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“Well maybe I can help you get used to it,” he replied as he met my gaze, which almost made me weak in the knees.

What the hell was that?

Tristan led me to the front, his grip on my arm just short of claiming. Every few steps, I felt eyes land on us. On me. Conversations dropped to a low hum, curiosity spiking in the air.

He stopped us at the head table, letting go of my arm so fast I almost stumbled. “This is Serena,” he said, ignoring the obvious fact that every soul in the room was already gawking at me like a circus attraction. I squared my shoulders and resisted the urge to flip them all off.

No one spoke for a second, and then a red-haired guy grinned at me from across the table. “Is she under duress?” he asked, mock-concerned. Tristan sent him a look that was not as amused as it could have been.

“This is Bram,” Tristan said. “Don’t listen to a word he says.”

Bram gave a wounded expression. “You have to be so careful with the rival packs these days, especially an alpha’s daughter,” he said. “They’re always stealing things, like our pack members or our alpha’s heart.”

Before I could decide how to answer that, Tristan nudged me toward a tall woman with a long black braid, ignoring Bram’s comment completely. “Renna. Our top hunter.”

Renna tilted her head. “Good luck out there, Silver Ridge,” she said with an approving smile that didn’t entirely hide the skepticism. “Make sure you watch your back.”

“I have to,” I said, pretending to sound wounded. “It’s such a nice one.”

A few of the pack members laughed. Bram held up his drink and looked at me like we were old pals. “And she’s funny!” he declared. “I like this one, Alpha. Can we keep her?”

“No promises,” Tristan said.

A dozen more faces flashed in front of me, too fast for me to remember names or roles, but Tristan seemed to want me to meet everyone in the universe.

Every introduction came with a warm touch on my back that made my skin tingle and my head spin in a way I really, really didn’t want to think about.

Every time I told myself I was imagining things, that the gestures meant nothing, and that this was all some sneaky trick.

He finally guided me into a seat, sitting beside me like he might need to fend off his wolves at any second. Maybe he did. Maybe I did.

We watched the pack fill in around us, and I realized my face hurt from trying to hold a smile. There was so much damn cheer everywhere. It was a physical presence, crowding around me like another opponent.

Tristan leaned close enough that I caught the dark, woodsy smell of him. “How’s it going over there?” he asked, like I was on some remote island of civilization. “Surviving?”

I studied the crowded tables. All that warmth, all that energy. I didn’t know what to do with it. “You think this is going to break me?” I asked. “Nice try, but I’ve survived worse.”

“Yeah,” he said, and there was an unfamiliar softness in his voice. “I know.”

I didn’t belong here. I didn’t belong anywhere, but here was especially not where I belonged. I glanced at Tristan, then tried to act like I wasn’t watching every move he made.

More of the pack settled into the tables, loud and careless and happy.

It was a sight I’d never seen before: a room full of people, at ease with each other.

Like the entire world wasn’t out to get them.

Even if it was, no one seemed worried about it.

They passed platters and poured drinks, touching shoulders and whispering jokes.

I wondered if this was what Tristan was used to, and what he was doing keeping around a cursed outsider like me.

He laughed at something Bram said, looking so much a part of this universe it was hard to imagine he was the same alpha who’d thrown me in a cell and changed the entire course of my life.

Not that I was imagining anything, of course.

I tried not to stare, but the more I tried, the more it happened anyway.

He reached for a bowl of mashed potatoes and I caught myself being jealous of a starch.

Two little kids raced past, ducking under tables and giggling while their parents watched with mild amusement.

The room vibrated with the sounds of voices and laughter, so different from what I was used to it felt like being dropped on another planet.

Back home, we ate in silence within our own homes, a thousand unwritten rules keeping us as far from each other as we could be while sitting at the same table.

Here, there was no distance at all. It was terrifying.

A girl across the room shrieked as a hunter held a fish in her face, gesturing with wild enthusiasm. The old man next to them tried to one-up his story, waving his fork for emphasis. More laughter. More food. More drinks. More of everything.

I watched the way the Stormvale wolves moved and talked, like they had no secrets to hide or betrayals to worry about.

And maybe they didn’t, which was more foreign to me than any other part of it.

I reached for a platter, unsure if it was okay to take anything. Uncertainty wasn’t a feeling I liked.

Tristan noticed my hesitation, smirking a little as he scooped mashed potatoes and meat onto a plate, setting it in front of me before I could stop him. I felt a flash of annoyance, and then something else. Something I refused to name.

I was just about to tell him to keep his distance and his help when Ewan made an impressive show of sitting as far away from me as he could. I couldn’t tell if his glare or his hair was redder. “Someone’s eager to impress the guest,” he said, drawing out the last word like it was a disease.

“It’s cute, right?” I said, keeping my voice light. I shoveled mashed potatoes into my mouth like I didn’t care. “Maybe if I stay long enough, he’ll carry my books home from school.”

Ewan stabbed at a slice of meat, his fork almost bending under the effort. “Guests leave eventually,” he said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. “Hostages are different.”

I felt a hot ripple of eyes on me. Tristan’s hand gripped his drink so hard I thought it might shatter. “She’s our guest, Ewan,” he said, each word a punch in the air.

“Right, and all we have to do is forget she’s an enemy alpha’s daughter and was raised in rival territory her whole life,” he spat back.

“Ewan!” Tristan growled. “That’s enough.”

Ewan grinned and held up his hands in surrender. “Whatever you say, Alpha.” But he looked right at me when he said it, like we both knew it wasn’t Tristan’s call.

A kid at the next table dropped a plate. The crash felt more like a challenge than an accident.

The minute the broken plate hit the floor, Ewan was back at it, hitting harder and meaner than before. “So,” he said, his voice bright with pretend curiosity. “Is it just a coincidence you ended up in our care?”

I smirked, refusing to let him get under my skin. “The last guy who underestimated me got his ass kicked.” The rest of the pack stopped pretending not to listen, eyes flicking from me to Tristan and back again.

“Ewan,” Tristan growled as a warning. His voice was cold and sharp, like he was trying to slice through the tension.

Ewan raised his eyebrows at me, ignoring the Alpha completely. “Not a very tidy coincidence, though. How convenient that the alpha’s daughter ends up here, safe and sound.”

I felt Tristan start to stand, his anger wrapping around me like an unexpected shield. “Back. Off.”

But I was faster, cutting him off before he could intervene. “I can handle this,” I said, my voice low and determined. I met Ewan’s stare, defiance flaring in my chest. “Besides, if the runt of the litter has something to say, he should say it.”

The red-haired beta folded his arms and let out a huff. “Go ahead then, Silver Ridge. Handle it.”

The rest of the pack watched us, and I saw doubt start to creep into a few faces. I wasn’t the only one wondering where my loyalties lay.

“I get it,” I said, louder now. I put the slightest tremor of a laugh in my voice. “You’re threatened because your pack never had a guest with better hair.”

Some of them snorted with laughter, the sound jagged in the tense air. Ewan didn’t laugh.

“You might not think this is funny,” he said, his voice hardening.

“But your Alpha might, I’m sure he’d love to hear about it after he storms this place to steal our damn property again.

Rumor is he’s planning a move against our pack.

Now you show up here and we’re not supposed to be suspicious at all? ”

Tristan’s hand fell to the table with a hard, frustrated thud. His eyes burned into Ewan. But his focus slid to me as he waited for my next move.

I made sure I was looking right at Ewan when I spoke. “You do remember it was your pack who kidnapped me, right? I don’t recall voluntarily being tied up with wolfsbane-laced ropes or thrown into a cell.”

Ewan let out a displeased grunt in response as his focus shifted to Tristan.

“Not so sure of yourselves now, are you?” I continued. “So desperate for intel you’re starting to sweat?” I set down my drink, keeping my hand steady and my eyes locked on him.

“We’re not the ones who should be sweating.” Ewan’s voice held a mean little bite, ready to sink in. “If we catch even the slightest whiff of betrayal—”

I leaned back, cutting him off again. “For the record, I have nothing to do with my father or the politics of my pack. Where did you hear that rumor, anyway? About my father?”

The rest of the pack was dead silent. I felt the eyes, the doubts, the tension crackling through the room like lightning.

Bram cleared his throat. “Whoa, hey. Is this the part where we have to pick sides? Because I was promised a nice relaxing meal.” He chuckled nervously, trying to steer us out of choppy waters.

Ewan’s gaze stayed glued to me, his smile widening with a trace of malice. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “Your pack is living it up rich in the city, while we’re just trying to survive out here in the mountains and defend what’s ours. Maybe Daddy doesn’t want you back, afterall.”

My skin prickled, and I turned toward the entrance of the dining hall. I had a dozen retorts ready, but swallowed them. Let them think I was done talking. It would be more fun when they realized I wasn’t.

A tall figure walked in, a jagged scar running down one side of his face, and I was frozen in place. I knew that scar. I knew who gave it to him, and why. My heart started kicking in my chest like it had a grudge.

The room froze as he made his way to the center. “The Silver Ridge Alpha sends his regards,” he said, eyes fixed Tristan. “And a message: return what belongs to him, or prepare for war.”

I tried to read his expression, but all I could see was determination and bruises. I was surprised to see him in one piece. Alaric didn’t usually send broken soldiers to deliver threats.

No one moved as the emissary stood there, waiting. They didn’t even pretend not to be looking at me.

“An answer,” the scarred man continued, his voice gaining strength. “By morning.” The way he said it with all the weight of the threat and everything else he left unsaid, made me feel it wasn’t just me he was demanding back.

The air in the room was so heavy I could hardly breathe. The minute he turned to leave, the silence broke into chaos.

“That’s a little harsh for a dinner invitation,” Bram said, trying to bring the temperature back down to lukewarm.

Ewan ignored him. He looked at me like he’d known all along, like this was the nail in my coffin and he was happy to pound it in. “Somebody didn’t get the memo about playing nice.”

“That’s what I call a two-for-one threat,” Renna said. “Not subtle, but effective.”

Tristan was the only one not talking. The way he looked at me—serious and questioning and a thousand other things—told me more than words could have. He was trying to figure out what his answer would be. Maybe I was too.

“Does the Alpha expect the answer to come wrapped up with a bow?” Ewan said. “Or is he assuming his little package will be home in time to unwrap it herself?”

The comment got to me more than it should have. The words cut, sharper than I wanted to let on.

“We can’t trust her,” another voice piped up. It didn’t matter whose. The whole room was suddenly full of opinions and arguments, voices swirling around me in a dizzying spiral. The only ones not adding to it were Tristan and me.

It was a world away from the first, awkward pause when I’d walked in with the alpha. But the weight of all those stares on me, waiting for an answer I didn’t know if I could give, felt exactly the same.

I took a breath and said nothing, feeling everything and everyone start to close in.