I jerked awake as Henrik pulled into his house. I blinked as I looked at the time, seeing that it was just a little past four in the morning. I glanced over at Henrik and glared.

“Why are we at your house? Why didn’t you just bring me home?”

He scuffed. “Because I don’t trust you alone. You could easily run away again, and I’m too tired to try and track you down.”

I chewed on my cheek and looked away from him.

“Katie, I don’t know what’s going on, but I want to help. So, let me help you.”

“I’d rather you not,” I grumbled back.

He sighed and unlocked the doors. He hopped out, and I tried to untangle myself from the sheet, but my door opened, and Henrik hoisted me up before I could.

“You don’t need to carry me.” I snapped, trying to get myself free.

Henrik simply grunted as he headed towards his front door. “Just go back to bed.”

I wanted to argue, but I was still clinging to sleep. I chewed on my cheek as I felt myself starting to drift off again.

***

I woke up and found myself lying on a couch.

I scanned the space, finding a clock hanging on a wall.

It was a little past six in the morning.

I was in the living room. I looked at Henrik, finding he was sleeping on a reclining chair next to the couch.

I looked away from him, scanning the room now that I was fully awake.

Henrik had a nice place. It was fashionably tasteful, with shades of blue and green around. He had a large couch facing a TV mounted on the wall. His lounge chair was in the corner, and to the left of us was a L-shaped kitchen. He had two spots to sit and eat and a large walk-out patio.

I slowly crept out from my blanket and stood up. I glanced at him as I took a few steps toward the kitchen.

“I have an excellent security system.” Henrik’s eyes slowly opened as he looked at me. “And you will not be so easy to sneak out.”

I rolled my eyes, feeling my shoulders sink. “Do you ever sleep?”

“I do, but knowing you're here and so quick to leave, I’m going off half of what I would prefer.”

I snorted. “If you have such a good security system, why would you worry if I were awake? Surely, it would keep me here.”

He half laughed. “That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t go ahead and throw something at a glass door to get out.”

He wasn’t wrong. I turned, walking into the kitchen. “Do you at least have coffee if you're going to hold me hostage?”

“I’m not holding you hostage. I’m just keeping you here until we can get things figured out with the Council.”

I scanned the kitchen, spotting a small coffee pot in the corner. It didn’t look like it had been used in a while, so I started going through the cabinets looking for coffee.

Henrik pulled himself out of the chair and yawned. “What are you looking for?”

“Coffee.”

“I don’t keep coffee in the house.”

I turned, looking at him like he just grew another head. “You what? How the hell do you not have coffee? What kind of person doesn’t keep coffee in their house?”

He shrugged. “I don’t drink it.”

I stared at him in shock. “What do you mean? How is that even possible?”

He grabbed the blanket I had been using and started to fold it. “I’ve never liked the taste.”

“You know, there is such a thing as creamer.”

“Which is a lot of sugar.”

I ran a hand through my hair and turned back to the kitchen. “Well, I need coffee. Otherwise, I’m going to lose my shit.”

Henrik snorted as he threw the blanket onto the couch. He walked towards me, looking too sexy for someone who slept in the upright position. “Seems to me you already did that.”

I ground my teeth together. “You get me coffee, or I’m breaking one of your windows.”

“You're almost as grumpy as Jay when he gets up,” he said as he walked into the kitchen.

I thought of Sam and suddenly missed her. I wonder if word got around about what I did. I wondered why they sent Henrik after me. Did he know we were supposed to get together? Or had the Council not figured that part out yet?

I didn’t know if he knew. I felt that if Henrik had known the truth, he wouldn’t have asked me several times what was wrong. He would have been angrier if I had run when I was supposed to be with him.

I shook my head, not wanting to think of the expression of concern he had given me.

“I can order some coffee to be brought in.”

I crossed my arms and leaned onto the counter. “What’s your plan here, Henrik? Are you going to keep me locked up forever?”

He scowled. “I’m only keeping you here until I figure out what to tell the Council. I’m sure we can meet with them tomorrow and discuss this like civil adults.”

I laughed. “Oh yeah, because the Council is always so civil.”

He crossed his arms. “And maybe you should have thought about that before you ran for it.”

I ground my teeth together. “Stay out of my business.”

“I would love to, but it would seem they pulled me into it, so why don’t you just tell me why you were even running in the first place.”

I looked away, hating the feeling that crept over me. It was like someone had a large hand and just grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I tried to take a deep breath in and gripped onto the counter.

See, you couldn’t even run away because you're not good enough. Anyone else would have been able to. They would have been able to get free.

“Katie,” Henrik walked closer, giving me that worried expression. “What’s going on?”

Anger filled me suddenly. “You wouldn’t get it. You were raised to be that perfect soldier.”

I watched as he flinched, but I kept going.

“Tell me, Henrik. Would the Council bat an eye if you stepped out of line? No, probably not. I’m sure they wouldn’t be pleased, but you’re a leader, so there isn’t much they can do about that.

I am not the same. They own my ass. They own everything I am and what I do. ”

He frowned. “That’s not true.”

I laughed because he truly had no idea. They found me. The Council sought me out. Just how mad would they be once they figured out I couldn’t hold myself up to their standards. They knew how to get rid of people. One second, you were here, and the next, you never existed.

The space fell silent, and I turned away. “You’re an Alpha, Henrik. You're above the rest of us. So, you wouldn’t understand the pressure.”

Henrik rubbed at his face and sighed. “Katie, I promise it’s not that bad. Whatever is going on can be solved.”

Just then, his phone started to ring, and he turned. He grabbed it and scowled. “Damn it.” He looked back at me. “I have an emergency I need to attend to. I will grab your coffee on my way back. We can discuss this and deal with this when I return.”

He walked back to the living room and grabbed his jacket. “Don’t even think about sneaking out because I have cameras all over this place. And all the windows are locked.”

I glared at him, watching as he pulled his jacket on and left. I could hear the front door open and shut. The solid sound of a lock turning. I huffed.

I did another scan of the space and walked over to the patio. Sure enough, it was locked and wouldn’t budge.

“Asshole.”

I searched his entire kitchen, looking for coffee. He didn’t have anything, not even a canister stashed away somewhere. And I was bored.

I wandered through the entire house. Henrik had a three-bedroom house with a basement, laundry room, and storage. I was a little surprised at the simplicity he lived for someone with such high status.

He decorated each room accordingly and had pictures of him and the over five Alphas together. He had pictures of his family and Sam together. He had the life people dreamed of.

I walked by his bedroom and found his bed made. The room was large, with a solid wood-framed bed and matching dresser. He had two bedside tables that each had a lamp. It reminded me of a catalog.

“I wonder if he has a maid?” I walked down the hall and noticed cameras in several spots.

He had one in the living room and in the kitchen.

He had one in the hallways and near all the doors and windows.

He hadn’t been kidding when he said he would see it all.

But I wondered why he had them to begin with.

I stopped in front of the bathroom and paused. He had a camera angled towards it, but surely not one inside. An idea formed.

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door. I scanned the room, and my eyes landed on the bathroom window. I smiled as I walked over and pulled on it. Sure enough, it was unlocked.

I yanked it all the way open and leaned out. The roof was pretty flat, and I could see Henrik had shrubs that surrounded the house, so if I did jump, I would have something to land on.

I smiled as I crawled out of the window onto the roof. I scowled, wishing I had grabbed my shoes, but walking into the bathroom with them would look weird.

I didn’t know when Henrik would watch the feed or if he just got a ping when things seemed off, but I wasn’t taking a chance. I needed out, and I needed out now.

I walked down the roof, standing near the wall of the house. I walked to the right until the roof came to an end. I leaned over, glancing down, and swallowed. I felt my body lock up as I realized how high up I was.

“It’s just a little drop, Katie. It’s not that far down.”

Mathematically, if I landed on the shrub, my muscles might just clench up. I couldn’t break anything, and my head knew that. I knew that. But my body didn’t want to move.

I tried to build myself up and counted down. And jumped.

I held back a scream as I landed on a shrub, feeling the sticks grab at my skin, ripping at the fabric of my shirt.

I groaned as pain radiated through my body. I gave it a minute before I pulled myself up and smiled. I couldn’t help the laugh that built up. “Ha, jackass! You can’t keep me locked up.”

I pulled myself out of the shrub and felt someone grab me from behind. I screamed as a hand covered my mouth. “I finally got you!”