lla

Not in water, but

s everywhere-seeping into my pores, clinging to the sheets that tangled around

ugh to sleep a small army, dressed in charcoal sheets that felt like spun silk. The room was vas

lack t-shirt that hung to my kne

of last night crashed into me like a tidal wave-the rejecti

wn

stack of items awaited me. A set of clothes-my exact size, brand new. A matte black credit card wit

th. Do not leave th

the note,

thick, devoid of diamonds but radiating a terrifying weight. I slid it on

me. I picked it up, the screen illuminating

iciary of the Marshall Estate and under the protectio

ouse suddenly feeling too thin. I had traded a life of servitude for a gild

n. And again. A conti

reen. Braydon Hyde

ow, it just made me want to vomit. The phone rang again, his face flashing

" I whispered to

ons. As if I were still his little wolfless pet,

miliated me in front of the entire Pack. He had chosen

locked the number. The silence that followed was deafening, but for

. I had dressed in the clothes Dallas left-dark jeans and a cashmer

ell

A blur of red hair and boundless ene

rm a bomb. As the adopted daughter of the Alpha King, she was royalty here

utching my bag tighter.

me against a bookshelf, her expression shifting from friendly to intense. "Why did my f

ld. Of course.

mother. The thought alone was insane. "I'm doing some transl

I prayed the scent of her father on me had faded, or

ed, skeptical. "Dad doesn't re

alized," I lied,

the tension evaporating as quickly as it had come.

ut of the library, across the quad,

where are

ther 'payment'

dented Toyotas sat a beast. A brand new Aston Martin, painted a let

ing. Students w

dangling a set of keys in front of my face. "He sa

as a mark. A giant, flashing neon sign telling the wo

ive this,"

the keys into my palm. She opened the driver's s

Mrs. Ma

he was just grinning, making a joke about her father's over-the-t

my re

num ring on my finger clinking against the st