“What did you say?” He asks, his eyes are foggy with desire as he blinks down at me. “What?” I ask, trying to come out of the clouds.“You called me… Enz… As in Enzo?” James snatches his hands from my pants and I stare at him. Did I really? I don’t think I did.., but then the room comes more into focus and I’m not in the safety of my bed, the hand on my bare skin isn’t calloused but soft and gentle. Why the hell is Enzo in my head at a moment like this…“I… I don’t know why I said that.” I tell him. Obviously, I know why I would say that. But I don’t know why it came out when it did. It’s not like I don’t know I am with James right now. How could I not? So why did my mind trick me into thinking it was someone else? I like James, so there was no reason for me to be thinking about Enzo right now other than guilt for feeling like I am betraying our mission and his trust. “Do you have some sick, twisted crush on your slave trader?” James asks, sitting up on me as he straddles my waist.

“I hear you met Otis,” James asks from behind me as I walk down Haley’s hall to the bathroom. Lucky me, I came earlier than intended because of Otis’s stalking and I caught the tail end of James and Haley’s meeting. I stop and my head falls back in annoyance. It’s been three days since I have been able to get close to Ivy. Three days since I had to stand near her and smell him on her. And at the risk of sounding dramatic, it’s been three terrible fucking days. It’s proving damn near impossible to avoid Otis, who seems to work twelve-hour shifts on me. I know it takes time to learn someone’s habits, and how they act and move, but Otis played dumb with me because he doesn’t think I’m a problem. This means I need to keep him thinking I’m not a problem by being boring and aloof. It’s far more taxing than it sounds. “Yeah, seems like a nice enough guy,” I say, turning to face James and crossing my arms over my chest. “He seems to think you don’t do a whole lot around the pack.” I sh

“Are you sure we can trust him?” I ask, sprinting through the trees behind Enzo.He doesn’t even bother to look back at me. He knows I’m close to him, even if I weren’t talking. We spent so much time training together in the more recent years that we can feel each other. The vibrations of the earth and the shift of the air. All things they taught us to pay attention to.“The only person I trust is you.” He murmurs, slowing his speed and pressing against a tree. I mirror his actions and glance around, but I see nothing and no one. “And sometimes even that trust is scarce,” he finishes as he steps out, his eyes always scanning, searching for anything out of place. I try not to let his words bother me. All I wanted was a little reassurance that Sarah was with someone we trusted and instead of comforting me and saying ‘Yeah Ivy, he is fucking great’, I’m met with learning it’s hard for him to trust me. Which, to put it lightly, fucking sucks. Enzo sighs and turns to face me before grabbi

~Enzo POV~Ivy stares at me with pure confusion, her head trying to decipher whether I feel guilty about the crime accused or if I am guilty. I can read it on her face. The sorrow and then the flicker of anger, then the same confusion wins over and her shoulders slump. Ivy has never asked me what happened, why I wasn’t with Caleb like I was supposed to be. And I have never been forthright in admitting openly that I left him for dead so I could save her.Because even when I was sworn to duty, Ivy meant more to me than even my best friend and my position in the pack. I know how that sounds. It sounds fucked up and cruel, but it wasn’t a decision I made lightly. Caleb and I had an unspoken language, one that was made up of looks we could understand and have full conversations with.When the pack warriors alerted us to the attack, Caleb saw me lurch toward the door. I remember glancing over my shoulder and seeing Caleb give me the look. The ‘Go save her’ look. Because that was his baby s

By the time I arrive back in my room, my nerves are fried and the only thing I can think about is how to make it seem like Sarah is still just sick and not missing. I shower and change my clothes to clear my head, then I plop down in a chair in the corner of my room and try to process everything.After everything that has happened tonight, I need to force everything out of my head and focus on the present. Then things I can do here and now to move forward and protect the people I care about. Even if I barely know Sarah, she deserves a life of peace away from the sick hands of alpha Jonathon and his fucked up men. I creep down to her room and push the door open, finding her scent different from normal. It’s hard to tell if someone has been in here or if Sarah had just panicked and cleaned the place with all sorts of pine-scented chemicals. I mean, we have those kinds of sprays and bleaches, so it wouldn’t be terribly unlikely. As I look around, I realize Sarah’s room is much nicer tha