He hesitated before answering. “The bond runs both ways.”
Layla crossed her arms. “Then maybe you felt what it’s like to be caged.”
Dominic’s jaw worked. “No one’s caging you.”
“Then why,” she said, gritting her teeth together, “when I tried to leave earlier, was I stopped by one of your guards?”
He raised an eyebrow. “My orders. You’re Luna now. And until we get to the bottom of the attacks—”
She laughed, short and humorless. “Luna? Seriously? It was my understanding that theLunahad some powers of command over the pack!”
“Not greater powers than the Alpha,” he replied quietly.
She fixed him with a hard glare. “So can I go?”
“Go where?”
“Home. Obviously.”
He fixed his gaze out the window, ‘No.’
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she scoffed, dipping into a curtsy, “may I please go, oh high-and-mightyAlpha?”
He hissed through his teeth, “I’m not in the mood for your attitude.”
“And I’m not in the mood foryou.”
“Layla,” he growled in warning.
Her teeth shut with an audible click as she looked down at her feet, color rising in her cheeks. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”
He laughed, low and humorless, before collapsing into the small chair in the corner. “Not so uncalled for.”
After a beat, she shuffled backwards to sit on the bed and glanced up at him. “Have you slept?”
“A little,” he admitted, rubbing at his temples. “Not nearly enough.”
“And you haven’t found the other two scouts?”
He sighed through his nose, shoulders tensing as his gaze fixed on some point past the window.
Layla shifted, the sheets rustling beneath her. “Ah. I see.”
“We’re trying to pick up a trail, but there are so many scents,” he said, nearly growling. “All branching out from one another before fading away. It’s enough to drive you crazy.”
She was silent for a moment, staring down at her feet, tugging her lip between her teeth. If he weren’t so tired, the sight of it might have made his blood heat.
But he was exhausted. Truly, to the bone, exhausted.
“I think I could help,” she said, voice snapping through his brooding.
He leaned back, eyeing her. “Ah, yes, your dream.”
She nodded fiercely, jumping to her feet, pacing the floor in front of him. He tracked her movements, tapping a finger against the wooden arm of the chair, letting her spill out the speech she’d clearly been working towards.
“As I said last night, or…this morning…downstairs! Sorry, it’s all kind of muddled together since our…um…when we…”
“I remember,” he said, a sardonic twist to his tone. She threw him a look.
