Taren’s amber eyes rarely leave me, teeth scraping over her lower lip. I wish she’d follow Jasmine. I don’t like the way she’s studying me.
Rowen nudges me toward the table. “You know Sage already, but this is Grant, our second in command. He’s the boss when Forest isn’t around. Which, honestly, isn’t that often.”
Everyone chuckles.
Grant nods at me with kind blue eyes. His presence is firm and no-nonsense, yet somehow reassuring. On the table in front of them are several boxes of high-tech security cameras and instruction manuals.
“Doing okay, Tobias?” Sage asks.
I struggle to find my voice, so I just nod, tugging at my sleeves again.
Another woman appears from the hall, pausing when she sees me. She’s much older than the others, with graying blond hair and a warm smile. “You must be the other human crashing the pack’s party.”
I swallow thickly, guilt pressing down.
The woman laughs. “Sorry, that was a poorly timed joke. I’m Evelyn.” She holds her hand out to me, but when I reach out to shake it, the woman surprises me by pulling me in for a long, tight hug. The affection is sounexpected I freeze. She rubs my back. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through.”
When she finally walks away, Rowen explains, “Evelyn is Evan’s mother. She’s a hugger. She hugs everyone.”
I do a quick tally in my head. Only one left, if I ignore the vampire. “Where’s the alpha?” I ask.
Rowen tips his head in a follow-me gesture.
Behind the wall with the fireplace, a long hall leads to four separate rooms. Rowen knocks on the first door, which is already open. “Forest?”
The man at the desk looks up, and something in me cowers. Definitely an alpha’s presence. “Ah, Tobias, I’m guessing. Come in.”
I glance at Rowen, but he nudges me forward.
“How are you doing?”
I bite my lip. “I-I don’t know,” I say, going for blunt honesty. “Overwhelmed. Tired.”
His eyes soften as he smiles. “Yes, I suppose so. I hope you’re getting rest. Red says you’re healing remarkably well, all things considered.”
I tug at my sleeves again, trying to cover the thick scars around each wrist. I don’t know what to say, so I just nod again.
“I know it can be a shock to wake up here and not know us, but I want to assure you, we are your allies. You can trust us,” Forest says softly.
So everyone keeps telling me.
“You’re welcome to stay for as long as you need. The only thing I ask is if you know anything at all about the coven, that you tell us as soon as possible. We’re trying to track them down, and after the mess at the nightclub, I’m afraid we might never find them.” He waits expectantly, as if I might spill some secrets right there, but everything I know I’ve already told them. At least, everything I can remember.
“I’ll try,” I say. “It’s… kind of a blur, though.”
His lips press together, and when he folds his arms on the desk, I notice his left arm has a slight permanent kink to it. “How long did you spend with them?”
I look around, hoping for some clue about what date it is. “What day is it? Like, month, I mean.”
“It’s November 27th,” he says.
My stomach tightens, and I grip the back of a leather chair in front of me.November 27th?Fuck. I knew it was close to Christmas, but knowing the exact date is like a punch to the gut. It makes it real.
My vision blurs, my knees shake, and I struggle to stay standing.
Rowen steadies me with an arm around my back. “You okay?”
No. No, I’m not okay. If today is November 27th, that means I was in the club… I was tied to that stage, forced to dance, forced to…feedthose monsters for three and a half months. Three long months where I thought I’d never escape.
