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“Let go of her,” Dominic growls, his hand clamping around Luca’s wrist and squeezing until his Beta hisses and releases me.
“What the hell?” Luca rolls his wrist, testing the damage.
I curse myself for not taking better advantage of my short moment of freedom; I should have kept running right freaking past Luca—and I would have if I’d realized how easily he would step down. He shoots me a quick glance of confusion, but then focuses wholly on Dominic.
“What’s going on?” the Beta tries again.
Dominic steps between us, surprising me by facing me rather than his second-in-command. “I thought I made myself pretty clear earlier,” he says, his eyes roaming down my face to my neck. My skin flushes under his attention despite my disgust.
“I don’t answer to you,” I return.
Behind him, Luca lets out a strangled sound from the back of his throat. I glance over Dominic’s shoulder at him, and he meets my eyes. There’s no jealousy in his expression, only resignation. Bringing me home might have been a bit of rebellion against his Alpha, but when it comes down to it, apparently he knows his place.
“Are you ready to be briefed on the status of our trip?” Luca asks, his voice robotic as he averts his gaze from us.
“Later.” Dominic waves him off. To me, he says, “Let’s go.”
“I’m not going back in that room,” I tell him seriously. I can’t stand another minute locked up in there. I’m glad he’s feeding me now, but nothing has changed about the lack of entertainment. And I have too much pride to beg for things to do.
“We’re not going to the room. I can’t trust you to stay in it.” He reaches out and takes my hand, holding fast when I try to jerk away. “I have a meeting I need to attend; you’ll go with me.”
I study his face, trying to weigh if he’s messing with me. He looks serious, but I barely know the man, so it’s hard to tell if this is for real. Still, anything would be better than being shoved back into Dominic’s bedroom. I relax my hand in his.
“Let me know when I’m needed, Alpha,” Luca says, reminding us he’s still there.
“Uh-huh,” Dominic answers noncommittally. I can’t help but notice that he bumps Luca with his shoulder as he pulls me the opposite direction. As I go along for the ride, I can feel Luca’s eyes on me, but I don’t dare turn around and risk ruining Dominic’s sudden goodwill toward me.
Dominic doesn’t say anything as he leads me downstairs. I’m relieved that there’s no one around to stare—more so because Dominic hasn’t let go of my hand.
We leave the pack house, but we don’t go far before Dominic stops beside a black SUV. He pulls up short, and for a split second, I think he’s going to open the car door for me. Instead, he pushes me up against the side of the car and plants his hands on either side of my shoulders to box me in. He glares directly into my eyes.
“This meeting is important. I’m telling you right now, if you do anything to jeopardize my deal, there will be hell to pay. Understand?” He looks completely off-kilter, and I have to admit I like that I’ve made him that way.
“Understood.” I nod. I put a hand on his chest and give him a hard shove to make him give me some space.
He tenses like he’s expecting me to run, but I turn and climb into the passenger seat. It does me good to keep him on his toes. If I run every time I think there’s even the slightest opening, he’s only going to keep watching me closer.
I’m starting to figure him out. He’s a control freak, that’s his problem. He doesn’t want me so much as he wants to feel in control of me.
Dominic climbs into the driver’s seat, watching me out of the corner of his eye as he shifts the car into drive. There’s the slightest moment of hesitation before he reaches over and hits the lock for the doors.
I can’t hold back my snort of laughter.
“You’re a wildcard, Tess Jarreau. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t jump out of a moving vehicle if you thought it would actually work.”
He’s not wrong, my wolf points out, traitorous as ever.
I look over at Dominic, meeting his gaze full-on for a brief moment, and see the humor dancing in his eyes. For a split second, he almost seems like a normal person instead of the complete psychopath that I know he really is.
Not wanting him to get the wrong idea that we’re bonding, I lean forward and turn the radio up to drown him out.
As we pull away from the pack house and onto a proper road, I catch myself watching Dominic drive. For the moment, there’s no chance of running, which makes it the perfect chance to study him. He hasn’t changed much in the three years since I first ran into him.
His hair is a little longer, as if he’s due for a haircut. The scruff on his face is unexpectedly appealing though. His hands slide along the steering wheel with practiced ease as he turns, leaving pack territory. I sit up a little straighter.
“Where are we going?” I ask, a rush of anxiety flooding me.
“We’re heading East. I have a meeting with Alpha Jerome of the Northeast Peace Pack.” He glances over, and reminds me again, “It’s a very important meeting.”
