Page 95 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

The silence stretched between us for a few moments until Ryland finally relented, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. “I don’t see it,” he said, squinting at me as though trying to find something.

I licked my lips, swallowing again to wet my dry throat. “See what?”

“What my nephew sees in you,” Ryland said, lifting his hands to pick a small bit of dirt from his nails and flick it onto the floor, as though I was the most inconsequential thing in the room and he found the dirt more interesting.

I wanted to tell him the feeling was mutual.

Not only that I didn’t understand what Jared and Clay saw in me, either, but also.

..how I could never fucking comprehend why Jared seemed to believe there was any good left in his uncle.

Maybe there was once, but I could feel it like a bad taste in my mouth, like a heaviness in the air around him: cruelness.

The poignant tang of bitterness and the abrasiveness of his tone.

I didn’t say any of the things I wanted to, though. I bowed my head like a good little wolfy and remained silent instead, willing this show of dominance to be over.

“You know he threatened me, don’t you?” Ryland asked after a few charged seconds and a sizzle of white-hot shock shot up my spine, forcing it ramrod straight.

“He wouldn’t—”

“He did. It was quite the surprise, I’ll admit. Not once has he ever questioned my methods. Not once.”

Ryland let those words hang in the air between us, all the while his gaze darkened. The glow around his irises depleted until they seemed almost black beneath the shadow of his brows.

“I’ll speak to him,” I offered.

One brow raised, Ryland appraised me, perhaps trying to decipher if I was being truthful.

“I won’t have discord in my pack. Loyalty is paramount in our world, Allie Grace. Those who are not loyal do not have a place here. Do you understand?”

Holy fucking shit. Was he threatening me? Or...was he threatening his own nephew?

Scarcely able to breathe, the single word barely skirted past my lips. A whisper. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Ryland stood and adjusted his belt, righting his undershirt and the shining silver buckle of his belt before he tucked his arms into the sleeves of a crisp navy-blue button up and rolled the sleeves to the creases of his elbows.

Awkwardly, I stood too, unsure if I should ask to leave or just go. Unsure if he was finished with me or not.

“I have new recruits to welcome into the fold,” Ryland said as he brushed past me to the door, his entire demeanor changing in the span of a single stride. The mask was back on. He was ready for the curtain call.

I moved to follow him, but his head snapped to the side, a single glowing eye boring into me.

“You’ll remain here,” he ordered, and I felt the weight of the order like a baby grand piano on my chest, his words laced with the command of the alpha.

“There are just a few more things Grey will go over with you and then you can join us in the yard.”

“What?”

Behind Ryland, a shape disconnected from the rest of the shadows in the hallway, moving stealthily, as though floating on air into the light.

The vampire, Grey came into view. Just as pale as I remembered, with eyes blacker than coal and thick lips mostly bleached of color. Those same warning bells I’d felt earlier came back in a clatter of white noise, ricocheting in my skull.

“Won’t you explain to Allie here how things will be from now on?” Ryland asked Grey as he stalked past the vampire and out into the hall. “I don’t want to keep her friends waiting. It’s late.”

Bullshit.

Complete and utter bullshit.

Was anything this fucker said genuine? I was starting to think not.

I would be talking to Jared, but I didn’t think Ryland was going to like what I had to say.

“Of course,” Grey replied in a hiss, gesturing for me to accompany him back into the office. “It’s nice to see you again, Allison.”

“It’s Allie,” I all but snapped. This time when my wolf pressed against my barriers, I let him see her.

How close she was to the surface. I wanted him to know that even though I was doing my best to behave for the sake of my friends, that restraint only applied to my alpha. To my mate’s uncle. Not to him.

Interest piqued, Grey grinned wickedly, twisting the silver ring on his index finger and as he drew nearer to me. “Allie,” he acquiesced. “This will only be a moment.”

Grey settled himself on the edge of Ryland’s desk and beckoned me forward.

Tightening my jaw and readying myself for any sign of attack, I stayed where I was, unwilling to get any closer to him.

A saccharine smile twisted his lips before he began to speak, holding my gaze. “You will not tell anyone of this meeting,” he said, his voice and demeanor changing from dejected politeness to cruel command.

“You will not speak ill of your alpha. You will adhere to his will and command. You will be obedient.”

I fisted my hands in the hem of my shirt and glared at Grey.

Why couldn’t Ryland have given me these orders himself?

Fucking coward.

“That’s all for now,” he finished, clapping his hands together, forcing me to stumble back a step at the sudden sound and movement, blinking rapidly. “Off you go, little dove. Until we meet again.”

Eager to get away from Grey, I spun on my heel and hurried out of the room, rushing down the hall and out of the front door, stumbling outside into the moonlit night. Cold air stung my flushed cheeks, and I gasped for an unrestricted breath, trying to get my bearings.

“Hey,” the deep voice boomed from my right, and I stumbled again, this time unable to right myself before my knees struck dirt. I whirled, sagging when I found Clay staring down at me, a worried crease in his brow. “You okay? Was that Grey I heard inside?”

“With the moon and all in attendance here as witnesses.” I heard Layla’s voice, carried to me on a phantom wind.

I scrambled to my feet and found them. Layla and Vivian standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the pack on their flanks and Ryland standing directly in front of them. An encouraging grin spreading across his lips.

Jared caught my eye as Vivian repeated the oath Layla just finished speaking. His lips parted in silent question at my disheveled appearance, and I struggled to regain composure, the whisper of Ryland’s threat still echoing in my ears.

“I hereby submit myself to the rule of the alpha,” my best friends spoke in unison, their oaths carrying over the crowd.

Ryland passed the silver flask to Layla first, pressing it into her palm and wrapping his hideous hand around hers. Hesitantly, she brought it to her lips, and I choked on the urge to call out to her, to stop her.

And then it was already too late. The flask was being passed to Vivian, who tipped it back, taking a long pull of the blood-tainted whiskey and grimacing while all I could do was stand and watch in silent horror.

This was a mistake. I could see it now.

Clay wrapped his hands around my shoulders, kneading out the tension there. “They’re pack now,” he whispered against my cheek. “Family. Forever.”

Ryland caught my eye as he turned to cast a shining grin over the pack members in attendance.

He paused briefly on me, his grin morphing into something else entirely.

Something twisted and conniving. I almost wanted to ask Clay if he’d seen it, to make sure it wasn’t my own paranoia making something out of nothing, but the look was gone as swiftly as it appeared, leaving me to guess at whether it had been there at all.