"Oh, I'm so calling the cops on you guys. You wait and see." Wren threatened, jutting out her hips and placing two hands on it.
There was just something about her tone that made Radek's brows draw together. He couldn't fathom why it suddenly seemed like she'd grown more balls since she resurrected.
His wolf, however, was shamelessly accepting every version of her.
"You should really learn how to shut up," Arlo growled, stepping forward so fast Wren flinched.
She pushed herself back until her spine hit the wall, and still, her eyes didn't stop glaring. Radek has seen wolves flinch, grovel, and break under less pressure. But this girl? She looked like she'd been born in fire, Radek inwardly thought.
No bark. No begging. Just pure silent contempt.
"You don't get it," Arlo went on, "you're lucky to even be breathing right now. If you keep acting like you've got choices, we'll take those from you, too."
"That a threat?" she croaked, scoffing.
Dimitri grunted. "More like a public service announcement."
Jace rubbed his forehead like all of this gave him a migraine. "Can we not traumatize her further before we turn her into a wolf?"
"Why not? She's clearly made of something other than meat. Snapped her spine and she still twitches." He countered.
That was Radek's main job in the group; to antagonize Jace.
Wren was trembling again, and for a second, Radek wondered if it was fear. But then, he saw her eyes flick to the side in a thoughtful sheen, as though she were already weighing which of them she could maybe outrun if her legs worked right.
They didn't. He could tell by how stiff she was when he grabbed her arm. He didn't grab them too hard for heaven knows why but just enough to say we're done here.
"Get up," He commanded.
"I'm not going with you."
"You are," Radek replied, calm as stone. "Because you'll die again if you don't."
It wasn't exactly untrue.
They walked her out. Well, it was more like four of them walked, and she stumbled with them, half limping and muttering things under her breath like she thought they couldn't hear.
But wolf ears don't miss things like, "bastards," or "should've bitten off his nose."
They made it to the hotel lobby and the manager looked up from behind the front desk with that curiosity and oh-god-don't-sue-us look. His eyes flicked from Wren's bruised lip to Arlo's tall height and then to Jace, because Jace looked like he could be in a toothpaste commercial even when dragging a half-dead woman.
"You checking out?" the manager asked carefully.
Arlo tossed a wad of cash onto the counter. That was the core language most people spoke in this city. That was how Radek and his crew of heirs always got away with every immorality they committed.
They had their fathers' money to throw around and they never failed to make good use of that opportunity. 'Good' not necessarily mean 'good, good'.
The manager blinked at the notes.
"She enjoyed her stay. No need to clean up." Arlo said with a wink.
"I—right," the guy stammered.
.
Outside, the night air was brittle. The city was alive and pulsing with the thrum of engines, a homeless guy singing about oranges in the corner. Lupin House was only thirty minutes away but right now, it felt like another planet to Radek.
They reached the cars.
"Well, she's not riding with you," Arlo said instantly to me.
"Why not?"
"Because you'll glare her to death."
Jace added, "She needs someone calm. Someone rational."
"Which obviously means you?" Radek asked dryly.
"I didn't say that."
Of course, he didn't have to. Guy always thought so highly of himself and thought he was better than everyone else.
What Radek despised the most was his hypocritical way of acting like he wasn't what he was; a fucking show off.
Radek would never let him off that easily. "But you meant it."
Dimitri held up a hand. "Look. We'll settle this like men."
"Oh boy," Wren muttered, rolling her eyes. "Please let it be arm wrestling."
"Rock. Paper. Scissors," Dimitri announced.
They stared at him. Dimitri was the most ruthless of them all, so such suggestion would most likely brew shock.
"Best of three."
"What are we, twelve?" Radek asked, eyes almost going round.
"No. But we're not going to maul each other on the street. We attract enough attention."
They lined up. Arlo, Dimitri, and Jace. One round. Two. Jace wins the third. Of course, he did. Of freaking course.
"Looks like I'm the designated driver," Jace said with a smirk. "Hop in, Wren."
She stared him down. Radek watched her eyes scan his clean-cut face, the smooth shirt, the soft command in his voice. Then she looked at him.
And for the first time, he wasn't sure what he wanted her to do. His wolf, however, seemed to know exactly what.
"Laying in bed while our fangs sink into her for starters." He suggested.
However, Radek shoved him down. He'd already told him to avoid making comments when they were out. His wolf was one to obey. But in the presence of this girl, even his wolf was acting out of character.
However, she slid into Jace's car. Radek could pretend he didn't care. He could even nod like it made sense. But his gut twisted anyway. After all, even if they were going to reject her, she was still his mate too.
Even Dimitri, the one who never took sides, had stepped slightly closer to Jace earlier. As if that bastard was the gravity pulling them all in. Radek's wolf paced inside him — rejected, restrained, and raging.
He finally got into his own car and gripped the wheel tightly.
What the hell was she doing riding with Jace, huh?
His wolf snarled inside of him, feeling furious and betrayed. That was his mate in another man's car, scenting another wolf's leather seats. She belonged with him — even if she didn't know it yet.
*******
The drive was quiet and it wasn't the traffic-wise since the city was still coughing up late-night energy, but mentally. Radek had too many thoughts bumping into each other like drunk wolves.
Wren. Jace. The way she looked at him.
Sure, Jace was the perfect heir, Beta heir, that is. He was the prodigy, the one their fathers bragged about in Elders' meetings. But he was the Alpha's son, Radek thought. The rightful heir. Why did it feel like she already knew who the real threat was?
Twenty-five minutes later, they turned onto Lupin House's private road.
The building was high like a mountain with glass fangs. It was more of a fortress than an apartment complex. Built specifically for the Pack of the North. Which meant every entrance was guarded, every hallway watched, and every scent scrutinized.
They couldn't just walk in dragging a human. Still in his thoughts, Radek's phone buzzed. It was a group call from Arlo.
"Answer," He said, syncing it to the car even when all he could seem to think of was the fact that Wren was riding with Jace.
His wolf snapped at the back of his mind, incensed. Jace's scent would be on her now. That wasn't okay
"You know the lobby girls are going to be all over us the second we roll up," Arlo began the moment they were all connected to the call.
"Can't you just snarl at them?" Dimitri grunted.
"I did that once. It made them thirstier."
Jace laughed.
Arlo continued, "We need a distraction. Something to keep eyes off her while we get her in."
"I'll do it," Jace promptly offered.
Of course, he would. Radek's eyes went round again. There were just times he simply couldn't stand Jace and his 'goody two shoes' attitude.
"They'll fall over themselves if I walk in alone. You guys sneak her in through the service elevator."
Radek gritted his teeth. "Why is it always you?"
"Because they like me, Radek."
"Ugh."
Sure enough, when they pulled into the underground lot, they saw them a small pack of girls, dressed like they were going clubbing at midnight, all pretending to check the mailbox.
Wren stared dumbfoundedly.
"What the hell," she muttered. "Are they always like this?"
"Only on Thursdays," Dimitri replied dryly.
Wow, so even Dmitiri was starting to reply to her questions now? Radek was taking note of any change in his friends, no matter how subtle. He needed to know their personal takes on Wren.
During their twenty-two years of friendship, he had come to know that their collective decision wasn't always relative to their personal one.
He wasn't going to slack off and let any detail miss his notice. No one was betraying him. At least, he wasn't going to let them
They waited till Jace walked in. One of the girls squealed. Then two more followed him, giggling like puppies.
"Fools." Radek hissed grudgingly.
That was their cue anyway.
They bundled Wren between themselves and made for the elevator. She didn't resist much to their surprises. Perhaps, she was too tired or too clever.
The halls inside Lupin House weren't just posh. They hummed with dominance. Of course, the floors were cleaner on the top floors. The air was more perfumed. Every corner was designed to remind you that only the powerful lived there.
They reached the empty apartment and Arlo promptly unlocked it.
"Here," he said. "Home sweet sewer."
Wren stepped in slowly, eyes scanning the room. It was basic. Clean. Bed, shower, table, couch. Empty enough to feel like they'd driven her to an exile.
"You'll stay here for a while. We will return by moonrise tonight," Radek told her.
Radek didn't need to tell her what would happen if she ran. The Elders had no use for humans that couldn't be silenced.
"And then?"
"We turn you."
Wren didn't flinch or scream. She just looked at him like she was trying to see the boy buried beneath the monster. Radek couldn't meet her gaze. His wolf howled with guilt he didn't understand.
What the hell was this… feeling?