Page 197 of Blood Day

I lowered my gaze to my card, willing myself to be invisible as the sounds of howls echoed in the night.

Their beastly song was hungry and cruel.

And punctuated by the human shrieking.

Just breathe, I coached myself.Submit and survive.

For now.

The lycan at the front of the bus grunted. “Well, if he’s an introduction to the shipment, we’re in for a boring year.”

His words were clearly meant for those outside of the bus.

But his next ones were definitely directed at us. “Stand up and form a line off the bus for inspection.” When no one immediately moved, he added, “Now.”

Everyone shifted upward, causing the lycan to grunt as he left the bus.

I was about twelve rows back, placing me toward the middle of the line as we disembarked. The blonde female trailed along behind me, her movements silent. I did my best to ignore her, not wanting anything to do with whatever she had planned.

But all she did was pause beside me outside the bus and keep her head bowed, just like me.

“Cards up,” one of the lycans commanded.

I glanced to my left to see how the others held theirs, and followed suit, then lifted it a little higher after the first human was scolded for making the lycan bend down to read.

They were all much larger than us, their bulk honed from their supernatural heritage.

Or maybe I just felt small because all of the lycans surrounding us were males.

There were a few humans of similar stature, but they paled in comparison to the musculature of the lycans. I observed them from beneath my lashes even while keeping my head bowed, my perusal ending against most of their bare torsos.

Most of them wore jeans and nothing else, not even shoes.

When the lycan reached me, he paused. “Moon chase. Interesting.” He grasped my chin to force my eyes up, his own calculating and brimming with unveiled interest.

I swallowed, my heart threatening to skip a beat. But years of training kept my reactions in check, which only seemed to intrigue the lycan more.

He leaned forward, his nose going to my neck as he inhaled deeply. “Hmm,” he hummed thoughtfully. “You may need to be reassigned.” He straightened, his ice-blue eyes meeting mine. “Assuming you survive the chase.” He released me with a wink before moving on to the blonde beside me.

I immediately lowered my focus to the ground as I fought to ignore the sensation his touch had left behind on my skin.Too hot. Too close. Too wrong.

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one he seemed interested in, his comments regardingreassignmentechoing as he continued to peruse the row.

He wasn’t the Clemente Clan Alpha, something I knew because I didn’t recognize him—we’d been forced to memorize all our superiors and their photos in a class several decades ago. But even without that knowledge, I would know his lowly status because of his energy signature.

The fact that I could sense it confirmed I was still linked to Cedric because I strongly suspected that awareness stemmed from ourErositabond.

Which means you’re still alive, I thought at him, my blood icing over.And you’re ignoring me.

My mind threatened to deep-dive into the whirlpool of what-ifs again, but I held myself afloat in the present, my attention returning to the lycans around me. I couldn’t afford to feel distracted right now.

“This way,” one of the shifters said in a gruff voice ashe led us all through a discreet side door into the windowless building.

The chilly air immediately lifted the hairs along my exposed arms, my white gown doing little to protect me from the abrupt shift in climate. I hadn’t even realized how humid it was outside until stepping through the threshold. Now it felt like I’d entered a freezer.

My knees shook as we walked, my limbs icing over not just from the chill but also from the noises reaching my ears.

Grunts.