Page 132 of Pack Frenzy
“What are you doing here?” My voice comes out steadier than I feel.
He shrugs, scanning the crowd. “Same as everyone else. Having fun. You should try it with someone like me who can show a good time.”
His tone is smooth, almost lazy, but there’s something sharp underneath—something that makes my skin crawl even before his scent reaches me. Too much cologne, oil, and something metallic underneath.
Eli’s still on the phone a few yards away, back half-turned. I can’t exactly run in this costume, not without face-planting.
“You look good, Jess,” Blake says quietly. “Better than when I last saw you.”
How the hell does he even know my name? Oh, right—Nexus.
“Don’t.” My hand curls into a fist at my side.
He tilts his head, amused. “Don’t what? Talk to you? Look at you? Or remind you you’re wasting your time with those losers?”
He reaches out, snatching my arm. Reflex takes over before fear can. I grab his wrist, twist, and drive my elbow up and back—connect just enough to catch him across the nose.
He staggers, eyes wide, a bright streak of blood blooming under one nostril. “What the?—”
I take a step back, breath shaking, heart hammering. My hands are trembling now—not from fear, but from the shock of what I just did. I hit him. I actuallyhithim. Part of me wants to throw up. Another part wants to scream. A third part—smaller, fiercer—feels something like triumph.
He wipes at the blood, staring at the red on his fingers. Then he laughs, low and mean. “Didn’t see that coming,” he says, voice roughened. “Guess I’ll have to be more careful next time. But I should’ve known you’d be a wild cat too.”
He grabs for me again—harder this time—but stops when another scent cuts through the air: bergamot and linen, crisp and certain.
“She doesn’t belong to you,” Eli says, low and edged behind me.
Blake’s smile widens, teeth slick with red. “Ah. The loyal one.” He wipes his nose with the back of his hand and eyes Eli like he’s something under his boot. “Still pretending you belong in a pack, Beta? Thought you’d finally outgrown playing guard dog for Alphas—and whatever else you like to play with.”
Eli doesn’t flinch. He just steps between us, his scent cutting clean through the metallic tang of blood. “Walk away or you’ll be carried out on a stretcher.”
Blake’s gaze flicks over him, assessing, amused. “Same old Eli. Still trying to prove you’re not half of anything.”
Eli’s shoulders stay relaxed, but his voice drops to something quieter. Deadlier. “Last chance.”
For a heartbeat, it looks like Blake might push it. Then he glances past Eli, and his smirk falters.
Rowan and Cassian are cutting through the crowd, both moving fast, their scents rolling ahead of them—rain and sandalwood, leather and heat. The air itself shifts, charged and heavy.
Blake’s eyes narrow. “Guess the whole pack’s here.” He exhales through his teeth, half a laugh, half something darker. “Another time, honey.”
He backs away, slipping into the moving tide of bodies until he’s gone, swallowed by the crowd.
My body’s still shaking, adrenaline roaring in my ears. Eli turns to me, scanning for injury, but I can’t seem to focus on anything except the faint smear of blood on the floor where Blake had stood.
And he was smiling when he left.
That’s what scares me most. Not the grab. Not the blood. The fact that he lookedpleased.Like this was exactly what he wanted. Like I just played right into his hands.
CHAPTER 32
ROWAN
Iclose the front door and twist the deadbolt, then slide the chain into place. The scrape of metal doesn’t kill the itch under my skin, but it buys me something small, a half-breath.
Cassian’s keys hit the bowl hard enough to rattle. He’s still riding that raw, hot edge—anger sitting under his skin like a live thing. His shoulders are locked; the black-pepper undercurrent of him bites through everything else.
Jess stands in the middle of the room in her mermaid costume, hands trembling as she fumbles with the zipper. She’s been apologizing since the car…sorry she didn’t move fast enough, sorry Blake saw her, sorry we had to step in.
