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“So you know they are looking for you?”
“No, Vance told me.”
“And who the fuck is Vance?”
I wasn’t prepared for his tone. The possessiveness of it. “A…” I hesitated again, and Cannon noticed. Who was Vance? A friend? Was he? Kind of. “It’s complicated. Let’s just call him a friend.”
Cannon’s eyes glowed briefly, and I almost stepped back. “A friend? Define friend.”
Blinking rapidly, I looked at him in confusion. “Dude, if you don’t know what a friend is at your age, then that tells me a helluva lot about you.”
In an instant, he was in front of the cage, and this time, I stepped back from him, from his anger. “Do not push me, pup. I am this close”—he held up his thumb and finger barely with any space between them—“to coming in there and knocking some sense into you. Do not push me.”
The fact I really wanted to push him said more about me than I wanted to admit. Instead, I moved closer to the bars and opted to change the subject. “How long am I to be held prisoner?”
“Until I let you out.”
“That isn’t an answer, Cannon.”
“Not Cannon,” he growled. “From now on, you’ll call me Alpha.” His eyes ran over me before he looked back at me with firm resolution in his eyes. “It’s the only answer you’re going to get.”
I was so stumped by the finality of his statement that Cannon had left me before I had a retort. Instead, the barn door closing jarred me out of my shock. He’d left me alone in this cell, and his pack wouldn’t go against him. He was their alpha.
If he thought I was calling him Alpha, he could think again. But whatever I called him wasn’t my problem. My problem was how I got out of this. How did I fix the fact humans were hunting for me?
Sitting on the cot with a thump, I dropped my head into my hands as I tried desperately to find a solution. I was in an enemy pack, wanted by the human police for killing three men, and I had nowhere to run. Rubbing my temples, I couldn’t help but think of what my brother was going to do when he found out how badly I’d messed up.
But first? First, I needed to get out of this cage.
CHAPTER 16
Kezia
I couldn’t sleep.
They locked me in a cage, and my wolf wanted out. I refused to shift in here, though. The last time I shifted, I took months to come back. I didn’t trust her to relinquish control anymore.
I didn’t trust myself not to hide behind her either.
Instead, I sat on the small cot and watched the shadows for Cannon. They never dimmed the spotlight, whether I was supposed to be intimidated by being under the literal spotlight or it was supposed to be a punishment, I wasn’t sure. If anything, I was grateful it was keeping me awake. I’d pulled the underwear and sweatpants on earlier. It was cold in here, and I was grateful for the warmth the pants offered.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I heard movement, but I didn’t bother reacting. I kept my back to the bars, one leg pulled up to my chest as I waited for whoever it was to appear. I wasn’t sure if it was him, but I couldn’t afford to react to him.
I felt my shoulders release a small fraction of tension as Nikan approached with a tray in his hands. Cannon’s brother looked at me warily as he approached.
“Hey,” I greeted, my throat dry and croaky from being silent too long and having nothing to drink. “Been a while.” I tried to be lighthearted, but Nikan’s expression remained blank. “Oh, are you not allowed to talk to me?” I dropped my leg and leaned forward, my elbows resting on my thighs. “I get it.”
Nikan approached the bars—the tray had a covered plate and a bottle of water.
“For me?” I asked hopefully. I moved forward, but the look in his eyes stopped me.
“Stay there,” Nikan ordered quietly. “There are people behind me, so don’t try anything when I open the door.”
Swallowing back my protests, I nodded, resuming the position I’d been sitting in before I realized it was him. “I won’t move…you’re safe.” I heard the bitterness in my voice, and when he looked at me, I averted my gaze so he couldn’t see my disappointment.
The cell door opened, and I willed myself to stay where I was, although I felt her surge forward at the thought of freedom. I pushed back my wolf, whispering to her that she had to let me handle this.
Nikan slipped the tray onto the floor. He didn’t hurry to close the cell door, and I didn’t take it for a slight but more a reassurance that he didn’t think I was the monster his brother thought I was. He met my gaze as he closed the door, and I saw the faint glimmer of the man I had met in my packlands.
