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She glowered at me, but reached for the door like I knew she would, unable to back down from a challenge.

“Dom,” Anna hissed as Jess gripped the knob. I ignored her, still irritated that she’d waited to call me. My palm covered Jess’s and I twisted the doorknob for her. If there was any threat on the other side of that door, she would be behind me in a split second.

Before we’d even stepped through the door, I knew they hadn’t come in here. Maybe they hadn’t realized this was Jess’s home, because even I couldn’t detect her scent here. I took a deep breath, my chest brushing her back since I was standing so close, but other than the scent wafting off of her, I only noticed her Dad’s scent in the empty space.

“They weren’t in here,” Anna stated aloud, I presume for Jess’s benefit. I slid past Jess, prowling silently through the room.

“Yet,” I muttered unhappily as I scanned the room restlessly. I was positive they hadn’t come in here, but it was only a matter of time. Today had been a test, a taunt to rile us, and it had worked. I was going to rip the head off the next Hanley I saw.

“That’s super comforting,” Jess chattered nervously, her smile brittle as she walked to the island in the middle of the room. The space was wide open and bright, the smell of new paint overwhelming to my sensitive nose.

“Hear anything?” Anna murmured under her breath and I shook my head.

“Supersonic hearing to go with that sense of smell?” Jess muttered sarcastically, not waiting for a response as she headed to another part of the apartment. I followed her closely, wanting to make sure no surprises lurked behind a closed door.

Jess stopped abruptly and I bumped into her, paying more attention to the room than what she was doing. Heat flashed through me as our bodies grazed against one another and Jess made a mewling sound that threatened to snap my barely held control. I moved with a speed that would have proven I wasn’t human if she’d seen, going to the opposite side of the apartment from her.

“Anna,” I grunted, waving at Jess. “Stay here until her Dad gets home. We’ll keep watch outside after we send word of what happened.” I escaped from the tiny confines of the room as quickly as I could while Anna smirked knowingly.

Chapter Ten

“It was intentional,” I yelled, rage coursing through me at his continued obliviousness. “They’ve been watching. They knew when to strike.”

“They didn’t harm the female,” the Alpha blustered. “It was nothing more than a childish prank.”

“Are you that frightened of them?” I snarled and he was on me in a second, pinning me to the ground as his teeth snapped dangerously close to my neck. He’d shifted in the blink of an eye, his heavy body braced on top of me as he showed me why he was Alpha.

“Do not mistake my tolerance for weakness,” he stated, his voice echoing in my head with the full force of an Alpha. “It would be a mistake.”

“Understood,” I replied, my eyes rolling up to see my Dad struggling against the command the Alpha must have placed on him.

“I don’t think you do,” he disagreed and my gaze met his, the power radiating from those familiar blue eyes sending a jolt through me. “She is not one of us and I will not risk my Pack for an unmated female of indiscriminate breeding.” My eyes widened as he dug his claws in a little deeper, blood welling through my shirt. “As an Alpha you must learn to protect the whole over the individual.”

He lunged away from me, leaving the Pack House as my father shimmered with impotent fury, but it was the Alpha’s final words that echoed in my head.

***

“Trent back yet?” Caleb asked as we idled outside the motel apartment, waiting for Jess to appear.

“Tonight,” I replied offhandedly, rubbing my chest absently as my wounds itched. They would heal instantly if I shifted but I hadn’t bothered. “What is taking her so long?” I grumbled, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel. “We’re going to be late.”

“Um, you didn’t exactly tell her we were picking her up,” Anna reminded me from the backseat and I glared at her through the rearview mirror.

“Why don’t you keep your logic to yourself, mhmm,” I replied right as the front door opened. “Finally.”

Jess stood in the doorway, motionless as she stared at the Jeep. Her dad stood behind her and I watched as she mumbled something to him, then adjusted her backpack on her shoulders, looking ready for battle.

Caleb hopped out of the Jeep so Jess could get in and I felt her eyes settle on me, but I didn’t glance over, keeping up a steady drumbeat on the steering wheel.