I struggled to pull my cellphone from my pocket. My hands shook and my vision went in and out, but by the grace of the fucking sadistic Goddess, I found her listing in my call log.
The phone rang and rang, but Joanna never picked up.
I typed out a message.Joanna, I’m sorry. I should have told you the moment I found out.
I braced myself against the tree while staring at the phone screen. Nine minutes later, thedeliveredstatus changed toread.
And still, five minutes later, there was no reply.
My fingers flew over the keyboard.Joanna. You’re angry, I get that. But we need to talk.
Read.
I slammed my fist into the tree, pieces of bark flying as I pulled my hand free. My bloody knuckles burned, and I was grateful for a new sensation to rival the pain lingering in my chest.
I typed out my last message. Blood dripped onto the screen as I battled with whether to send it. But as I glanced around conflicted, my eyes found my sweater where it still lay on the ground—emitting the hunter’s intoxicating scent.
I pressed send and hurled the phone against a boulder.
“Oh dear.”
I spun around, surprised to see Latoya standing a few feet behind me. Even more so, that Silas was walking up behind her.
Shit. I didn’t sense their approach.
“Did you fuck it up,Mucus?” The blood covering Latoya’s pants glistened in the moonlight. Her red-stained sneakers dangled in one of her hands. Her locs were now free atop her head, and she twirled one around her finger as she teased, “You look like shit. Did my sister dump your sexy ass?” I wasn’t sure when it happened, but her scent had gone from intoxicating to noxious.
I held my breath and flexed my burning fingers, glancing at Silas as he stood at her side.
“Don’t worry, he knows,” Latoya declared. “He even knows about my little niece or nephew.”
I growled. “You traitorous bitch.”
She marched forward but was stopped by Silas’s hand. Latoya glanced at him and frowned, but she didn’t move.
My body tensed as Silas ambled toward the sweater. “Toya was smart enough to tell me with the others gone.” He swiped it up from the ground and brought it to his nose. “They might’ve been hard to calm.”
My wolf stirred as Silas closed his eyes and indulged in Joanna’s scent.
“What is it about the Sullivan sisters?” he asked, his voice low and contemplative. He faced me with a smirk. “Besides the fact that yours is a hunter and has magic?” he exclaimed, looking to Latoya for confirmation. “That masking spell is something else. I can’t smell her on you at all. To think, I was going to fuck another man’s—”
“Stop!” I yelled. I’d taken a step forward but dropped to my knees.
Silas strode over to me with his hands in his pockets, my sweater slung over his shoulder. “She did a number on you. Your poor wolf must be devastated.” He pulled a hand from his pocket. His fingers elongated as he shifted it to its wolf-form and kneeled before me. “Let’s check.”
Silas’s sudden grasp around my throat forced my hands to scrabble at his forearms. I strained, pulling back, but his claws pierced my skin—locking our connection in place.
He studied me as I struggled, listening to the way my heart raced. He smirked as the glow of my wolf’s gaze reflected in his eyes, and in response tightened his grip, baiting the beast.
But we knew I couldn’t shift.
My head was pounding. My muscles were getting heavy. My vision blurred.
Silas shoved me to the ground, leaving me gasping for air. He shifted his hand back to normal and shook his head in disappointment.
“The human broke you,” he snarled. “A fuckingalpha.”
He sprung to his feet and stared down at me with a mix of pity and disgust burning in his eyes. He crossed his arms and sighed.
