“The trials have been bad?”
“Yes,” he muttered. “Let’s get you out of here. It’s not safe.”
She followed him up the stairs and through the lodge, her fingers tight on the strap of her purse.
Halfway across the room, Luca stopped and turned toward her. “I’m really sorry about this.”
Her stomach dropped. “About what?”
He slammed silver handcuffs onto one of her wrists.
“Hey,” she snapped, swinging out on reflex.
He caught her other hand easily and snapped the second cuff shut. Heat burned where the silver touched, sharp and immediate.
“Oh God,” she gasped. “Not silver.” She yanked back anyway. “What are you doing?”
“I had a meeting with my pack earlier,” he said, jaw tight. “Merritt wasn’t wrong. They don’t like the way things are going. So, I’m taking you and we’ll have a bit of leverage.”
Leverage? “You plan on cheating?” The asshole.
“The Ravencalls aren’t giving me a choice,” he said, wincing. “They agree you should be the next Alpha female, even though Taryn would do a better job. But lineage is important.”
Nadia kicked out, catching him hard in the ankle, and twisted to run. He grabbed her hair and yanked her back. Pain spiked along her scalp, bright and blinding. The notebooks thumped against her hip inside her oversized purse as she staggered.
She swung again. He backhanded her.
Pain ricocheted through her head, and she blinked hard, trying to clear her vision. The door was right there. So close.
“They can’t help you,” Luca said from near the entrance, his voice almost gentle.
She dragged her gaze toward him. “You took out my enforcers?”
“My people did,” Luca said. “It’s our only chance. The entire pack is at the school, and Caidrik’s gone on some trial right now. I’m sorry.”
“I won’t mate you.”
He sighed heavily. “We have leverage, and you probably will. I don’t know. Maybe if I just take you back and show I can do so, they’ll let me lead my way.”
Fury rushed through her, ringing in her ears. “Sounds like the pack is leading the Alpha, Luca. That’s no way to rule.”
“I just need time. You can help me get that.”
She could also slice his jugular, if she could get to her knife. “The Slate Pack will come after you.”
“Yeah,” Luca said. “But we’ve got a hundred big, good fighters, and we’re ready for war.” He grabbed the handcuffs and winced as the silver bit him too. “Boy, silver sucks.” Then he yanked her toward the door, and Nadia dug in her heels.
He forced her outside and down the steps, into the snow. She paused, searching for her enforcers.
Nothing.
Luca pulled her toward the SUV. “My enforcers had the element of surprise and took out yours, but I gave orders to knock out and not kill. They’re waiting for us at the edge of town.”
She gulped. At least her enforcers weren’t dead. “This is a bad idea. You know that, right?”
“It’s my only option.”
Awareness prickled down her spine. She partially turned and then stilled. “Bulwark,” she whispered.
