Bianca waved to me as she headed out the door, her smile lighting me up. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving me alone in the house with him.

I hated Rolf being here, touching our stuff, leaving his disgusting Wulfric scent all over the house. It would take weeks after he was gone for that stench to fade. And now that he was threatening me and trying to take Bianca away, it was even worse, and I was powerless to stop him.

Trapped again.

As if reading my thoughts, Rolf wandered into the hallway, shining an apple against his bare chest. “Hi Robbie.” He bit into the apple, chewing loudly. “Any luck with the ring yet?”

I balled my hands into fists. As if my failure to locate the ring wasn’t frustrating enough, now Rolf knew about it. “It’s going fine.”

“If it was going fine, you’d have found it by now.” Rolf grinned, taking another huge bite. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help now, so we’ll find it in no time.”

“You’re not getting anywhere near the ring,” I growled.

“Au contraire.” He paused. “That’s ‘You’re wrong,’ in French, in case you didn’t know. It’s part of the agreement my pack made with Caleb. I’d have thought your alpha would’ve explained this to you. I am here to assist with the hunt for the ring.”

“I dinnae need your help.”

“You do, Robbo, you do.” He clapped me on the shoulder, his own shoulders shaking in silent laughter. “You see, unlike you, my father actually taught me to read. And, also unlike you, I have the trust of your alpha. If you don’t find that ring soon, Caleb is going to get rid of you, so if I were you, I’d be taking any help you can get.”

“Fine.” I thought quickly. I need to give him a job to do that will be least likely to result in him finding the ring.

“We think the ring is located somewhere in this house, but there’s a lot of stuff that needs going through. I’m working in the drawing room. You could take the kitchen. Take all the stuff out of the cupboards, search them thoroughly, and put it all back. Give them a good clean while you’re at it. I see you already have the apron for that.”

“What about Bianca’s room? I’ll take that instead.” Rolf licked his lips. “I bet it smells absolutely intoxicating.”

“Don’t you touch any of her stuff,” I growled. “Just go into the kitchen and search and don’t talk to me or Bianca.”

“There, now, that’s not very neighbourly. If you don’t start acting more accommodating, I might have to tell your alpha how recalcitrant you are.” He paused to give me one of his slow smiles. “Do you know what recalcitrant means? Do I need to spell it for you?”

My fists ached from clenching them so hard. Every muscle in my body tensed, ready to leap forward and smash Rolf’s face open. But he was right – his pack was an important alliance, and he knew many things about me I didn’t want my pack to know. If I did anything that jeopardised the alliance, Caleb would throw me out, and then I’d truly be alone.

I let out a frustrated cry, spun around, and stomped away. Rolf’s laughter followed me down the hall to the dining room. I slammed the door shut behind me, rattling the frame and disturbing the crystal in the cabinet.

Why did he have to stay here, with us? I knew why, because Rolf wanted to torture me. It wasn’t enough that he’d beat me before, he had to do it all over again, here in my home. And of course Caleb would bend over backward to agree with him, especially since Bianca and I were the only people who weren’t part of a couple. If Bianca weren’t such a commitment phobe and had told everyone we were getting married for real, then Caleb would have got Rolf a hotel, and everything would be fine.

That’s not fair, Robbie, and you ken it. You’re just feeling like shite because he’s here. Don’t take it out on Bianca.

My frustration lasted for the rest of the day, as I pawed through every crystal goblet, looked under every Toby jug, and checked the edges of every drawer and surface for a fake back or bottom. Nothing. The ring wasn’t anywhere in this room.

This is ridiculous. More than 150 years have passed since the ring was lost. Bianca’s grandmother knew every corner of this house. If it had been in an obvious place, she would have found it already, and restored it to its rightful place as a Sinclair family heirloom.

I slumped to the floor, knees pulled to my chest. My temples throbbed. There had to be something I was missing. Some clue hidden amongst all the other clues. A cleverer person would have already found it. But I wasn’t clever, and my time was running out.

You can’t let this get to you, Robbie. Everyone is counting on you, and now you’ve got some extra motivation, as you have to figure this out before Rolf does. Check the diary again; it’s the only direct link to Silvia you have. If there’s some clue you missed, it’s in there.

But what’s the point? I argued with myself. You can’t even read the diary. You should just bring it to Rolf, so he can find the clue and take the credit.

No. My inner wolf raged. You’re not giving up. Go and get that book and read as hard as you damn well can.

I pulled myself to my feet, and crept into the hallway, listening hard to the clatter of dishes in the kitchen. Good, Rolf was working in there. I’d be able to sneak upstairs without him seeing me.

I crept across the hallway, and placed my foot on the first step. The wood let out a mighty creak. I froze, heart pounding, but the bangs and shuffles in the kitchen didn’t cease. I crept up the rest of the stairs, crossed the landing and climbed up to the Rose Room. Even though she had strangers living in her house now, Bianca didn’t lock her door. I pulled it open and ducked inside.

Bianca’s scent hit me as soon as I crossed the threshold – a wall of spice so intoxicating it disoriented me. I stood like a fool, my nose in the air, drinking in the essence of her. This close to the full moon, I had to reel in my wolf before he escaped to bask in that glorious scent.

Once I had my wolf under control, I scanned the walls, admiring how she’d began to plaster the rose-covered wallpaper in tattoo posters and old vinyl record covers. I stared at the rumpled, unmade bed, remembering what we’d done there this morning, how Bianca’s back had arched as I entered her from behind and—

Get a grip on yourself, Robbie. You don’t want Rolf to catch you in here. Find the scrapbook, and get out.

I scanned all the surfaces for the leather-bound book. It wasn’t buried under the piles of makeup on the dresser. I moved to her bedside cabinet. There, hidden under a stack of tattoo magazines and a copy of some book called On The Road, was Silvia Sinclair’s scrapbook.

I grabbed it and bolted to the door. As I passed the bed, I noticed something sitting in the middle of the sheets. I peered closer.

A small bouquet of blood-red roses sat on the duvet, wrapped with black paper and ribbon. A short note stuck out the side. I squinted at it for a few minutes, trying to read the curly red lettering. FROM YOUR ADMIRER, the note said.

Blood boiled in my veins. Rolf. It could only be him. No one else had been in the house apart from us and the guests. The flowers had only one purpose – he was trying to take Bianca from me.

I grabbed the flowers and note, tossed them into the rubbish bin at the end of Bianca’s dresser, hiding them beneath a bunch of used tissues. Take that, Rolf, I seethed. Two can play at this game.

* * *

I took the diary up to the attic. Somehow, knowing that Silvia had spent much of her time up there with Hattie made it the perfect spot to try to solve the mystery.

I flopped down on the bed and opened the book to the first page. My heart sank when I squinted at the handwriting again. Silvia wrote in a loopy, romantic cursive that made my eyes hurt just looking at it.

I shut my eyes. Come on, Robbie. This is your job. You have to do this.

Slowly, as though I was a scholar mulling over a particularly difficult Latin passage (I assume), I worked my way through the words. I had a children’s dictionary app on my phone alongside the useless screen reader that gave me simple definitions for all the words I didn’t understand, which were quite a few. As I figured out each sentence, I wrote it down on a pad next to me. My crooked, childish writing wouldn’t win any calligraphy awards, but at least I could read it back to myself.

My stomach growled as I struggled through each page of the scrapbook, trying to decipher every single word to make sure I didn’t miss a thing. Something meaty and delicious wafted up the secret staircase from the kitchen below, but I wasn’t about to go downstairs and give Rolf the satisfaction of feeding me.

Some time later, I heard footsteps on the stairs. “Bye Robbo,” Rolf called from the first floor landing. “I’m off to get naked for Bianca. I will return for dinner tonight. Good luck with that ring!”

Go to hell, you wanker, I thought, but didn’t say.

A few moments later, Rolf’s footsteps descended the main staircase. The front door slammed, and I was finally alone.

I slammed the book shut, and raced down from the attic. I returned to Bianca’s room, grabbed the flowers from out of her rubbish bin, and flung them in the kitchen bin, where Rolf would be sure to see them.

Looking around, I noticed Rolf had left several pots in the sink. He must’ve made himself something for lunch. I flung open the fridge. A large pot of chilli sat on the shelf. It smelled delicious, packed with glorious spices. I pulled it out, ladled myself off a generous bowl, and placed it in the microwave. While I waited for it to heat up, I took the rest of the chilli and dumped it into the bin on top of the flowers.

* * *

“Honeys, I’m home!” Bianca yelled from downstairs.

I flung the book and my pad onto my bed, hiding them under my pillow, and flew down the stairs. Rolf hadn’t come home yet, and apart from the journalist, the other guests were all out. I wanted to talk to Bianca before Rolf had a chance to get to her first.

“How was your day?” I asked as I clattered down the stairs, my heart leaping at the sight of her.

“My hand has cramped up so bad, I can’t feel my fingers anymore. I had wall-to-wall clients all day. First, that reporter Serenity came in to get a massive dragon on her shoulder. I just managed to get the outline done before Rolf came in for his touchup—” She stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“You have your serious face on.” She stroked my cheek.

“I have to show you something.” I grabbed her hand and dragged her into the kitchen, lifting the lid of the bin to show her the crumpled flowers.

“Roses,” she said, bending down the touch the petals. “They’re pretty.”

“They’re for you.”

“Then why are they in the bin, covered with chilli?”

“I found them on your bed.” Bianca glanced up at me. “I didn’t put them there.”

“Oh, Robbie—”

“Rolf is trying to win you,” I said. “He knows that I’ve claimed you, but he thinks he’s got the right to swoop in and take you—”

“Whoah, whoah, whoah!” Bianca grabbed my shoulders. “What’s all this bollocks about claiming me? I thought we cleared this all up. You and I are together, but we’re not together. This isn’t the dark ages, Robbie. I’m not anyone’s to claim.”

“I ken.” My cheeks flared with heat. “It’s just … what it’s called in shifter society when you find your fated mate and give her the mark.”

Bianca rubbed her neck where I’d bitten her. She sighed. “Let’s get this clear right now. There’s nothing going on between Rolf and I. He’s hot, okay? I’m not going to deny it. But I’m hardly going to go after him, especially not now that we’ve agreed to be exclusive and especially now that I know how much it affects you.”

“Okay, but—”

“No buts. So, can we drop this? I’m going to start regretting my decision if you continue to give me this lip.”

“What about the flowers?”

Bianca glanced down at the bin. “Flowers? I don’t see any flowers. Only a giant pile of chilli. Although, why is all this chilli in the bin? It doesn’t smell off. In fact, it smells kind of delicious.”

“Oh, no reason.” I slammed the lid down. “Go have a shower and I’ll order some takeaways.”