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I tried my hardest not to tremble in his grasp. “You don’t know me,” I spat. “But do with me as you wish. Just know that when my family finds out, and they will, you’ll truly learn the meaning of murderous.” I said it with all my heart, but not for the reason they probably believed. If Bellatrix found out, she wouldn’t kill them for vengeance; she would use my death as an excuse to start a new war.

“Just let me go, and I won’t trespass again.”

His amber eyes narrowed. “Something tells me you can’t promise that.”

I lifted my chin a little higher. “Something tells me you’re an arrogant cunt who’s quick to judge.”

Eyebrow arched, he said, “You make it hard not to when you show up within our bounds, covered in blood.” He reached out to my face, and I flinched, but he only tucked my wild hair behind my ear, eyes narrowing on the pointed tips. He clenched his teeth, the next words dripping with poison when he spoke them: “A Primal Born.”

I fought the urge to sketch a sardonic curtsy. “At your service,” I said with a bright smile instead.

Still firmly gripping my bicep, he dragged me toward a large single-story house. Around us on three sides were full beech trees extending into woodland. From the back of the house, open meadows morphed into rippling knolls. The general area was flat and expansive with no paved roads—no civilization in sight. I craned my neck back to see where I’d come from. Which direction was the city? How long had I been running, completely unaware, to get this far out of bounds?

“Walk,” the beta snapped.

“I am walking.”

“Walk faster before your cold blood freezes out here. Where the hells are your clothes anyway?”

I shrugged a shoulder. The door of the house drew closer. “What are you going to do to me now? Have your way with me and throw me in a creek?”

He let out something like a laugh through his nostrils, but there was no sign of amusement on his chiseled face. “You really think you’re irresistible, don’t you?” He mumbled under his breath. “Conceited seductresses …”

“Seductress? I don’t even want your revolting paw on my arm right now.”

In response, he increased the tension of his grip. When I hissed, sucking in a breath through my teeth, he released me.

His impressive height cast a sinister shadow. He wasn’t slight like the vampire I’d confronted at my revel the night before, nor brawny like the lycan he’d called Caleb. He was lean, his pectorals flexing with an intake of breath. Everything in his body language screamed combative, but I clenched my muscles and stood my ground despite the urge to bolt.

His eyes narrowed. “I won’t touch you if you follow me like a good girl.”

“Who says I’m a good girl?” I asked, a vulpine grin stretching across my face.

A musky and sweet sort of scent flitted over me. He turned and continued walking toward the house, but the moment I looked back, he said, “Run, and I’ll sic Caleb on you. He won’t hesitate to destroy you.”

My heart thudded against my breastbone. He opened the door and stood stiffly until I entered the space. The walls were made of wood panels with heads of deer and other animal busts mounted. Several pelts lay on the floor, and blankets were piled atop a couch I wanted to sink into and sleep for days. I stood there for a moment, letting the warmth of the room envelop me.

The door shut behind me, making me nearly jump out of my skin, but I remained outwardly resolute. It was annoying being among beings who could probably sense a lot of my emotional shifts.

“Keep walking,” said the beta, nodding toward an archway that led to a narrow corridor. “Right,” he said as I neared a wall. Frowning, I turned right. “Left.”

“Are you going to lock me in a room until I perish?” I asked.

He gestured toward a door. I was surprised to find a bathroom behind it. The floor was made of tiny smooth stones, and though there wasn’t a tub in sight, there was a tiled chamber with a rope and a showered above. In addition, there was a commode, but I didn’t feel the need to relieve myself. That had probably already occurred when the wolf was in charge.

I fought back a groan of disgust and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, glancing around. The beta’s eyes were wide and pinned somewhere below my waist when I looked to him again. He didn’t turn his gaze away, although I had a sense that he knew I was looking at him. Slowly, his focus dragged back up to my face, the odd look there making my body vibrate uncomfortably. He gestured toward the shower. “Wash the blood off while you answer some questions,” he said.

“Why should I listen to you?”

“Because you’re in my territory, and I have every right to kill you. But I haven’t.”

I stepped closer. “Then what’s stopping you?”

Tension pulled taut like an organ string as we stared at each other. Then, at last, I turned away, the overpowering smell of copper in my nostrils was so different from consuming blood. This felt wrong. It was terrifying to know I’d somehow gotten so much blood on me without knowing exactly how or when. It didn’t smell like human blood, but the mud and general nature caked under my nails was confusing my senses.

The water was cold and beat upon my sensitive skin like an autumn rainstorm. I squeezed my eyes shut, letting it assault my scalp, my back. Letting it wash the blood from my body while the beta remained just outside of the curtain. I could still hear his steady heartbeat and scent his sharp annoyance.

“Who are you?” he asked.