If something was wrong, I wanted to help fix it, but they shut me down every time.
I was pouting in bed when a crash echoed through the room, coming from the hall. My heart jumped, and I shrank back for a second, but Karma and Phantom surged to theirfeet.
Sin was out there. And Vandle.
As my alphas rushed to the door and threw it open, I stood on shaky legs andfollowed. I kept a pillow clutched to my chest, my hands engulfed in my sleeves.
Phantom had to hold Karma back from lunging at whatever was waiting in the hall, and Iswallowedmy whine, peering around them.
Vandle was restrained by four alphas, his violent aura flaring with rage. Sin stoodface-to-facewith Dominic Redgrave—a man I’d learned was not only begrudgingly respected by the alphas down here but also powerful and dangerous.
“Do you have it or not?” he asked.
“IsaidI would get it to youtoday.”
“Time’s up. You’re going to give us a show.”
I frowned.What did that mean?
Sin pushed his hand into hispocket butpulled it outempty-handed. His jaw was clenched. “We can negotiate something else.”
“You know wecan’t. Now, either come with us by choice, or we can traumatize your little gold pack by dragging you both to the cages, kicking and screaming.”
Phantom’s grip on Karma slipped. Or he released him so he would have help with the fight he was about to start. They both surged forward, growls in their chests, but barely got a punch in before they were held back, same as Vandle.
Karma kept thrashing and fighting, but it only meant he got shoved face-down onto the floor with the weight of two alphas keeping him there.
Ishied fartherback into the room, but Dominic’s piercing gaze landed on me.
“Come to Sin.” He waved a hand in a gesture that he maybe thought would look welcoming.
I locked eyes with my mate. Should I… listen? There was nowhere to run or hide. No options other than to walk out intothe mess of battering auras and the faint scent of blood from Karma’s scraped knuckles.
Sin’sblood-redeyes were hate-filled, more devilish than they’d ever been. His body vibrated, but he pushed out a heavy breath and held out a hand for me.
I dropped the pillow and rushed forward, launching myself into his embrace before anyone else could think to grab me.
“Oh, this is going to be a wonderful show.”
SIN
“You lied to me, Sin.” Dominic sat in a rusty metal chair in the corner of the room.
They used this space as the office for the rut cages, where dangerous bets and dark deals wereagreed upon. While the Marshall pack ran the alpha fights, tonight’s show was controlled by the Redgraves.
And Crescent and I would be the stars.
Evening was closing in, and Crescent was in the room next door, heavily guarded by alphas. If our pack had been freed at all, which was doubtful by the echoes of frustration and fury down the bond, they wouldn’t have the numbers needed to save her anyway.
“I didn’t lie.”
“Then where the fuck is my key?”
“We lost it.”
I lost it… somehow. I still didn’t understand how it had been there one second and gone the next. Someone must have pickpocketed me, but how did I not notice?
“That’s a liar’s excuse. Was your plan to use me for protection until your appeal and abandon me with nothing? You should know I’m not that stupid, nor that kind.”