Page 4

Scarlett

Scarlett let the door fall close behind her, half expecting a hand to slip into the crack and yank it open. Only once it clicked shut did she relax—somewhat. She didn’t run upstairs like last time, instead listening to two of her mates.

The one with the brown hair sighed, his voice slowly growing quieter. “You didn’t have to be a jerk, you know?”

“She was lying.”

“Maybe part of her does want us to disappear…”

She couldn’t hear the rest of the sentence, but they were both right.

She had been lying. She wanted them to return, feeling much calmer from their simple presence.

But she couldn’t give into them more than she already had.

Not only would her father have her head on a platter, he would expel her from the pack.

She knew she couldn’t keep the lie forever, but she didn’t want to lose her family. Not for three hunters she barely knew.

Slowly she ascended the stairs to the patio on the fifth floor.

There, she could access the elevator to the penthouse.

The building was for Moonlight Wolves only.

It was monitored by her pack, and they rarely let outsiders in.

Anyone was able to leave whenever they needed to go to their private land to spend some time with their wolves, but pack life was spent here.

There was a floor dedicated to the warriors alone, and another for the kids to play and be watched.

A third housed a commercial-sized kitchen and dining room for gatherings, and every family had a spacious apartment with gorgeous views over the city.

She inhaled deeply and stepped out of the elevator into her family’s private space. She tried to sneak into her bedroom, but her brother, Maximilian, caught her eye. “C’mon sis!” he called from the game room tousling through his copper-toned hair. “Want to join us?”

She stopped in her tracks, seeing him, John, Paul, and Denise playing a racing game while Kurt scrolled his phone. “Not tonight. I’m kind of tired.”

Before they could bombard her with questions, she slipped into her room. She hid the burner phone in a junk drawer deep in her closet, then curled up in bed. Since meeting her mates, she’d tried to keep up her usual self, but every moment she spent apart from them only made it harder.

A familiar knocking rhythm let her know that she had one second to fix her sad face before Kurt stepped into the room. Sure enough, her best friend stepped in as if this was his own personal space. “You okay? You’ve been different lately. Ever since the mall actually.”

He sat on the bed next to her, leaning against the headboard.

Kurt was her everything. He was the only reason she’d survived being cooped up in this golden cage for most of her life.

It had been fine when she’d been home-schooled like the other kids, but when everyone had gone off to public high school without her, she’d started to feel left out.

Her father was strict about keeping her home, something about her being kidnapped and held ransom by the hunters lurking the streets.

Ironic.

“I don’t know,” she finally responded. “I just feel off.”

“Maybe he’ll let you go out again soon.”

“Great, long enough for me to stay happy and compliant.”

“And soon we’re out of here for the Wolfmoon too.”

“Yeah.” She’d always loved celebrating the night their goddess was closest to them.

Humans called it the supermoon and every year when the moon was closest to the earth, Isis blessed boys with their wolves and made them men.

But ever since meeting her mates, she hated the idea of leaving Brighton—of leaving them.

“It’s going to be fun.” Kurt started to massage her scalp, his head rolling back with his eyes closed. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? You’re not the one holding me hostage. You’re the only reason I’m allowed to get out once in a while.”

“I don’t know how else to help.”

Scarlett closed her eyes, immediately asking herself which of her mates would enjoy massaging her scalp the way Kurt did. The one with the black eyes most certainly wouldn’t, but maybe the one with the big, brown puppy dog eyes would, or even the quiet one—the one that had been missing tonight.

Kurt sighed and jumped off the bed. “I’m always here for you.”

“I know, and it’s why I love you.”

“Don’t say that too loud, you don’t want me to get in trouble now, do you?” he chuckled and quietly closed the door behind him.

Sitting up, she pulled her sketchbook out of the drawer next to her and chose a soft charcoal pencil. Kurt was right: she couldn’t stand how her father treated her like she was fragile, but she wasn’t frustrated enough to run off with three hunters who scared her.

Yet.

One bothered her more than the others. The black eyes and devious grin made her skin crawl.

The first night she’d snuck down to see them, she’d been haunted by those pitch-black eyes.

She hadn’t been able to sleep until she got them out of her head and onto paper.

Flipping to an empty page, she focused the strokes of her pencil to recreate the silent one.

His hair was dark, the sides of his head shaved, his chestnut eyes held the secret to every one of his emotions.

He seemed to be the oldest of the three, but not by much.

Maybe his early thirties if she had to guess.

His face was clean shaved, and his hands were rough, with blisters and callouses covering them.

She wondered if they came from hunting, but hadn’t they said he’d stayed back today to finish up some work?

His broad chest and massive arms did lead to the conclusion of him doing manual labour.

Part of her wanted to know everything about them, while another was scared she would only strengthen the bond by doing so. What would life with them be like? Did they have day jobs? Or did they even live together?

Then she wondered how she ended up being mated to all three . It was rare for a wolf to have more than one mate. There had been stories over the generations, but they were nothing more than folklore.

She was about to get up and reach for the phone when she remembered that they were going on a hunt. She shook off the thought, then tossed her sketchbook aside, going in search of a warm drink.