Page 26

25

LOCKE

“Evil incarnate.”

Wren’s words echoed in my mind as my brothers argued in the kitchen. But I could only think of the woman lying in the guest room bed that never held guests because we never trusted anyone enough to let them across our borders.

It wasn’t just Wren’s words that held me hostage; it was how she’d said them. Devoid of all emotion. Like a robot.

That wasn’t the woman I’d been growing to know over the past week. She was fire and kindness, light and mirth, and I wanted to kill whoever had stolen that away.

“I want to burn them alive and feed their entrails to the buzzards,” Brix snarled.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Some of us were just a bit more colorful about it.

“Jesus,” Ender muttered. “Get a grip. We don’t even know if she’s telling us the truth. It could all be a cover story to garner sympathy.”

Puck shoved him hard. “What the hell’s wrong with you? No one would do that to themselves.”

“Did. You. Just. Push. Me?” Ender clipped.

“Shut up!” I yelled. “All of you just shut the hell up. We’re going to keep her safe. We’re going to give her time to heal and not force her to talk about anything she doesn’t want to. And if any of you try to push her, I’ll hack your whole lives. You won’t be able to move without hemorrhaging money or your phone accidentally sending out fart sounds.”

Four sets of eyes came to me. Ender’s and Puck’s expressions were full of shock, interest filled Brix’s, and I saw respect in Kingston’s eyes.

“Did he just threaten us?” Puck asked, sounding more confused than anything.

I understood it. I’d never been a dominant wolf. It was why my parents had abandoned me as a pup. I’d been worth less than dirt to them.

But my brothers here? They saw my value, it just wasn’t usually in fights or issuing threats.

“I think he did,” King said, one corner of his mouth kicking up.

I was too annoyed to respond to either of them. I grabbed the tray I’d prepared for Wren and stalked toward her room. The anger and frustration were so strong in me that I forgot to even knock. Pushing into the room, I came up short.

Wren was trying desperately to get one of the huge picture windows open. At the sound of the door, she whirled, hands up in a defensive posture.

The move sent an ache through my chest. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

Wren’s hands dropped a fraction. “I don’t know, you seem pretty well trained. ”

My lips twitched as I set the tray on the bed, lowering myself to the bench at the foot of it. “I hate fighting.”

She studied me for a moment before moving closer. “Why?”

“I’m sure you’ve sensed that I’m not exactly dominant.” Wolves could sense those levels in one another; it was a self-defense technique.

She tugged the corner of her lip between her teeth. “I’m not either. It doesn’t mean we can’t learn.”

My brows lifted at that. In the handful of moments I’d been able to inhale Wren’s true scent, I hadn’t felt her dominance or lack thereof. But I’d been too wrapped up in trying to figure out what she was.

“I’ve learned. I’ve mastered enough to keep myself safe. But I still don’t like it,” I admitted.

Wren lowered herself to the mattress. “Fair. The world would be a better place without all the bloodshed.”

“I prefer to keep my battles to firewalls and system backdoors.”

“You’ve got me there. I wish I were better at that sort of thing.”

My wolf perked up at that, his ears twitching. “I could teach you.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. It was monumentally stupid.

“Really?” Wren asked, something that sounded a lot like hope in her voice.

My gaze snuck up to her face for the briefest of moments. There was more than beauty there. There was genuine interest. “Sure. I don’t have many people I can geek about tech with.”

An adorable little furrow appeared between Wren’s brows. “The rest of the guys don’t like that stuff?”

One corner of my mouth kicked up. “They like the intel I provide, but none of them has enough patience to sit behind a monitor for hours.” I shook my head. “Which doesn’t even make any sense because Ender will lay in wait for days for his targets.”

“Targets?” she asked.

I snapped my mouth closed. End wouldn’t be happy I was spilling his secrets.

“Don’t worry. You didn’t let me in on anything I didn’t already suspect. You guys have a pretty gnarly reputation in the supernatural world.”

I shifted on the bench. I knew we had a rep, but it didn’t mean I liked it. “We’re trying to do good. Most of the time, anyway.”

Wren was quiet for a moment. Then I watched as her slender fingers reached out to pluck a grape from the snack tray I’d made for her. The pleasure I got from her eating something I had brought her was ridiculous—being able to take care of her in some small way.

My gaze grew braver, inching up her body. Making eye contact wasn’t something I’d ever been especially comfortable with, but I wanted to see Wren, at least as much of her as I could. My eyes tracked higher, watching her lips move as she chewed. The perfect berry pink.

“I know you helped my friend Hayden. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to know, but I do,” Wren said quietly.

Her friend had ended up in the clutches of a seriously messed-up dragon shifter, and we’d been happy to deal out a little justice. My gaze darted up for the briefest of moments, just long enough to get a look at those turquoise eyes.

“Do they know about you? What you are?” I asked.

Wren stiffened, and I knew I was treading on thin ice. Still, she answered. “Yes. I asked them to keep my secret.”

“Why?” I pressed. “Why do you hide your true nature? Having two supernatural sides is a gift.”

Tension radiated through her jaw and down her neck. “It’s complicated. ”

“Wren—”

“I’m getting pretty tired. You know how healing can take it out of you. I’m going back to sleep for a bit.”

I knew when I’d been shut down. I’d give her this, her space. Time. “I’ll never force you to talk about something you don’t want to,” I said softly as I stood. “I was only trying to understand.”

But just because I wouldn’t push didn’t mean that I wouldn’t do everything in my power to keep her safe.