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She waves her hand in the air as she slides into one of the other chairs at the table. “No need for the formality, just Jess is fine. The titles make things more stressful than they have to be, and from the sound of things, you don’t need any more stress.”

“O—Okay, thank you, Jess,” I say, rotating the cup slowly to keep my hands occupied.

“There you go!” She says. Her eyes drift up and down my body, but it doesn’t feel invasive like it has when other men have done it. If anything, she seems concerned. Her gaze catches on my arms. “Did they seriously bring you here in that? No one gave you anything else to wear?”

I guess my goosebumps are obvious. Either that or I’m not hiding my shivering very well.

“N—no, they just took me.”

“From the Ward Pack House, huh?”

I nod, biting the inside of my cheek to try and keep the whirlpool of emotions at bay. I can’t think about the looks on each of their faces when I left after hearing about my past. They won’t want me again. Not when they know.

“Did they not give you anything to wear either?” She asks. Her tone isn’t as accusing as the other police officers. If anything, she sounds a bit curious.

“No!” I say, meeting her eyes. If there’s anything I’m confident about, it’s how well the Ward Pack took care of me when they had no obligation to. “They bought me a gigantic closet full of new clothes and things. The officers—the officers that came took me here before I had a chance to get anything.”

Jess rolls her eyes. “That sounds like something that would happen.” She starts unzipping her police jacket. “The Chief gets a bit trigger-happy when it comes to things that have to do with his daughter. Here, do you want my jacket? Just until the people Officer Stone is calling bring you some extra things?”

I hesitate. She’s a beta, so she won’t carry any scent. Plus, she’s a woman. It doesn’t seem like she has any alternativemotives to the offer other than wanting to make me more comfortable.

“If—if it’s not too much trouble.”

“You’re such a doll,” Jess says, a bright smile on her face. “No trouble at all.”

I bow my head in thanks, sliding on the jacket. It’s warm from her body heat.

“Thank you,” I say.

“No worries, wouldn’t want you freezing your butt off in here before we can get to the bottom of things and start helping you.”

“Are—are you going to be here for the—the interrogation?” I whisper, my voice cracking.

“Oh sweetie,” Jess says, her eyes sad. “It’s not going to be an interrogation, I promise. It’s an interview. The information you give us is so we can help you better. And yeah, I’ll be here. Officer Stone thought it’d be best if you could have another woman here to support you.”

“I—I’d appreciate that.”

“It’ll be pretty low-key, I promise. We can go as slow or fast as you want, okay? We just need to know things like where you came from, how you got here, what happened to you, those sorts of things.”

“O—Okay.” I shift nervously in my seat. I’m a bit warmer now that I’m wearing Jess’s jacket, but the hard seat beneath me and the sterile room make me uncomfortable. “I’d like to go as quickly as possible.”

Jess smiles at me sympathetically before pulling out her phone.

“I totally get that, let me just let Stone know to get his ass back over here so we can get started.”

I tug Jess’s jacket more tightly around me and nod slowly.

When Officer Stone returns to the room, he takes up so much space it has me shifting nervously. It’s hard to get used to, being around someone so large.

Sure, Madden is bigger, but Madden is safe.

There’s something about being around a new alpha that makes me nervous, especially one I know I’m going to have to share details of the worst days of my life with.

“Hey there, Luna,” he says, flashing me a kind smile as he sits down in the chair furthest away from me. He leans onto his elbows, almost like he’s trying to make himself appear smaller for me.

I appreciate the sentiment. He seems to really care about making me more comfortable.

“Hi,” I whisper back.