I narrow my eyes on him, yanking at the cuffs behind my back, “Oh yeah? And what, pray tell, does that mean?”
“Atticus here will tell you. I gotta go calm down Roman now that you’ve managed to piss off the most patient man I know.”
Hmm,Roman. Somehow the names fit him perfectly, the Adonis carving come to life.
I turn to Atticus, watching him as he pulls a bottle of water out of a bag, he must’ve brought with him which has me asking, “Do you guys have a room here?”
He gulps down water before answering me, “Yes, the old man at the front is a human who works for us.”
I balk at him, have these men no loyalty to our ways? Humans are not supposed to know about us. It goes against everything we’ve learned from the Ancient Scripts. If the humans were to ever know about us, they’d most likely capture us and kill us or study us to make themselves stronger. It was tried back in the Thirty Years’ War when foolish men and women hunted the supernatural, killing mostly innocent humans. The supernaturals they did capture were experimented on by lunatic scientists. When they couldn’t replicate what their victim could do, be it Vampires, Fae, or Werewolf, they were tortured for information.
Those humans were the real devils.
Seeing my aghast expression, Atticus sighs, “He’s human but he’s also a warlock. His practice is light. He was banished from his coven when he refused to practice dark. He and his wife run this motel and a few others for us. They also help us bring lone wolves from the edge of madness.”
I sit for a moment thinking about that. Raider Pack never used Witches. We didn’t know that was even allowed. I’ve always been curious to know more supernaturals, see how they live and thrive, but even with Cree’s father in power as Alpha, we were taught that all species keep a low profile and stick to their territories because of the population of humans. There are not many places we can hide. We work side-by-side with humans, but we have to maintain our secrecy.
“Do you work with other species? Aside from the Witches, I mean.”
Atticus chuckles, “No girly, I don’t think so. I answered one, now it’s your turn,” He scratches at his jaw before leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, “Why do you want to find the True Alphas?”
“That’s my business.” I look away, unwilling to let him read the secrets in my eyes.
My pack needs help and the only way that’ll happen is if I slaughter every single Dark Blood myself, which won’t happen. So, Ineedto find these Alphas.And soon too.
“Man, you are one blind pup, aren’t you?” He says with a roll of his red eyes.
I open my mouth to either cuss him out or ask him what he means, I hadn’t decided yet, when Roman comes back in and drops a duffle bag on the table by the door. He’s wearing a shirt now; the black cotton stretches across his muscles tightly. It looks like it’ll burst with a simple flex. His eyes flash when he sees that my chin and neck are still coated with his blood. Fuck, I bet I could be mistaken for a Vampire.
“Come on, pup,” He grips my biceps, lifting me from the bed like a child, “let’s get you cleaned up and in bed. We leave in a few hours and sleep would be good right about now.”
I shake my arm from his grasp, “Uncuff me and I’ll clean myself up.”
He looks at me, humor shining brightly in his eyes, “No,”
“Fine, let Goldilocks clean me up. I like him best after all,” I smirk as his wolf flashes in anger. I told ya, I’m gonna use his own possessiveness against him. Do I want Gold touching me? No, but I’ll be damned if I don’t use any advantage, I can.
Roman quickly bends and jams his big ass shoulder into my stomach, scooping me up ungracefully while the other two pinheads chuckle at my expense. I growl, kicking my feet and tempted to shift but the last thing I want is for my wolf to get hurt with the cuffs. No, I’ll bide my time and find a safer way to escape...maybe I’ll poison them. Though, that seems unlikely unless I happen to find Wolfsbane which I wouldn’t be able to handle any way.Sigh, I’ll just have to run the first chance I get.
Roman drops me on the counter of the restroom, gripping my jaw in his big hand, “If you ever use my brothers against me or flirt with them in any way…” He shakes his head solemnly, “I will chain you in my silver cell. Your skin will feel like you’re in direct sunlight which is easy to withstand for a few hours...but the burn never stops. Your skin will peel layer after layer until your muscles and tendons start to show, but by then you—”
“Okay! I get it,” I shout, unwilling to hear what I already know. Cree began using silver when people would speak out about his cruelty. As a way of punishment as well as a reminder to keep your trap shut, he would make the offending wolf hold a silver piece in his or her mouth for thirty minutes.Fucking psycho.
Note to self; Only use Roman’s jealousy if there’s no other choice.I nod to himandmyself as he yanks a clean hand towel from the rack and rinses it in the sink. As he rings it out, I watch his muscles flex with the movements and mentally wipe the drool from my mouth.
I can hear my horny wolf panting, making me chuckle as Roman brings the rag to my face.
“What’s so funny?” His brows furrow, a little crease forming between them as he focuses on cleaning his blood from my chin and jaw.
“Just laughing at myself. I’m looking for a pack of True Alphas yet I’m already sick of your domineering ways.” It’s true. How am I supposed to gain the help of True Alphas if I can’t even deal with these guys?
He sighs, rinsing the rag out once more, “You slashed our bikes without provocation, Jaz.” My heart flutters hearing him say my name, “Then you run after stealing money from one of our businesses,”
My head jerks back, “What? I didn’t—wait, are you talking about Jerry’s car shop? I didn’t know it belonged to you.”
“Doesn’t matter. You broke laws in my territory from the moment you arrived a month ago and failed to seek my permission to stay,” He tips my head back and begins cleaning under my jaw, “My land, my laws.” The soft strokes of the warm rag feel so intimate that my thoughts begin to jumble. Why does it have to behimthat makes my entire being respond so profoundly?
Leaning against the mirror at my back, I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I can’t think straight when he touches me, even with a rag.