He clearly didn’t like this question, because he scowled—again. “After I shared the pain with you,” he said, a growling edge to his tone, “Enoch and Anaïs managed to heal the wound.”
I wanted to be angry at him for refusing to share his pain with me all this time, knowing that he could’ve been healed when we visited Enoch in the hospital, but the memory of the pain, how it wasn’t just bad but the worst thing I had ever felt, shut me up. If anything, I felt gratitude, in a way, that he wanted to protect me from this absolute misery.
It also made me worry that he’d had to endure it this whole time.
But seeing as this was neither the time nor the place for this conversation, all I did was nod and give him a small, hesitant smile. “That’s good. I’m relieved.”
“Well, I’m not,” Thayer chimed in now, folding his arms. “You’ve done whatever that was for hours. It’s now midnight.” He glowered at me. “On the bright side, Lucien here gave me a rundown of everything that happened.”
The sarcasm wasn’t lost on me, and I decided to return as good as I got. “I thought you didn’t believe in the supernatural,” I said with a saccharine smile. “I thought that Willow and Julianna simply drowned in that river, that I was a delusional crackpot with a victim mentality who didn’t get over her teenage emo era.”
Thayer visibly flinched, his glower replaced by guilt. “Look, Drew, I’ve been meaning to apologize—”
“Would you have if you hadn’t gotten that letter from the Syndicate?” I cut him off bitterly, and he tensed. “Your care for me only extends to your selfish need for me to stay alive because you can’t tolerate having another sibling die out of your reach. That doesn’t make you a good person, or a good brother. So save it.”
His gaze turned sharp with hurt, but he didn’t reply. Or rather, he couldn’t, because Enoch entered the corridor from the living area and, looking at Lucien, said, “Your Betas are here.”
Lucien groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course they are.”
With a tight jaw, he turned to look at Thayer and me. “My Betas must know by now that I’ve brought back two humans to the pack,” he said, “so you’re going to have to sit in on this meeting.”
I was stunned. “We’re at your pack?”
“Yeah,” Lucien said, giving me a tired smile. “When you passed out, I brought you and Thayer here to my house, deep within the pack territory. It’s the only safe place for you two right now.”
“Oh,” I murmured. That made sense. But then I realized I had yet to learn what happened after I’d passed out back in my apartment. What happened to the attacker?
Before I could ask, Lucien led us to the living area, a large space with a nonetheless cozy vibe and a surprisingly lavish, professionally equipped kitchen with all the high-end appliances, next to which was a large round dining table.
Lucien, his face troubled as his mind seemed to be elsewhere, motioned for us to sit at the table next to him. Anais was in the kitchen, drinking what looked like tea, and seemed hesitant and confused. Lucien noticed and said, “You will sit with us.”
Anais frowned. “I’m a mere healer, Alpha.”
Lucien gave her a cryptic smile. “I want you to sit in on this discussion.”
She stared down at her teacup. “I’ll make some coffee and tea for everyone, then.”
Lucien seemed to want to protest, but Anais was already working her way through the kitchen as if it wasn’t her first time there.
He must’ve noticed my surprise, because Lucien said, “My house serves as a reserve meeting place, as well as a rest stop for werewolves for any sort of reason.”
To my surprise, Thayer chimed in with “What kind of resting stop do werewolves need?”
It was a good question, and Lucien answered it with “My house is deep within the forests of the Montrévère pack. Many pack members—old and young—use these forests for all kinds of things. Training, playtime, anything, really.” He smiled genuinely now, fondly almost. “Since it’s a long way from the main pack area, the members sometimes stop by my place to grab a drink, shower and dress, take a nap, this kind of thing. This is why I stored clothes for all ages in all sizes all over the house, and why there are guest rooms.”
Something about that sounded so serene and beautiful. As if the pack were a family, with Lucien as the main caretaker. That made my chest tighten somewhat.
Thayer was silent, too, as he thought it through.
Just then, Enoch opened the entrance door, and into the room walked five people—two women and three men.
Wordlessly, the Betas sat around the table, along with Enoch and Anais, who now brought a tray with coffee, a teapot, and mugs for everyone.
Once everyone was seated, I realized that all five Betas were glancing between Thayer and me—which wasn’t a surprise, considering we were the outsiders here. But still, the attention made me shift uncomfortably in my seat and look at a certain point on the wall.
“Before we start,” Lucien said as a greeting, “let me introduce you to Drew Colter and her brother, Thayer. Drew, Thayer,” he said, making my brother and me focus our gazes on him, “meet my Betas—Callista, Blaise, Oz, Teya, and Ren.”
The three male Betas—Blaise, Oz, and Ren—were very good looking, but the women, Callista and Teya, were exceptionally beautiful, especially since their beauty seemed natural and effortless. Callista was a gorgeous woman, with a pair of startling green eyes that seemed even brighter in contrast with her smooth black skin. Her ebony hair was tied in a plait that was so long, it reached the floor when she sat down. She reminded me of a painting of Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting, I’d once seen. Something about her upright posture and resting bitch face, perhaps.
