Her brows pinch together. “Excuse me?”
“How did you end up there?”
Instantly, her expression hardens, hiding her true feelings behind it. “That’s none of your business.”
“It became my business when I spent two million to get you out.”
Immediately, anger flashes through her eyes. “I didn’t ask you to do that. It was ridiculous.”
“No, you didn’t. But here we are. It’s better for both of us if you’re honest with me.”
She scoffs and shakes her head like she can’t believe me, then she crosses her arms. “And what about you? What kind of hero buys people at auctions anyway?”
“I’m not a hero, but thanks.”
“Yeah, you’re not,” she agrees, not afraid to show me her disdain. “After all that military training and noble missions, and this is what you do with it?”
Her sarcasm is sharper than I’d like, and something about it feels so foreign. It’s not like she was an angel before, but there had been a lighthearted undertone to her comebacks before. Now, it all feels soaked in venom. Maybe that’s what I deserve after all this time.
“Watch your tone,” I return, pushing off the counter.
“Or what?” she challenges. “You’ll put me back on that stage and sell me off, too?”
I clench my jaw to keep myself from rising to the bait. “That’s not what this is. You’re not athing.”
“No? Because you sure as hell bought me like one.”
She’s right; I did, but not for the reasons she thinks. The accusation feels wrong in every way, and I take a slow breath to regain control over myself.
“I got you out.”
“For a steep price. You played right into their system while you were at it,” she mutters, looking at me like she doesn’t recognize me either. “Now they’re free to kidnap someone else and start all over again.”
“Would you prefer staying there?” I ask, taking a step closer to minimize the gap between us without thinking. “Better yet, if someone else bought you?”
Doubt crosses her features, only letting it show briefly before schooling her expression. “I would’ve taken a few of them down first.”
There’s something fierce and entirely genuine about that response, and also completely insane. Somehow, I don’t doubt she would’ve tried if given the chance.
A disbelieving breath escapes me. “That wasn’t a fight even I could win, let alone you with your wolf suppressed.”
“I’ve been outnumbered before,” she returns, teeth gritting.
I lean forward, getting closer to her space while maintaining that calm demeanor. “And this time, you lost.”
She flinches like I struck her, then attempts to hide it with another burning stare. Instinctively, something in me twists, but more out of frustration than satisfaction.
She’s not hearing me, and she doesn’t want to.
“Those wolves weren’t doing random business. They’re organized and coordinated,” I tell her, forcing the point in frontof her face now. “That auction wasn’t a one-off…it’s part of something bigger.”
Her eyes narrow. “Then they need to be taken out. I want to do it.”
I blink back at her, struggling to digest how naive that notion is. “You’re not serious.”
“I am. If you let me go, I’ll do exactly that.”
“What? No,” I counter with a shake of my head to dispel the idea. “No…you’re not just charging into something like that without real intel, or backup, or a plan.”
