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I found it oddly refreshing that Night didn’t subscribe to that same prejudice. I wondered how things would be in the Kings’ pack if the women were on a more equal footing.
Though I was, of course, no stranger to nudity, I averted my gaze as best I could to give them some respect. There wasn’t much I could do, however, with the Alpha’s arms locking me in place.
“Alright,” Night’s beta sighed, drawing my gaze again, “now that’s out of the way, Night, I think you’re strangling the prisoner.”
At his words, Night immediately loosened his grip on me, allowing me to suck in a much-needed breath of air. Thank goodness he said something. As I began to relax again, the beta slid in front of me, blocking the naked wolves from my view, another blessing.
He smirked at me. The expression was cute despite the fact that he was another wild Warg wolf. “I’m Dom,” he said, “I can’t say we get too many humans in these parts…?”
It took me a couple of seconds to realize that he was leaving room for me to tell him my name. I considered whether I ought to reveal that information before ultimately deciding it wouldn’t matter either way. “My name’s Bryn Hunter.”
“Bryn? That’s a cute name.” He gave me a brief once-over, not bothering to pretend he wasn’t. “So why would the Kings’ Alpha keep a human toy around?”
The word “toy” struck me like a blow, and my lips pulled away from my teeth. “Back off,” I snarled at him, once again surprising myself with my boldness. “I’m no one’s toy.”
Fortunately, Dom didn’t seem to take offense to my response—in fact, it made him laugh. “You’re pretty feisty for a human, aren’t you? But that doesn’t really answer my question, does it?”
I took a few moments to calm down. The exhaustion was getting to me. “I’ve lived with the Kings’ pack my entire life. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
“That’s fine, that’s fine. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to tell me all about it later.” He smirked at me again. I felt myself begin to bristle, but I didn’t snap at him again.
“That’s enough, Dom. I need you to make sure we’ve got everyone here. If there are stragglers or badly wounded, you need to round them up.”
Dom nodded once and jogged off to do as his Alpha ordered. I yelped as Night lifted me from the ground, holding me bridal style in his arms.
“Put me down!” I wiggled in his arms, trying to kick myself free. But his grip remained viselike. “I can walk just fine, damn you!”
He ignored me.
I continued to fight, but I was much weaker now than I had been when he first kidnapped me. I gritted my teeth, thinking about how stubborn Night was. How was my luck so terrible that I could plan my escape from one terrible wolf only to wind up the prisoner of this jughead Alpha? Didn’t he have parents? Or a mother? Did he ever stop to think of how upset she’d be if she saw him treating another woman this way? But no, he was just a typical Alpha male from what I’d seen.
“Why do you never listen?” I demanded. “I said, put me down!”
Night stopped walking and pressed his lips to my ear, his breath hot on the side of my face. I immediately froze at his closeness. “Listen, girl, my wolves have just come from a fight, and they’re a little hostile right now.”
His words made me shiver.
“I can’t put you down and risk you trying to run again. If you want to live, you need to stay close to me until I’ve explained the situation to them, or I won’t be able to guarantee your safety.”
My mouth clamped shut. That was more than enough reason for me to stop fighting him so much. Given the fact that I felt unsafe even in my own home whenever the Kings’ wolves got a little too excited at night, I wasn’t too keen on seeing how rowdy wolves could get when I was within yards of them.
Night moved a little farther away from his team as they calmed themselves down and got dressed. Meanwhile, I tried to regain control of the thunderous pace of my heart. I was too close to the Alpha, and it was so hard to keep my mind from straying to the times when the man from my dreams and I had been…intimate. Especially when I could feel the beat of Night’s own heart through my shoulder, which was pressed against his naked chest.
Fortunately, I was only alone with Night for a few more seconds before Dom returned, holding something in his arms. I couldn’t tell what it was in the darkness. He glanced from Night to me and back again. His smile was more relaxed than it’d been a few minutes ago.
“Good news, Night,” Dom said. “All of our team are accounted for and relatively healthy.”
Night nodded and let out a breath. He gently let me stand on the ground, still close enough that he could grab me at a moment’s notice. I winced as my raw, tender feet felt the sharp sticks and rocks beneath me. “I’m glad to hear that we didn’t suffer any casualties.”
“You and me both. It’s a relief that everyone got out in one piece despite the sudden shift in the plan. But we can discuss that later. For now…” he turned his attention to me and offered me the bundle, “here.”
I stepped away from Night to accept the bundle—pants and boots from the looks of it. I stepped into the pants, which were so big that the ankles pooled at my feet on the ground. The boots would also be big, but they would be better than traversing the forest barefoot. I didn’t care. I was just grateful for the comfort of wearing clothes again.
Night, snarling, grabbed hold of the waistband of the pants. Before I could react, he had ripped them off me and tossed them aside. For the second time, I stood shivering in the cold, my second pair of clothing in hours taken away from me in only the blink of an eye. I could have cried.
I whirled on Night, my body trembling from the anger flowing through my veins. But I found that Night had Dom backed up to a tree, growling at him for some reason. Dom had his hands up in supplication, confusion evident in the furrowing of his bushy, honey-blond eyebrows. Chilled at the sight of an Alpha manhandling his beta like that, I took a few healthy steps back. Why would he allow Dom to offer me the clothing, only to rip it away seconds later? If he didn’t want me to have clothes, why had he given me his shirt?
Yet again, it hit me that I was in the middle of the woods surrounded by a pack of psychotic wolves whose own Alpha could snap at his beta for no apparent reason. I shivered and held my arms tightly around myself. How could I have ever felt secure in Night’s presence when he was capable of acting so unhinged? What could be waiting for me at the Wargs compound? Would I even make it there with Night acting like this?
