Each inhale was a punch to the throat.
If I blew my cover at Silas’s party, maybe I wouldn’t have to decide what to do with Latoya after all. Because I’d be dead.
The air was stale and so thick I could choke on it. I felt nauseated. I reached for the bottle of water in my duffel bag.
Maybe Latoya would fight for me. But would the werewolves spare Marcus? Or would they make an example of him?
For fuck’s sake, I needed an open window. My water tasted like dirt, but I swallowed and repressed the retch threatening to empty my stomach.
Malik’s smile wavered. His hand darted to my back. “What’s wrong?”
Besides the fact that he and James thought I was a whore?
“Stop doing that.” I shrugged his hand off me.
“You look like you’re about to pass out, Joey.”
“Stop acting like we’re friends.” I tried to remove my jacket but still needed a second to catch my breath. “It’s too fucking hot in here.”
To my surprise, Malik reached over to help me… and I let him. The mockery had vanished from his face. His powerful hands were patient and gentle when I needed a moment to stop the room from swaying.
With my jacket off, goosebumps prickled my flesh. I ran my hands down my biceps and blew out a heavy breath. “Thank you,” I muttered stubbornly.
Malik studied the newest scar running down my shoulder: the one I’d gotten from Leo. His brows drew together. “That’s from saving the wolf in the Blackwood Pack?” he asked.
I nodded with a weary sigh, waiting for Malik to spit out an insult or an aggravating joke.
Instead, he blinked, his gaze leaving my shoulder, his eyes now locked with mine. “Is it dead…? The beast that attacked you?”
I nodded again, fixing the cap on my head. “The werewolf who’s keeping my legs open took care of him.”
Malik’s jaw tightened, and he bristled, about to snap back at me, when Tobias approached us from behind.
“We’re out, man,” Tobias announced. “Hill needs our help with a situation.”
As if the Bureau agent had flipped a switch, Malik’s muscles relaxed, his jovial grin evoking an unwanted stillness within me. “Is it ahairysituation?” He chuckled at his own immature joke.
Tobias glanced at me, careful and hesitant.
“She’s still a hunter, Tobias,” Malik declared, rolling his eyes. “Spill.” He grabbed the giant’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “You think Hill will let us tag along?”
Viper appeared at her partner’s side, shoving her weighted gloves in her bag. “Is this a joke?” she scoffed.
Malik turned to me, his grin wider than ever.
“What do you say, Little Red? Wanna show these Jacks how it’s done?”
???
I had many reasons for saying no. For one, I didn’t like Malik. Secondly, I didn’t trust Tobias and Viper. And finally, I didn’t need to prove myself to anyone. Fuck the three of them.
And fuck my competitive ass nature. Because I was now in Malik’s BMW as we drove to the slums, listening as he rambled on about some long-ass movie he made me watch when we dated.
He pulled his denim jacket so that it covered the fresh shirt he’d thrown on in the gym’s bathroom. “All I’m saying is: how sick would it be if we found a fucking werewolf claiming to be the leader of all the dogs in the world, we cut off its head, and then all of them drop like fucking orcs?”
I stared out my window and sighed in response to his rambling. This familiarity was fake as fuck, and I had no patience to entertain it.
“What?” Malik continued. “You don’t like the thought of your boyfriend getting whatitdeserves?”
