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“So,” he says, causing me to turn and look at him. “I had an ulterior motive for asking you to come walk with me.”

He rubs the back of his neck.

“Oh really? I’m shocked,” I say in the most unshocked tone.

He chuckles. “It seems I was wrong about not wanting you at training. The guys enjoyed you and learned a lot that day. They want you back.”

I was not expecting that.

“What game are you playing, wolf?”

He holds his hands up in surrender. “No game. We could really use your help.”

I stare back at him. He’s lying. Well, not fully. They could definitely use my help and he knows it. But that isn’t why he’s inviting me back.

That look is still in his eyes. The one he had the night he showed up on my porch. It doesn’t hold as much hatred as it did when I first arrived, but it’s not as friendly and open as the week after he had those wolves paint my porch.

“What do you say?” he asks. “I imagine helping us would be better than spending your days locked in the house with a moody teenager.”

“You’re right about that.”

I didn’t trust him. I know he’s plotting something. The best way to figure it out is to let him think he’s fooling me.

“Alright,” I finally say.

“Good. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He dips his chin before turning and walking away. I head into my borrowed home, preparing to talk to my sister.

As soon as I enter, I find Marley sitting on the couch. I close the door behind me, facing her. She stands to her feet, wringing her hands together.

“Before you say anything, I want to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that to you.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” I say, dropping the keys onto the side table near the door. I move further into the house, stopping behind the couch. “There is a lot you don’t know about me, Marley. I bear scars you will never know. I’ve done things…” I pause, taking a deep breath. “The person you know today wasn’t always who I was. I’ve changed a lot since you were born. I love you, little sister. But if you ever bring him up to me like that again, I’ll show you why the wolves should fear me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she says as tears slip down her face.

I leave her in the living room. I hate the idea of hurting her feelings or telling her about my past. Marley has only known the good version of me. My anger isn’t because she spread my business in front of the wolves. It’s because she spoke about my pain without understanding my wounds.

chapter eighteen

Redemption

Enzo

“You’re moving too slow,” the vamp tells one of the young recruits. “Trust your instincts. Try it again.”

I smile as I watch her train the wolves. After the situation at that house where she didn’t want us to go to the council, I realized she’s hiding something. It took my talk with Torak for a plan to form.

The best way to beat a leech is to join them. Vampires are manipulative, untrustworthy, and disloyal creatures. I was going to run her game on her. To figure out what she was hiding, I needed to gain her trust. So, I’m playing the friendly role.

It took me a few days to figure out how I was going to get close to her. I knew I couldn’t just walk up on her and start talking. She wouldn’t believe that. Thankfully, the little sister gave me an opening. Their little spat in the dining hall gave me a way to start the conversation.

Now, a little over a week later, she’s fully in my web.

She looks over at me and smiles when the wolf she was training finally does what she asks. I wink at her. The blush that fills her cheeks catches me by surprise.