I opened my mouth but he was already walking away.

* * *

Danica

“Remember who you belong to,” my sister made her voice low and gruff. Then she gave an exaggerated full-body shiver. “Now, that was sexy.”

I took my eyes off the road long enough to glower at her. We were driving toward werewolf territory, and she’d been teasing me the entire time.

“It’s not sexy. He says shit like that because he knows it annoys the hell out of me. It’s a game he plays.”

She tutted. “If you think that’s a game, you’re crazy.”

I shook my head and took the turnoff toward Duke Forest. The wolves lived less than fifteen minutes from downtown, but out here, it was like a whole different world. A howl echoed through the forest as we got closer to Nathaniel’s house, and Evie shot me a wide-eyed look.

“That’ll be a sentry. Last time I visited, Nathaniel knew I was on the way. I’m surprising him this time.”

“Of course. Because why wouldn’t you surprise the territorial, paranoid, deeply distrustful werewolves? Sounds like a good plan.”

“You know the rules. Try not to meet their eyes if you can help it. Sometimes, you need to make it clear they can’t push you around, but there’s no point playing power games if we’re hoping for cooperation.”

“And what do you do if they decide to play power games?”

I shrugged. “I’ve visited before. Nathaniel knows I’m not a threat.”

I cursed as a werewolf dropped out of the sky and onto the hood of my car. My foot fumbled for the brake and Evie let out a yelp as the car slid. I wrestled with the steering wheel, my heart pounding like a drum, and we finally came to a stop.

I stared at the werewolf. He stared back at me. Movement out the corner of my eye drew my attention and I gaped at my sister as she popped a magazine into the Glock in her hand and aimed at the wolf.

“Where the fuck were you hiding that?”

“In a thigh holster under my skirt.”

“Since when do you carry?”

Her lips curled, although she kept her attention on the werewolf. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“We’re going to talk about this.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Jesus. It was like talking to a more stubborn version of myself.

I returned my attention to the man currently crouched in front of us. He’d landed lightly on my hood, legs spread, arms crossed, face hard.

“I think he wants us to get out,” I said.

Evie snorted. “You think?”

My guns were in my safe in the trunk, but I wasn’t planning on needing them. I just had to refrain from making any fast movements near the pissed-off werewolf.

“Stay in the car,” I said.