Three men stood among the shelves, their presence too large for the room. They brought the freeze in with them, the air charged and crackling.
Dominic was the first she saw. He stood in front of the counter, the sharp line of his shoulders as unyielding as carved stone. Julian lingered slightly behind him, as composed as a shadow could ever be. And Theodore, her brother, stood off to the side, his eyes darting between the two men and the floor, as though he wanted to be anywhere else.
For a heartbeat, Layla forgot to breathe. The room felt smaller than it ever had.
“What…what are you doing here?” she managed, her voice thinner than she wanted.
Dominic turned at the sound of her voice. The movement was deliberate, controlled. When his eyes found hers, something unreadable flickered there before vanishing. “You’ve been speaking with my spymaster,” he said, “about hybrids.”
Julian’s expression didn’t change, though she saw the faintest trace of apology cross his face. Theodore only exhaled. He didn’t look at her.
He knew. There was no way he didn’t know. His errant sister refusing to follow his rules. Had he thought…had he thought she’d been discovered? Was this how he would react to her finally getting caught by someone other than him?
A bitter taste rose in her throat, sour and choking.
Layla swallowed, turning her gaze back to the Alpha. “He asked about records. I answered. That’s my job.”
“That’s yourjob?” Dominic repeated, voice low. He took a step forward, and the wood beneath his boots creaked. “I thought your job was to sell books and stay out of pack business that doesn’t concern you.”
She stiffened, her back hitting a bookshelf. She hadn’t realized she’d been backing away from the furious Alpha. “He said he was here on your orders.”
Julian’s calm voice slid between them. “I was. She was cooperative, Alpha.”
Dominic didn’t look away from her. “I’ll decide that.”
Layla forced herself to meet his gaze. “I gave him everything I had. Old references, sightings from a century ago, a few maps. That’s it.”
“Then you’re telling me,” Dominic said, each word measured, “that you had all this information at your fingertips, and only now deemed it appropriate to share with the pack?”
“That’s not what I said.”
He took another step closer. She could feel his presence now, heat, weight, the electricity of restrained anger. “Then say what you mean.”
Her pulse fluttered, traitorous and fast. She tried to hold herself upright. “I don’t know what information the pack does or doesn’t have. These books, these records, have been here for decades. How was I supposed to know you had no knowledge of their contents? Julian came to me with a question, and I answered it. If you have more questions, I’ll answer them as well, if it’s in my power to do so .”
Something tightened around Dominic’s mouth. It could have been a smile if it weren’t so savage. “You’ve always had an answer ready, haven’t you, Layla?”
The use of her name in his voice nearly undid her. It wasn’t gentle. It had never been. But it was full of memory. Of the times he’d said her name before. Angry, mocking, disdainful.
Soft.
Behind him, Theodore shifted uneasily. “Dom, she’s telling the truth.”
Dominic didn’t look back. “I don’t care what she says. She knows she shouldn’t be poking her nose into pack business.”
“Make up your mind,” Layla said before she could stop herself. “Either I’m withholding information, or I’m interfering with pack business by giving information when asked. You’re acting insane, Dominic.” The words came out harsher than she intended, but they were there now, hanging between them, heavy as stone.
Julian’s eyes flicked toward her, curious. Theodore went very still.
Dominic’s expression didn’t change. But something in the air did, sharpened, drawn tight as a bowstring. “Careful,” he said quietly.
Layla’s stomach turned to ice. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
Dominic’s gaze swept over the room, the shelves, the tables, the candle still guttering near the window. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but shut it. Then, abruptly, he turned away, pacing once before stopping near the far table. His hands rested on its edge, white-knuckled.
“She shouldn’t be involved,” he said finally to Theodore, voice low. “If the hybrids find out she has information on them…”
It was as if all the air had been knocked from her lungs. Blood roared in her ears, and something else. Laughter. It took a moment to realize it was coming from her own lips.
