I stared at my reflection in the full-length bathroom mirror. I was wearing only a thin pair of boxers, aware now more than ever how much my body lacked the definition that Brayden and many of the other males here had. I was pale, the result of spending my days and nights holed up studying instead of being out playing sports or heading to the beaches for a rare sunny day, and thinner than I’d like, which stemmed from being a broke schmuck.

There were two things going for me at that moment—one, it was dark, so my flaws wouldn’t exactly be under a microscope or glaring lights, and two, the shots were starting to kick in, dulling my self-conscious thoughts.

You don’t have to do anything, I reminded myself. Well, unless you want to. Hell, maybe I would want to. I thought back to the last time I’d gotten laid, and when I realized how many months had passed, I vowed never to let that bit of info on to Brayden. Bastard would never let me live it down.

Straightening my shoulders, I gave myself one last once-over and tucked my clothes under my arm, trying not to think about how ridiculous I looked. Do I carry my stuff around? Do we get lockers? How does all this work? That was what I chose to preoccupy my mind with instead of focusing on how I was about to go downstairs and—

Stop, stop. Jesus. I pushed open the door and quickly strode over to the stairwell just across the hall, but before I could head down them, a large security guard blocked my path.

“I’m afraid I need you to come with me,” he said.

Frowning, I said, “Actually, I need to get downstairs to meet a friend of mine—”

“That won’t be possible. Your time at the Wolfe’s Den has come to an end. Now, if you’ll follow me…”

As the guard took a hold of my arm, I tried to pull away, but his grip was firm and unyielding.

“Look, I think you’ve got the wrong guy,” I said, continuing to struggle. “I haven’t done anything.” Quite literally anything.

But he wasn’t listening as he dragged me across the room back to where I’d come from. What the hell is going on? Why am I getting kicked out? Did that King guy do something?

“Can I at least put my clothes back on first?” I said as we started up the staircase that led to the first level of the club. But the guard stayed infuriatingly silent, towing me along like I was nothing more than a puppet.

Shit, Brayden was gonna be so pissed. He’d think I left on purpose.

Instead of coming out onto the first level like I expected, the guard made a sharp right, pushing through a door I hadn’t even noticed was there. The narrow hall was pitch-black, and suddenly, my adrenaline spiked. There I was, in a strange club with a strange man forcing me through a strange back way to…what? I didn’t have a good feeling about whatever it was. My heart began to pound overtime and my breath came out in quick pants. Somehow, I found my voice, though.

“Could you please tell me what’s going on here and where you’re taking me?”

As expected, he didn’t bother answering that, but before I could speak up again, he pushed through another door, and just like that, I was back in the small foyer where this crazy night had all began.

Blinking, I looked up at the man behind the desk, the one who’d taken our personal belongings, and he narrowed his eyes at me, probably wondering what I’d done to get unceremoniously tossed on my ass already. I’d love to know myself.

As the guard let go of my arm, he turned to head back inside, but shit, I needed to get word to Brayden.

“Could you please get my friend, Brayden, or tell him where I am so he can—”

The door slammed shut behind the guard, and my shoulders slumped in defeat. I didn’t understand what I’d done or why I was standing in the lobby half-naked—

Oh, shit, I was still naked. I quickly got dressed, thankful in that moment for the small mercy of not having to walk through the crowd on the first level in nothing but my boxers. When I’d shrugged back into my suit jacket, the man behind the desk held out the lockbox. I laid my finger over the sensor, the box unlocked, and I grabbed my personal items and shoved them into my pockets. No sooner had I done that than I was pushed out the front door, back out into the mist and gloom of a late night in Westport.

This is officially going down as the strangest night of my life. Maybe Brayden had snuck something into my drink and I was hallucinating. That would make more sense than anything else that’d happened.

Wait—how was I going to get home? Brayden had driven, and I couldn’t call him because his phone was also in a lockbox. Cabs in the city were expensive, but what other choice did I have? I wasn’t walking several miles home in the rain.

Sighing, I glanced up and down what had been a busy stretch of downtown when we’d arrived, but it must’ve been later than I thought, because the traffic had cleared out and there wasn’t a cab in sight. Fine. I’d just call for one.

I pulled my cell out of my pocket, and my forehead creased as I saw the black screen. I hadn’t turned it off, but I hit the power button anyway, and when a blinking empty battery flashed on the screen briefly, I cursed. Great. What now?

I thought about banging on the door of the den and asking to use their phone, but seeing how they’d been so quick to kick me out, I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Resigned to my fate, I flipped up my collar to ward off the chill and began the long trek back home.

* * *

It hadn’t been my intention to follow him. My intention in having the lamb thrown from the den was to protect him from the wolves inside. But as I pushed open the side door of the club and stepped out into the night, I realized my error immediately.

From where I was standing, I could see the back of the young man, Jesse, as he looked up and down the now deserted street, and the thrill I got out of being alone with him, unbeknownst to him, was electrifying. It zipped along my veins and made me antsy as I stood silent and still in the inky shadows with Faolán by my side. I stroked my fingers over the top of his head in a soothing manner, making sure he stayed put as I continued to watch the man out on the curbside, as he dug in his coat pocket for his cell phone.

When he had it in hand, I found myself holding my breath in the hopes he couldn’t get service, but I doubted that would be the case, as I never had trouble myself. As it turned out, Lady Luck seemed to be on my side tonight, because he cursed loud enough that I could hear and then shoved it back in his pocket.

No battery, maybe? Oh, you poor little lamb.

Jesse flipped the collar of his jacket up then, and even though I knew I should turn around and go the fuck back inside, I waited to see what he’d do next. I glanced down at Faolán, his eyes finding mine as he waited for his next command, and when I heard the distinct sound of footsteps, I returned my attention to the street to see that Jesse had started to walk up it.

I tipped my face up against the rain and wondered why I expected it to wash away the sinful thoughts racing through my mind. This was the exact kind of thing I lived for. I was a hunter by nature. I’d known that from an early age. And as I watched Jesse head down the street, I did the one thing I’d sworn I wouldn’t do—I followed him.

“Come,” I said to Faolán as I stepped out onto the sidewalk. I stuck close enough to the buildings to be concealed by the shadows stretching along the road and pavement, where puddles were forming.

Jesse was a decent way ahead of me, but not far enough that I couldn’t make out his hands, which were now shoved in his pockets as his long legs ate up the distance. His head was down, as though shielding his face from the rain, and the long line of the back of his neck made me pick up the pace to get a little closer.

As he approached a four-way intersection, Jesse slowed until he came to a complete stop, and I edged my way further into the shadows as to not be detected. The hunt wasn’t fun unless your prey led you on a chase. And it was time to make Jesse run.

Faolán stopped beside me, keeping his eyes forward, and when Jesse started back up again to cross the road, I finally gave the signal for Faolán to go ahead; he knew what I wanted of him. My wolf took off down the side street we just passed, and I had no doubt he would find his way back to me. But first, he would go and pick up the scent of the man I refused to take my eyes off.

As my pace increased, the blood thrumming through my veins was a sure sign this had the potential to turn bad—really bad if I didn’t quit now. But as I passed by a garbage can, I kicked it over, wanting the safety the silence had so far provided the little lamb to vanish, and it worked like a fucking charm.

Jesse jerked to a stop and whipped his head around, and I was sure to step back into the side street away from his searching eyes.

“Hello?” he called out, his voice echoing off the brick buildings. “Is anyone there?”

I waited with my back pressed up against the wall and my cock hardening, loving the slight tremble I heard in his voice. It was like music to my ears. When nothing else followed but the sound of footsteps moving away, I knew he’d taken off again. I walked back out onto the sidewalk and began to trail behind him, and this time, I noticed his movements were much faster.

Jesse sensed something wasn’t quite right, and he wasn’t wrong. There was nothing right about what I was doing.

With each step I took, he doubled his pace. Every now and then he glanced back, and I made sure to be hidden from sight. And when he stumbled slightly at one point, I couldn’t stop the curl of my lip.

Yesss… This was what I wanted. What I’d known would happen if I followed him. And I knew that if I had him pinned to the wall right this second, his pulse would be racing.

I wanted to feel that. I wanted to feel it under my fingers as I restrained his hands and made him beg. I wanted to watch his eyes search for a means of escape. But most of all, I wanted to watch him give in. I wanted him to surrender to me.

As Jesse made a turn as though he were about to head down to the right, I saw him come to an abrupt halt. His feet froze in place and I knew exactly what it was he was staring at in the side street—Faolán had just made an appearance, and now…now I just had to hang back and wait for the lamb to run.

* * *

Oh fuck. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. Gleaming yellow eyes stared out from the shadows, and panic seized my chest. The dog in the side alley had to be massive, which didn’t bode well for me.

Shit, were you supposed to run when you saw a rabid animal? Stay still? Roll over and play dead? Running seemed to be out of the question, since my legs weren’t cooperating. It was like they’d suddenly filled with lead, and even as the animal began to growl, I couldn’t seem to move. My fight or flight seemed jammed, because I was frozen where I stood, even as my brain told me I needed to back up.

This is how I’m gonna die, I thought, my heart pounding so hard I couldn’t hear anything over the rush of blood in my ears. Attacked in the middle of downtown.

Oh God. Maybe if I shut my eyes, it would be easier than watching the end as it came. But I was mesmerized as the dog stayed in the shadows but kept his eyes on me. Was this what happened before the attack? He wanted to smell my fear?

The growling stopped all of a sudden, and as quick as he’d appeared, he vanished back into the alley. My breath left me in a whoosh, my limbs feeling like Jell-O, as just like that, I was alone again. Finally, I could move, but my legs were shaking so badly I had to steady myself on the brick wall beside me and take a few breaths. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw no trace of the dog or anything else that would’ve scared him off, but the fact that something had gotten his attention and chased him away? Yeah, I needed to get home, and now.