Lanie


    Not Orion, anyone but him.


    | thought back to the night when he’d pulled me into his quarters and “introduced” himself, aka


    threatened to kill me if | didn’t leave.


    “| know what you are, he’d said.


    A hybrid. He knew | was a hybrid...


    Which meant he knew my sister might be one, too. Is that why he wanted to see her? To lure her out and


    then kill her?


    My breath wasing in short gasps, and the room was starting to spin.


    | thought | might pass out, but then Mason’s strong arms were around me, holding me up.


    “Deep breaths,” he said. “We''re going to get her out of this.”


    “How?” | croaked out. “Thest time | saw him, he tried to kill me.”


    “He’s in human territory,” Mason reminded me. “He’d be stu pid to try anything here.”


    | shook my head. “He doesn’t y by the rules.”


    My mind raced wildly. If | ran over there, would | shook him enough that Selena could slip away back


    home? Was she even safe there?


    What if | surprised him and Mason grabbed him from behind while Selena and | ran? No, we’d draw too


    much attention to ourselves. F uck. What could we do?


    to cry.


    “Lanie,” M


    Mason said, nudging me out of my wild thoughts. His voice sounded worried.


    | focused my eyes back on Selena and saw that her lip was trembling and she looked like she was about


    Orion said something to her and her eyes widened. She shook her head emphatically.


    What the f uck was he saying to her? Go ds, she must feel so alone right now, | thought.


    I''m here, Selena, | tried to push the thought to her, hoping she would somehow feel it, but | knew it didn’t


    work like that.


    And then | saw it. The glint of a silver de beneath the bar. | gasped.


    That was it, | had to go to her. No way was | going to stand here while Orion threatened my little sister.


    I stood up straight, and Lily pawed her way to the surface. My ws extended, and my canines dropped, sharp against my


    tongue. | was just about to dive over the half wall when | felt strong hands around my waist.


    | thrashed against him, trying to break free.


    “Are you f ucking insane?” he whispered. “You''re in human territory, and your f ucking ws are out. You''re asking for the


    Council to lock you up!”


    | stopped fighting and fell limp, breathing heavily. He was right, if | was caught shifting in human territory, then I’d never be able


    to protect Selena again because I''d be in prison.


    Suddenly, Mason dragged me against the wall and threw his hand over my mouth.


    | looked around wildly, and there was Selena, sprinting through the door of the bar and out into the night, wiping the tears from


    her face.


    | breathed a sigh of relief and a silent so b wracked my body. She was okay. For now.


    We stood carefully, checking to make sure Orion’s back was still to us, and then we slipped out, too.


    But by the time we got outside, Selena was already running back into the woods.N?velDrama.Org content.


    We trailed her all the way home, keeping a safe distance so we didn’t scare her more.


    But the second we got inside, | marched straight to her room and threw the door open.


    She whipped her head around to look at me, and up close, her face was even more heartbreaking. It was dirty and tear-streaked


    and drained of all color.


    “What the f uck were you doing with him?” | screamed.


    She looked terrified, but | wasn’t the one she needed to be afraid of.


    She nced from me to Mason standing behind me. “..you...you can’t be in here!” she cried.


    | walked up to her so my face was inches from hers. “We''re not leaving until you tell us why the f uck you were meeting with that


    sc umbag Orion Constantine.”


    arms.


    Her face scrunched up and then her whole body shook with violent so bs. Instinctively, | wrapped her in my


    “I''m sorry for yelling,” | said. “But he’s dangerous. He tried to-


    She pulled back from me and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you think | know that?” she practically squealed.


    “I''m not f u cking s tupid!!”


    She ran her hands through her fiery hair, grabbing fistfuls as she paced the room.


    “| didn’t want to meet him, but he made me.”


    I


    “Why? What does he want from you?” | asked.


    “| can’t tell you!” she screamed. She bit her fingernail as she paced some more. “You shouldn''t even be here,” she muttered.


    “You shouldn''t havee here.”


    | ced a hand on her shoulder, stopping her and making her face me.


    “Why not?” | asked.


    Fresh tears rolet