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Remus approached me a moment later, his expression far less intense as he looked me over. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly, eyes darting over momentarily to where Nic was reading Eli’s guards the riot act.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave a small nod. “Yes,” I whispered, barely able to croak that single word out. I was relieved when the pack alpha gave a small nod and didn’t push me for anything else — I didn’t think I’d be able to make my throat work enough to explain.
I turned and watched as Remus joined his half-brother and their father. Eli was making a calming motion with his free hand as he tried to get a word in. “I’ll fucking explain,” he finally snapped, his steely blue eyes flashing as he glared at his father. “I would if you’d let me speak, anyway.”
Nic inhaled sharply and glowered back, but he pursed his lips together.
Eli glanced around and scowled. “But not here. I can tell you the short version, anyway — I was supposed to meet Ryan Sanders here, but he didn’t show. When I went to look for him, I found his body with a single gunshot wound.” Eli made a face. “And before I could do anything about it, someone shotme.”
“Who?” Nic demanded, his fury rising again.
Eli shrugged, hissing as he disturbed the wound. Jaxon shot him a dark look but continued to work silently, dabbing up the fresh trickle of blood. “I have no idea. He was wearing a mask — but he was definitely a wolf. The lack of scent threw me, but unless he was one of the strongest humans alive, he was a wolf. Probably an alpha wolf. I’d bet money on it.
“After a moment of struggling, I got his gun away from him and… killed him. At that point, I decided it wasn’t safe to stay in the woods.”
“And where the fuck were these two?”
Eli rolled his eyes at his father. “Here. In the lot. Where I told them to wait,” he snarled. I wasn’t sure if he was angry on his men’s behalf or because his father clearly didn’t trust him to be on his own at the age of twenty-five… or maybe both. “They came running when they heard a gunshot, for fuck’s sake. They did exactly as they were supposed to.”
Nic looked like he wanted to say something else, but Remus cut in, his dark brows pushed together. “What exactly were you doing in the middle of nowhere meeting with Ryan Sanders?” he demanded. A shiver ran through me at the sound of his voice — I had almost forgotten that Ryan wasRemus’pack member, not Eli’s. Ashley, Cyn, and Demi all were, too.
Eli scowled and shook his head. “I told you, I can’t go into all the details here. Who the hell knows who’s listening right now?”
Nic folded his arms and glowered down at his son. Remus didn’t look nearly as judgmental at that particular moment, but I could feel his intense displeasure rolling off him in waves. Neither of them appreciated being kept in the dark; I didn’t know how Eli could tolerate being the center of their ire. My wolf was squirming and whining softly just being in these alphas’ vicinity, and they had totally forgotten I existed.
I’d have been just fine with that, but…
“It’s your fault, isn’t it?”
I wheeled around,gaping like a fish at Damon. “Excuse me?” I almost couldn’t believe what he had just said. It’d been a wild enough day; hallucinating wouldn’t be entirely out of the question.
The massive beta wolf growled softly, squaring his shoulders. I wondered, for a moment, if he was the Longbow pack beta, but… That wouldn’t make sense for both pack alpha and pack beta to be overseas. Whoever was the Longbow pack beta, he was back in London.
That didn’t make me feel any better about the massive guard looming over me, though.
“Ever since you showed up, the trouble started,” Damon huffed, staring at me hard enough to bore holes through my skull. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
I was so shocked by the accusation that I didn’t know what to say. I opened my mouth — closed it — opened it again. Not a single sound came out. Even my wolf had been shocked into submission, almost disappearing entirely. Damon took a step closer, and I remained frozen, only managing to finally snap my jaw back shut. “You belong in a holding cell until we get all this cleared up.” He pointed a finger at me, opening his mouth to level yet another accusation, when Eli appearedout of nowhere.
I don’t think I’d ever seen him move that fast, even earlier this evening when he tackled the gunman. In a matter of moments, he had both his hands on Damon, wheeling the man around and pressing him into the truck’s bed. His presence flooded out, practically smothering the other man despite the difference in size. “Do not,” he snarled, the alpha red starting to appear in his eyes, “lay a hand on her. If you so much as touch her, I’ll rip your fucking throat out.”
The threat was enough to snap my brain back into gear, and I hurried over, grabbing Eli by his elbow. “He didn’t touch me,” I murmured, trying to prevent any more violence from unfolding. Eli was already injured, and the last thing I wanted was for him to turn on his packmate, insults lobbed or not. I certainly didn’t want to be the source of a fight.
He looked at me like he was seeing me but not hearing me. I cleared my throat and spoke a little louder. “Eli, calm down. He didn’t touch me,” I said again, tugging his arm. Eli relented and released the older man, taking a step backward. “Be careful of your shoulder, huh? Jaxon just patched that up.”
The red disappeared from his gaze and Eli growled again, crowding close to me. He slung an arm over my shoulders, pulling me even closer; even I could sense how agitated his wolf was at the moment. First, his father had verbally attacked his guards, then this brute had come after me — I wasn’t even Eli’s pack, though. I didn’t want to think about the implications of what I might mean to him. I didn’twantto mean anything to Eli.
Except I did. I really did. But Icouldn’t, and it would only get harder if I allowed myself to consider the possibility.
Despite those thoughts, my wolf reemerged. She was quiet, but she was there, rumbling softly as she tried calming Eli. I had no idea if he could sense her the way I could sense his wolf — after all, I was no alpha, and my poor wolf had been subdued for so long — but the fact that she was trying… That warmed me. I didn’t want to lead him on, but I could live with it for a moment.
Remus cleared his throat. “No one is going to be putting anyone in a holding cell,” he rumbled, looking from me to Damon. “She is under my protection until I say otherwise.”
Nic sighed, speaking up a moment later. “This is Remus’ territory,” he reminded Damon. I couldn’t tell who he agreed with more, but I supposed it didn’t matter; he was still siding with his son. “Leave her alone.”
Damon looked from one alpha to the other and finally back to Eli and me. His gaze hardened and I knew, I justknew, he wasn’t going to let this go — but he at least had the smarts not to argue in the presence of three alphas all agreeing on the same thing.
“As you wish,” he finally murmured, taking a step away from me.
