“She’s been fucking tortured,” I snap. A volatile cocktail of emotions courses through my veins is a mixture of anger and anguish. The weight of the revelation I just shared hangs heavy in the air, echoing in my ears. I throw myself into a seat as a heavy weight settles on my shoulders and my muscles ache with tension.
“Who has?” Luca asks, his voice filled with curiosity. He leans forward; his brow furrowed in confusion. As the question hangs in the air, Ryan and I stare at him incredulously.
“Emily, the girl we foundthree days ago. Who else?”
“Sorry,” Luca shrugs. “Some of us have had other things going on besides obsessing over the new girl.”
“I’m not fucking obsessing,” I bite out. “I was doing my job. Making sure she’s not a threat.”
“And did you?” Ryan questions calmly with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” I sigh, sinking further into my seat as I rub my hands over my face. “She hasn’t said anything much. She freaked out when I asked her what happened. It was bad. Full on panic—hyperventilating, shaking.”
Luca raises his brows. “So… we wait, or…?”
I let out a long breath as my wolf whimpers. “We need answers. She’s been here for days, and we still don’t knowwhy. Or where she came from. Or if she's working with anyone. We don't know anything and we can’t afford to keep flying blind.”
“What are you suggesting?” asks Ryan.
“Well, an alpha command to tell us everything is clearly the easiest and quickest option. She won’t like it, but it gets the job done,” Luca says.
I hesitate, wishing we had a different solution, but I can’t think of anything. I drag my hands through my hair, feeling like I want to pull it out. My stomach twists with guilt, but we can’t take any chances with pack security.
“Do we have any other choice?” I ask.
A door clicks as Sofia strolls out of her bedroom and joins us. “Oh, my goddess, you guys are such idiots,” she scoffs.
“You have a better idea?” Ryan asks.
“How about you let the adults figure this out, huh?” Luca shoots back.
Sofia crosses her arms, cocks a hip out, and rolls her eyes. “Yes, I have a much better idea,” she snipes, her eyes narrowing as she stares directly at Luca. “Me.”
“You?” laughs Luca. “You might be an alpha female, Princess, but you get that onlymaleshave an alpha command, right?”
I wish I knew what made these two hate each other so much.
“Yes, oh wise one, I’m fully aware of what I can and can’t do. But you go in and use an alpha command on anabusedomega and you might get your answers, but you’re also basically abusing her too,” she directs at Ryan, and he winces. I shift uncomfortably in my chair. She’s right, of course she is.
“You three are so used to being powerful males that you don’t have the first idea of what it’s like to be anything else. She’sscared, assholes.”
We all just sit there staring at her. When did Sofia go from being a gangly teenager who worshiped us and followed us everywhere to this twenty-year-old who is handing us our asses?
“Damn, Fia. Don’t hold back,” I say before taking a long sip of my beer.
“Wasn’t planning to,” she says with a wink. “Let me talk to her on my own. I’ll get your answers.”
Ryan smiles at Sofia and sits back. He’s proud of her and how much she’s grown up over the last couple of years. It’s only been the two of them for the past six years since his mom did the unthinkable and rejected their dad after over twenty years together. Ryan’s dad, our former Alpha, barely survived the rejection and was in no shape to continue as Alpha. And while in the past, Ryan struggled with having Sofia following him everywhere, things have clearly changed.
“Make it happen.” Ryan says with a nod towards Sofia.
“Abso-fucking-lutely not!” Luca snarls as he jumps to his feet and stalks over to Sofia. She shoots him a death glare that could turn a lesser male to ice. “Not a fucking chance are you going to be alone in a room with someone we don’t fucking know! We haven’t even figured out why she’s here. It’s not safe and I won’t fucking allow it,” he snarls in her face. His fists are clenched, and he’s leaning into her face, but she barely blinks.
Instead, she glares at him.
“Luca, last I checked,Iwas the Alpha of this pack,” Ryan says with an unmistakably hard edge. “Step back from my sister.Now,” he orders, his voice edging with his alpha command.
Luca steps away and growls, “Of course, Alpha,” before he walks out. Sofia smirks and sticks out her tongue at his back.
