She stretches, feeling rejuvenated after her nap. She’s aware that today she might be marked or discarded. The last time she performed such magic, she was unconscious for a good sixteen hours, but that was on a willing subject.
“Buzz off,” she retorts.
“I see you’re awake,” Ryder’s voice floats in from the kitchen, through her bedroom’s open door.
“You should get dressed. The alpha wants to see you.”
“Of course he does,” she sighs. She’s sore, and the wound she inflicted on herself with the alpha’s claw has reopened during her rest. It’s deep, and that’s a problem.
She doesn’t care that he can see her changing. Wolves lack any sense of modesty. He leans against her door frame, holding two cups of coffee. She accepts one with a silent nod of gratitude, gulping it down as she pulls her shorts up.
“You shouldn’t have done that. If you ever do something that fucking crazy again, I’ll have you back in Grayspire before you can blink,” he warns. She snorts, finishing her coffee, and lets him fasten her bra clasps before pulling a shirt over her head.
“Eight warding witches couldn’t keep me in that hellhole, and you think you can do it alone?” She laughs at the absurdity, shaking her head. She’s still pretty mad at him for being a jerk yesterday.
“I get it. You’re mad.” When she raises an eyebrow, he corrects himself. “Okay, you’re more than a little mad at me for yesterday, but you can’t just attack the leader of the pack you’re supposed to be protecting!”
“What makes you so special?” he scoffs.
“My clan is the Dimidius bloodline. You were assigned to watch over me and you didn’t know?”
He groans and bangs his head back against the door frame.
“God, no wonder you’re fucking nuts. Your family is the reason werewolves exist!”
“Just some werewolves. If I was related to every single one of you, I don’t think I could go on living,” she replies dryly. “There are at least three separate curses that brought the werewolf population into existence.”
Of course, there’s the curse laid upon her ancestor by Orthrus, that of the people who can turn at will once infected. It’s superior to the other curses, being that those born as werewolves are slaves to instinct and the other bloodlines are slaves to the moon.
“My family members are of the strongest bloodline. Naturally, they’re the Alphas of Alphas.”
“Well, I guess I’m ready to get yelled at,” she mutters, and he leads her to the alpha.
They find him at his desk, surprise surprise, and he looks like a changed man. She’s proud of her handiwork. He’s much leaner and definitely about a foot taller. He radiates authority in a way he hadn’t quite managed before.
“Power suits you,” she purrs.
“Dahl,” Ryder warns.
“I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but I don’t like the way you did it,” the alpha tells her, dismissing Ryder.
“You don’t have to like how it happened. It’s too late to change it now,” she shrugs.
“Are you always that—” he struggles to find the word to describe her behavior.
“Generous?” she supplies.
“I was thinking more along the lines of psychotic, but if generous makes you feel better then by all means.”
“Mr. Cane, I didn’t know you had a sense of humor!” She gasps dramatically, a hand to her chest. At his weird look, she explains, “I dug around your memories when I forced you to change.”
“You had no right to invade my privacy like that.”
“You had no right to so vividly imagine the way my kidneys taste,” she counters with a raised brow. She tucks a loose curl behind her ear and sighs. “I’d apologize and say I’ll never do it again, but first, you wouldn’t believe me and second, it would be a lie.”
“At least you’re honest,” he groans, sitting back with his fingers massaging his temples.
“Want me to get rid of that headache?” she offers. He looks up at her in surprise, suspicion evident.
“I’m just trying to be helpful,” she grumbles. He nods his consent and she quickly leans across the desk and soothes his pain with magic. She grimaces at the thought that flitted across his mind at her touch. He definitely remembered her wanton display in the woods.
“So I wanted to talk to you about your future here yesterday. You’ll be marked by the pack today, and live among us. The apartment is yours, I’ll sign it into your name with the condition of your loyalty, so that you’ll always have a place with us,” he tells her, looking her in the eye to make sure she understood as he pushes a paper toward her to sign. She does.
“We have a pack meeting once every two weeks here, you’re to attend as well. We’ll walk the territory this week so that you’ll know how far our side extends and where to place your wards.”
“I would like to ask that I be given leave to wander town as I please.”
“Would you even listen to me if I disagreed?” He nods at her denial. “That’s what I thought. Do as you like, but you know you have to take Ryder with you.”
“It’s the condition of your freedom. We can’t defy the law.”
To be honest, she never really minded Ryder shadowing her every step. It felt like she had someone watching her back, and she could only appreciate that feeling. What bothered her about him was that he could see through the bullshit. Any lie she told, any tricks she pulled, he knew her too well to fall for any of that. It was infuriating.
She couldn’t help but be petty with her little revenges. He hated when she touched him, and she took advantage of that. She’d tried asking him about it once, but he refused to answer her. It only made her want to do it more.
“We’ll meet here at eight. Be sure to wear something you won’t mind getting shredded,” Cane says, dismissing her with a look and going back to his paperwork. She could tell he had something on his mind though.
“Fuck off, I’m going to get ready,” she mutters and slams his office door. Ryder trails behind her with a grin.
“He put you in your place? How rare,” he chuckles.
“Do you like the taste of dirt, Ryder? Because I can make you eat it, you know I can!” she threatens with a growl. His hands go up in surrender but his smile doesn’t fade.
“You can fuck off too, I won’t go anywhere, you know where to find me.” Her scowl is evident, despite having her back to him. She marches into her apartment and slams the door, locking it behind her.
