Nicolae was true to his word about bringing Ellie home. The entire pack was aflutter with preparations for her arrival and whatever big shindig Nicolae had planned to welcome her into the fold. I’d already made him promise that it would be less intense than my own welcome. The other side of that was knowing that he was also telling the truth about keeping a close eye on us both. I’d spent weeks wandering the city out of sheer boredom, so he probably didn’t think anything about my putting his threat to the test.

I went my usual route through the city center, tossing a few crackers into the fountain for the birds on my way. The square was crowded, as it usually was on the weekend, so I decided to draw out whoever was watching me another way. I ducked into the subway terminal and purchased a ticket for the museum district, then one for the busier shopping district, knowing that would show up last on the ticket booth display. I tucked the extra ticket into my pocket and pretended to be oblivious to the fact that I had any tails as I made a pitstop in the bathrooms.

No one came in. After dismissing a half-brained thought about escaping through an air vent, I ducked out through the other entrance and made a beeline for my intended stop, rushing past the dupe. There were only five people on the train when I boarded and showed my ticket to the attendant, so I sat in the back and waited. A couple of minutes passed and I was starting to relax, thinking that I was just being paranoid. If Nicolae did have anyone following me, surely they were attentive enough to stay one step ahead of a “blue-collar hick.”

Just as I’d started to ease back into my seat, two burly men boarded the train, wearing the basic yet expensive dark-colored clothing that immediately identified them as pack to my anxiety-trained eye. I could see the confidence melt off my face in my window reflection as the strangers boarded the train and one sat in the aisle directly across from me.

The train started up and the wolf across from me folded one leg over the other, watching me with a smug look he’d actually earned the right to. “Hello again, Jack,” he said in a Romanian accent even more pronounced than Nicolae’s. His hair was shorter, but it was the same dark shade as the Alpha’s, and he resembled Nicolae and Mason enough that I wondered if he was a close relative. Now that I was thinking of it, there had to be a lot of relation between pack members.

Of course he knew me. I might not have recognized him in his human form, but he was undoubtedly one of the wolves Nicolae had dangled me in front of like meat at the hunt. He knew my scent, so of course my little attempt at diversion hadn’t fooled him.

At least I knew when I’d been bested, and I decided there was no point in being rude. “We’ve met, I assume?” I asked.

“In the woods,” he answered. Before he and the others ripped another human to pieces like a stuffed dog toy.

“Didn’t catch your name, but I probably wouldn’t remember it if you gave it. My wolf’s not much better than my Romanian.”

That got him to crack a smile. Most of the pack members I’d met were as cold and driven as Nicolae, but it was hard to tell what to attribute to cultural differences and what to attribute to them being a completely different species.

“Vasil,” he answered, leaning over to offer his hand. I shook it and made note of how the width from his thumb to his pinky was just perfect for strangling.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Vasil. Not bad at tracking, are ya?”

“Not at all,” he said in a pleasant tone. “I’m better in my other form—but,” he paused, looking pointedly around the train, “it’s not as inconspicuous.”

“You know, that’s probably the nicest threat I’ve ever had.”

A grin spread across his face. He was an oversized kid in his mid-twenties, if that. I wondered if he was one of the wolves who’d be hunting me when the time came. One of the men who’d challenge Nicolae to the death for his position if he got the chance. “When Nicolae told me I would be guarding his human, I did not think you would prove such an interesting assignment.”

His human. The terminology pissed me off, so why did it make my heart skip a beat? “I’m glad I could keep you entertained.”

“Are we going anywhere in particular?”

“Not really. Just figured I’d kill some time and meet the people who’ve been following me all month.”

He chuckled. “Well, now you have. That’s Lon,” he said, nodding toward the other wolf on the other end of the train. Lon looked up, glaring. Or maybe that was just how his face looked. “Don’t mind him. He’d rather be fighting.”

“Can’t say I blame him. Are you Alphas?”

“I am,” he answered. “Lon is a beta.”

“So… you’ll be hunting me?” I asked warily.

“When the full moon comes, yes. But don’t worry, I don’t bite humans,” he said with a wink.

I did not believe him. No one with a smile that charming was up to anything good. I liked this kid, but if I saw him anywhere near my daughter, we were gonna have a problem. “I’ll keep that in mind. So, you want to be the Alpha?”

“Hardly,” he snorted. “I prefer being a guard and a soldier, and you’re not exactly my type. No offense.”

“None taken,” I assured him.

“Now, Nicolae’s last mate…” he said with a low whistle.

I cleared my throat. “She was my wife, so, offense taken there.”

“My apologies,” he said with a laugh. His expression turned somber. “I am sorry for your loss. Francesca was a good woman. Strong. She would’ve made a good leader.”

“Thanks. You’re, uh, one of the only people I’ve met who seems to share that sentiment.”

He shrugged. “Never said she wasn’t a bitch, but most she-wolves are. The ones who get shit done, at least.”

“She certainly did that.”

“May I ask you a personal question?”

“You’d be the first person to ask if you could ask, so sure.”

“How is it belonging to him when Francesca belonged to the both of you?”

I was surprised at his candor, but I’d lived in Europe for just long enough that I was starting to get used to it. It was a nice change of pace from the Clarksvillian habit of being cheerful to your face and stabbing you in the back as soon as you turned around. I’d grown up in a little shack in the mountains, so adjusting to town life when I’d gone to live with my aunt in high school had been a culture shock, despite its close proximity. I had learned quickly that there was a reason “city folk” didn’t like “mountain folk” and it wasn’t just because of our strange undertones or the elixirs granny brewed in her shed.

“About how you’d figure,” I answered, deciding that was safe. “It’s awkward as hell, but Nicolae promised to keep Ellie safe, and come tomorrow night, we’ll find out if he kept his word.”

“He always keeps his word,” Vasil said in a grave tone. “That’s what separates us from them.”

“From humans?”

“From the Majerus pack.”

“So I’m guessing that war’s not gonna slow down anytime soon.”

“Certainly not now,” said Vasil. “Your daughter’s marriage will secure our alliance with the Crow pack. Then we might actually stand a chance at finishing this thing.”

I listened carefully, noting the way his demeanor shifted. He might have looked young, but his eyes told the truth about the age of his soul. He’d seen war, and he’d seen a lot of it.

“I admire anyone who’s willing to put their life on the line for something they believe in, pack or country.” I’d been a few months off from joining the service before Franny found me, and I chose the mines instead. I didn’t regret being home to raise my daughter, but sometimes I wondered if I’d made the right choice.

“Pack is family,” Vasil said in a way that made me think our conversation was not entirely unplanned. “I may not see eye to eye with Nicolae on everything, but he’s a good man and he’d give his life for any of us. He proved it when he pulled me out of enemy territory half-dead and took a bullet for it. Any of us would give our lives for his in return.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna throw the hunt?” I asked hopefully, wishing I was remotely capable of puppy-dog eyes.

He smirked. “I respect him and our traditions too much to do that. You had better prepare yourself when the time comes.”

I was sure he was right about that. The train came to a stop and I decided to buy Vasil and Lon a few drinks at the pub on Nicolae’s dime to make up for dragging them around Bucharest. We weren’t exactly old friends by the time evening came around, but Lon looked less like he wanted to eat me, so that was progress.

“Gonna go take a leak, unless that would be too much of a security risk,” I said with a dry cough. My last sip of beer had gone down the wrong way.

Vasil flipped me off, which I was starting to realize was a gesture of goodwill in male werewolf parlance. I got up off my stool and stumbled a little. Maybe I’d lost my tolerance over the last month. I made it to the bathroom and was relieved that no one followed me in. Taking a piss in front of a dog was one thing, but I drew the line at one who could write in cursive.

I zipped up and turned on the sink, coughing again with sudden and unexpected force. I hadn’t had a fit in a few days. The air was better in Romania, if nothing else. But when I saw the black blood in the sink, I knew I was far from out of the woods, and only then did I realize I didn’t have my inhaler on me. Of course I didn’t. I never did anything right.

Fuck.

The coughing got worse, and I gulped down a few cupped handfuls of warm water to settle it enough to let me breathe. One night. One fucking night was all I had to get through, and then Ellie would be here.

One night.

I gripped the edge of the sink, but it did nothing to save me from collapsing, or hitting my head on the way down. I heard the bathroom door swing open while I was still trying to catch my breath and I recognized the sound of Vasil yelling, but my ears were ringing too loudly to make out his words.

A minute later, I was being dragged to my feet by both men who’d been sent to stalk me, and I was with it enough to put one foot in front of the other as they led me out of the bar. At least I probably looked like just another loser who’d had a little too much to drink to everyone else.

Vasil left us at the curb to make a phone call and I found myself leaning fully on Lon as I tried to stop coughing. Each cough had my head closer to splitting open.

“Hang on,” Lon said with actual kindness in his voice as he held me up. “Don’t pass out on me.”

“Not —” Another cough seized me and this one sent a searing pain into my diaphragm. “Not planning on it.”

“Shh,” he warned, muttering something that sounded like a cross between fretting and scolding in Romanian.

A black car screeched to a halt at the curb and Vasil opened the back door. It had been all of a minute since he’d made that call, which only proved to me that Nicolae meant what he’d said about having wolves all over the city. He owned Bucharest, of that there was no question. Lon and Vasil loaded me into the car before getting in and I heard Vasil speaking rapidly in Romanian to someone on the phone. I couldn’t understand more than a word here or there of what he was saying, but I knew the deep voice on the other end of the line well enough.

They were taking me back to Nicolae. Somehow, I knew I was going to be punished for this.