The study group list.
The names beside mine: Bart Hollow and Albert Blackwood.
I laughed.
A dark, low sound. Almost amused.
“That’s going to be fun,” I muttered, lips twitching.
Albert? Unknown. But Bart? The creep who stared at Kai like she was a slab of meat on sale?
Perfect.
That gave me a front-row seat. Every move, every word, every twitch-I could track it all. A leash disguised as cooperation.
Almost made me appreciate Garrett’s timing.
Almost.
Then I glanced sideways.
Just a peek.
Okay.
Not a peek.
Full-blown, no-shame, MI6-level snooping.
I craned my neck like a periscope, subtle as a freight train, pretending to stretch just as her screen lit up. The glow hit her cheek like she was bathed in divine light-and I was the sinful gremlin ready to ruin Christmas.
Look, in my defense, it wasn’t even my fault.
The screen was right there. Practically inviting me to read it. If she wanted privacy, she
should’ve angled it away from a six-foot-tall, overprotective man with the peripheral vision of a hawk in heat.
Besides, I wasn’t being nosy.
I was conducting tactical reconnaissance. For safety. For science. For… justice.
And maybe just maybe-because the idea of her being paired with a male that wasn’t me or Derrick made my left eye twitch.
So yeah. I peeked.
Like a total creep.
She hadn’t noticed-too busy chewing her lip and frowning at whatever horror Garrett had cooked up for her.
The glow of her screen reflected off her lashes. I shifted just enough to see the names.
And froze.
No.
No.
My amusement vanished like a match in water.
Bret Hollow.
Alexej Ivanov.
I blinked. Once. Twice. Maybe I misread. Maybe I was hallucinating from post-contact
euphoria.
Nope.
The screen still screamed betrayal.
Garrett had paired her with Bret-a guy she hated for good reason-and Alexej, the goddamn Russian alpha with cheekbones like razors and a smile that made girls forget their names.
The phone may as well have sprouted middle fingers and flipped them both at me.
My jaw clenched. Shade snarled inside me, deep and low.
‘Unacceptable.’
My grip tightened around the phone, knuckles whitening. It took every shred of willpower not to rip her device from her hands and smash it.
Instead, I breathed in. Slow. Measured.
The room felt too hot.
Too full of other men.
Kai still hadn’t noticed. She was scrolling now like this was mildly annoying, not a tactical disaster.
My death. Their death. Everyone’s death.
Shade’s voice coiled around my spine. ‘She’s ours. If they touch her, we make them bleed.’
Inhale. Exhale.
Control.
Always control.
That’s what made me better than men like them.
Beside me, Derrick’s screen lit up. He didn’t need to say a word-we locked eyes. He saw it
too.
“Reyes,” Derrick muttered, tossing his phone on the bed like it was cursed. “I got Reyes and Connor MacGregor.”
Not ideal.
But manageable.
Connor was loud, arrogant, and predictable. A minor threat. Reyes, though… That one I’d keep both eyes on.
Either Garrett was playing matchmaker, or he was trying to stir the pot. Either way, we were the ones bleeding.
And Kai?
She was walking into it blind.
My group? Problematic, but useful. I had Bart Hollow-Bret’s brother and another rot from the same family tree-and Albert Blackwood. No intel on him yet, but that name didn’t pop up without a story.
I’d find it.
Bart, at least, gave me a good excuse to monitor.
Kai’s situation, though?
That was a ticking bomb.
“Alexej Ivanov,” I muttered, jaw tightening.
Gorgeous, articulate, disarmingly polite. The alpha son of Russian aristocracy, bred for diplomacy and danger. His mother charmed world leaders. His father, probably corpses.
He had the kind of voice that could melt defenses, and now he’d be sitting next to Kai for hours? Flashing that soft smile? Offering her his notes like a gentleman?
No. Fucking. Way.
“I’m going to kill him,” I said flatly.
Derrick didn’t even blink. “Which one?”
“Both.”
He nodded. “Fair.”
I stood, phone still glowing in my fist. My fingers moved without thought.
First: Bret and Bart Hollow. Already under surveillance. I had bugs on them. Cameras, too.
But now I needed more.
Live feed.
I crossed the room to my duffel bag, knelt silently, and unzipped the side pocket.
Pulled out the black case.
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply