Chapter 3
Idropped the card as if it had burned me, frozen in terror.
They’d found me at last, playing games and sending taunts just like Ace. But he never sent those until he was sure he’d won the hunt, and neither would the men outside.
Ace Maverick didn’t often get his hands dirty. Instead, he made it a game—offering rewards to the Brotherhood to catch me. And one pack, it seemed, had finally caught up. I didn’t recognise the Alpha at the bar, either. New to the Brotherhood, perhaps? Trying to make a name for themselves?
But he was all I’d seen. The others—they could be anywhere.
How many were here?
My mind flashed to the pack waiting for me on the third floor.
Could that be them?
But… Why would they be on the third floor? Unless they just wanted to get me alone. To whisper blackmail I couldn’t ignore.
My mind was spinning.
The club didn’t allow weapons, but those checks weren’t enough to truly keep a determined Brotherhood member down, just like it didn’t stop me from wearing knives beneath my dress.
But if I made a scene, people could get hurt, and the moment I tried to leave, they’d be there.
What the fuck was I going to do?
“You all right?” Tallow’s voice had me spinning on my heel.
Shit.
How long had I been in here frozen like a trapped mouse?
“Sorry…” I could barely focus. All I knew was that I couldn’t panic him. Not him, not security. No one could get involved.
In a nightmare, Ace’s hand closed around mine. Crimson glistened in the dim light of the mansion hallway, blood dripping from the dagger I held with his hand closed around mine so I couldn’t let it go.
His words tickled my neck as the tang of iron curdled with the stomach-turning scent of redwood and roses. “You thought he could help?”
“Glade?” Tallow was waving a hand in my face, a slight frown on his.
“I’m fine.” I swallowed. “I just need?—”
“Girl. I brought drinks up. That pack waiting for you is fucking hot. Look, Molly’s extra tonight…” He gave me a meaningful look. “If you did want to?—”
“How many?” I cleared my throat, fighting with everything I had to keep my voice steady.
“Huh?”
“Upstairs—the pack asking after me. How many?”
Tallow gave me a sly look. “Three.”
Three.
Could I deal with three if I was good enough? I’d be giving them what they wanted, going to them.
Brotherhood packs typically ran between three and six. If I’d identified one out there, if I could neutralise three, would that give me a shot?
But there could be more. That last time I’d had to flee, it had only been two packs. All Alphas, happy to split the obscene reward I knew Ace must have offered. Greed was the only thing on my side. The more packs, the more they’d have to split.
“Tried asking me about you six different ways,” Tallow was saying. “They’re obsessed.”
“You didn’t notice any… flower tattoos on them, did you?”
He shrugged. “They did have ink, but I didn’t notice any flowers. A dragon, skulls, stuff like that.”
“Okay…” I made the decision in a split second. “I’m going up.”
Tallow’s expression lit up. “Excellent!”
I had one choice.
Ace’s men had found me and I was stuck in the High Roller. My home, filled with the only people I could call family.
The card was a taunt, which meant they knew where I was. If I wanted to get out, it would have to be without their notice. If they cornered me, if they threatened anyone here—it was over. I would cave in a heartbeat.
The one thing I knew about Ace’s men was that they weren’t sloppy. The card meant they had been tracking me for a while, and that meant they knew my habits.
If I was right, then they would know I never saw packs.
That meant on the small off chance the pack upstairs weren’t Ace’s men, a pack could be my only way out without notice.
My decision was made.
“I need a favour,” I told Tallow. “The Rose Royale Alpha. If he asks after me, tell him I’m serving downstairs.”
“But you just?—”
“Please, please, please. No questions.”
“Fine.” Tallow grinned, zipping his mouth with a nod. I forced myself to roll my eyes as if adrenaline wasn’t scorching my veins and terror making it impossible to think.
“Thank you,” I said. I waited until he was gone, then I snatched up my purse, slinging it over my shoulder, and backed up to the back door of the breakroom. From here was a back staircase that led to the third floor. But more importantly, in the storage rooms back here was exactly what I needed.
It took me minutes to tear through the boxes and find what I was looking for.
The gun was just small enough to fit in the thigh holster already home to a small blade. There was no way I’d be able to sneak in a weapon like this daily. Once was all I’d needed, because a part of me had always known this day was coming.
I reached the door to Bluff, one of the upstairs rooms, plush carpet of the quieter third floor muffling my footsteps.
If the Alphas within were Brotherhood members, I was ready. If they weren’t, then I needed them to get me out of the building. Then I could run. Well, figure out how to get Lucy—then run.
I took a breath and turned the door handle, praying that if they weren’t enemies, then whatever had made them ask for me was enough to convince them of what I needed.
I had to swallow my insecurities, channel my inner Omega, and use the skills my tutors had taught me. Mafia princess and seductress.
I pushed open the door, slipping in quietly, gun in hand but tucked behind my back.
Their scents found me first.
Impossible. And yet… pear grove, snow santal, and a fresh lightning storm weren’t something I would ever mistake.
My heart tripped, soaring for the briefest moment before the crash. Instinct igniting first and filling my heart with more hope than I’d had in years.
That was before I saw them and reality caught up, a shadow swallowing that flash of joy whole. They were on the couches, each looking up at me in surprise.
I realised I’d lifted the gun, shock getting the better of me even if the Alphas I was looking at were my mates.
Kyan, Knight, and Zed. The pack who’d got on their knees to ask for a bond.
The pack I had left rejected.
And the only three Alphas in the world I could never ask to save me from Ace.