated on a rickety seat in the corner of the room, I could see his eyes tracing my wrist where one was clearly displayed.
He was in his late thirties—or early forties, if I were to guess—with a thick, more-salt-than-pepper beard. He was huge, with tattoos covering him head to toe, and piercing blue eyes that didn’t seem to miss much.
Leaving Phantom, Bug, and Rick to poke about at the goods, I approached Dominic.
The Redgrave pack were dwellers, which meant they’d let the last appeal lapse—and they’d done so over a decade ago.
Dwellers were most often packs with enough established dominance and comfort in Anarchy, that they’d decided they preferred this to the life waiting for them outside.
I got it, to an extent.
I’d been here a year and a half, and this was my only normal.
It was worse for those who hadnomemories from before, like Karma. I had a few flashes, but they were messy and not reflective of the world that might wait for me.
Bright lights.
Violent fights.
Injections.
I was an anomaly with blood-red eyes that unnerved anyone who looked at me. This place was better than that, a thousand times over.
Well, it was after I found my pack.
Dwellers like the Redgrave pack also had alliances that were hard to shake, which is why I was glad we were going to be out of here in less than a month. I didn’t want to stick around long enough to know where Holden’s pack would be in a few years.
“Looking for something in particular?” Dominic asked, eyes flashing with delight as he took me in. “I heard you did something rather… out of line today.”
I folded my arms, leaning against the metal bedpost. “Only if I didn’t get away with it.”
“You stepped on a dweller’s rights.”
“New dweller. And he shouldn’t have made it so easy.”
Dominic snorted, then tugged out a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it, then burned through a quarter of it in one inhale—which was as close to a power move as you could get in a place with such limited resources. He let out a plume of smoke and glanced at me.
“You want my blessing?”
“I thought we had something special,” I replied. He held it in, but at Dominic’s chuckle, I felt Phantom’s flash of irritation through the bond as he picked his nail absently with a knife we definitely couldn’t afford. He was close enough to be listening to every word.
“Is there any chance you might have something for a…” I threw a glance at the ceiling. Fuck this. He already knew. “I needsuppliesfor her.”
“Supplies?”
I shot him a bitter smile. “Clothes. Underwear. Pants.”
I think we could manage with oversized tops for her. Everyone in here wore varying shades of light grey to white outfits.
But the rest was needed.
“That’s all?” he asked.
“Drugs for heats?” There was no way we could risk that with Crescent.
I’d known her for less than an hour, but I did know I would never risk allowing her to go into heat in this place. Omegas in heats were where heads rolled, bonds were stolen, and blood clogged the gutters.
“I’m out,” Dominic said with a bitter smile. “Someonekeeps burning through my whole supply.”
