Wolf Bargain (Wolfish 3)

I freeze instantly, my eyes lifting to meet his where he stands. Alone. I am not alone, after all.

He glances between the empty juice glass and my teetering posture as I struggle to hold on to the table—the look on his face betraying him in an instant.

“You did this,” I say as I struggle to catch my breath, my eyes following the path his just made as I begin to connect the dots. “You … you put something in the juice.”

Even as I say it, I feel a stabbing pain in my stomach that makes me double over. I should have sensed the addition, should have smelled it, tasted it. I shouldn’t have been so stupid.

I want to yell and alert the others, but I can barely summon a voice to speak, nonetheless yell.

And Remus knows it. He fixes me with a cool glare from the doorway, where he makes no move to aid me … even as I stumble forward on to my knees, unable to support myself even in a sitting position.

“There are few things that I wouldn’t do in order to protect the pure-blooded lines of the pack,” he says, continuing that cold stare. “I take that back, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do in order to make sure that Romulus doesn’t breed more of you.”

He’s trying to keep his face composed, but I don’t miss the way he glances once over his shoulder, down the hall, before he looks back to me and continues.

I knew something like this was coming. Even now, as the sight of Remus blinks in and out of sight, I can’t believe I was so stupid to let my guard down, even for a second.

“Do you think I could just sit back and let him do it? Let him turn another human and even worse, allow his sons to breed with you? You would have pups with all three of his sons and the bloodline would be forever tainted. Romulus would grow his pack in the most disgusting and impure of ways.”

Somehow, at last, I find my voice. It’s small and broken … but I know he hears it.

“Romulus and the boys will make you pay for whatever you have done,” I say, knowing my threat sounds empty. My voice, along with the threat, sounds weak and meaningless as my vision starts to fuzz and blur at the edges. I try to stay lucid and face Remus until someone comes to find me.

Maybe, if I’m lucky, it will be one of our own come to help.

If I’m not so lucky …

I shake my head, my vision blurring further.

No. I can’t think of that. I can’t think of what will happen if it’s one of Remus’ pack that finds us first.

Remus isn’t done with me yet.

“You’re such a foolish girl to think that I care what my brother and his mutts will do,” he says, stepping forward to loom over me even further. “Why do you think I chose to go after you instead of just killing Romulus myself?”

/> “Because you’re a coward?” I snarl.

Remus laughs. The sound of it makes the room feel as if it’s spinning.

“I did it because this will hurt my brother and those boys much more than anything else I could possibly do. This will cause them more suffering than they will be able to bear. This will be the end of Romulus’ pack for good. Let them shrink back like the beaten dogs they are. There will be nothing they can do to recover his pack from a most certain demise now.”

“I … you …”

I get ready to hurl another insult at Remus, but I feel my hand slip from the table. Before I’m able to muster up the courage, the voice, another stab of pain hits me like a truck in the abdomen, and all goes black.

And silent.

That is the worst part.

13

Sabrina

When I wake up—surprised as I am to even wake up—there is an uneasy quiet still around me. It’s not the first time that I’ve been ill or have passed out and woken up to a sea of staring faces, but this time feels different. This time I can tell that something is still wrong.

Rory, Marlowe, and Kaleb are all sitting on the sides of my bed around me. Something doesn’t feel right. Lydia and Romulus are there too.

“Hey,” Rory says as he gently takes my hand and leans forward to kiss me on the top of my forehead. “How are you feeling?”