“You don’t have to do this,” I say when I finally meet her gaze.
“Do what?”
“Help me.”
Something flickers across her face, too quick for me to name. “You’re not my enemy, Lexi.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think your husband would agree.”
She tilts her head, studying me. “He will. Eventually.”
I don’t know what to say to that.
For the first time since walking into this house, my chest loosens, just slightly. Not because I feel safe but because—for now, at least—I’m not alone.
And that has to be enough.
Toros is waitingat the bottom of the stairs. Andy slips around me to tap his arm. I can only stare at where she willingly touches him.
“What do you think?” she asks him, gesturing to me.
Toros’ phone dings. He glances at it then at me, and merely says, “We need to go.”
“Go where?” I ask, my heart thudding as reality presses in again.
“Pack meeting,” he says as he starts for the door with Andy still at his side.
I stare after them, my thoughts racing. A pack meeting right now can only be about one thing: me. About whether to kill me or let me be their alpha. I can’t tell which side Toros is on, but it won’t matter. Majority will rule, and by the end of the day, I’ll know my fate.
I swallow hard and force myself to follow them. Refusing will only prolong the inevitable. And I need to get this over with before my wolf takes me over completely. I’m not entirely sure what that will be like, but I know I don’t want to do it in front of these people.
Already, I can feel the heat from earlier returning. It’s like a pressure building and building until I finally combust. All I can do is hold it off as long as possible—and hope I live through the experience.
We take the SUV again.
Andy rides in the back with me while Toros sits up front with the driver, who wears a black security uniform. No onespeaks, and I concentrate on keeping my shit together. When we slide to a stop, I recognize the luxury high-rise office immediately. It’s the same one where the last pack meeting was held. When Franco put a bullet in Anthony Greco in front of a full auditorium like it was nothing. But it’s not the sight of the building I’ve had nightmares about that gets me. It’s the crowd that pulls my attention and renders me immobile in my seat.
People are lining the sidewalk on both sides of the street. Men in black shirts and suits—some I recognize from Vincenzo’s pack—are acting as a barricade, pushing people back. Police cars have pulled sideways with their lights flashing, using their cruisers to barricade the street ahead of us as they direct traffic, one car at a time, through the narrow opening between pedestrians.
I’ve never seen this many people gathered in one place. There are easily five times as many people here as there were last time during the protests.
It’s insane.
They’re all yelling, but I can’t make any of it out.
Toros gets out and opens my door, but still, I don’t move. What if they’re all here to witness my execution?
“It’s okay, Lexi,” Andy says from beside me.
I don’t believe her. But what choice do I have?
Sliding out of the backseat, I force my knees not to buckle as I step from the car. Andy slides out behind me, her presence behind me urging me to move farther onto the sidewalk.
The crowd glimpses me and goes wild. People scream my name. They point their phones at me, snapping pictures or even filming me just standing here. Some wave homemade signs in the air, but I don’t read them. I’m too afraid they’ll be calling for my death in print, and there’s no way my control can handle that. Instead, I scan the faces for anyone familiar.
I tell myself I’d take Mia, Dutch, Razor—even Crow right now. But it’s Grey I’m really looking for.
I don’t find any of them among the people treating me like I’m some kind of A-list celebrity.