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I drop into the chair across from her. I owe Lilah an apology, but the words stick in my throat like razors. I don’t want to make peace with her. I don’t want to give her a single thing that’ll give her hope she can stay. I’ll never do that to Orion.
I have to talk to Jett. And Hunter.
Shit. We need an all-hands meeting.
“The five of you can go,” Lilah says softly, dragging my attention back to her.
“Go where?”
“To the ball. I’ll pretend I’m sick.”
Lilah hugs her knees to her chest, flashing the frayed elastic at the bottom of her baggy sweat pants. I can’t scent the truth on her, but she strikes me as sincere. She’s not trying to manipulate anything.
She just wants to survive.
“You have to go. All of us have to go together.”
“I’ll stay out of your way.” She tucks her chin between her knees like a snail hiding in her shell.
I get the sudden urge to cup her cheek, lift her face, and stare her straight in the eyes. With a cough, I clear my head. “You can’t be alone at a party full of military alphas. The Patrick pack has their fingers in too many dirty pies.”
They’re the assholes who hired us to take out the Redfangs, and we’re not their only mercenary friends. Not many in our world have an honor code like Wyvern House.
We’ll have to watch Orion every second, and he wears our bites. Lilah’s unmarked. With or without her perfume, every alpha will be drooling like she’s on the menu.
“I’m used to being alone.” There’s a resignation in her voice that sends a wave of guilt crashing.
All I can do is shake it off. I promise to take better care of Lilah. To watch over her. But that’s where my responsibility ends. I have nothing else to give.
“Let’s go. I need to talk to Jett.” I get up, and Lilah follows a few steps behind me.
When I slow to let her catch up, she stops. I frown at her over my shoulder, aware of the trainees passing us with curious looks. “What are you doing?”
“Staying out of your way,” she answers matter-of-factly.
Goddamn it.
I’ve seriously fucked things up with her. Even worse, I know I can’t fix it.
“Keep up,” I grumble like an ass.
She scurries behind me until we reach Jett’s room. It’s the largest classroom in the training building, a giant arena. When the door swings open just before the bell, every trainee has a front-row seat for Lilah’s entrance.
The chatter cuts when they spot me. Then they spot her and it’s fucking chaos. Gasps, growls, and enough pheromone spikes to start a rutting orgy.
“Settle,” I bark, then turn to her with a softer tone. “Have a seat for a minute.”
Lilah reaches out like she wants to grab my sleeve, but before I can figure out what I’d do if she did, she darts up the steps. Grabbing a corner seat, she hunches so low her delicate chin touches her desk.
Every male tracks her smallest motion. Dogs licking their fangs.
Jett is the only exception, turned stubbornly toward me instead of the chaos I unleashed on his classroom.
“This can’t wait until after my lesson?” He grips the podium.
I drag him into the corner. Not that anyone gives a damn about us with Lilah in the room. “Did you know her when you were younger?”
Our bond tightens with Jett’s fear, and my gut clenches. It can’t be true.
