Marked Mate

24

SCARLETT

Sweat accumulated on my upper lip as I sat in the passenger seat of the car with Roman. We were on our way to meet Nyx. He'd allowed us to come and see part of his pack, and apparently, that was a big deal for him. He claimed he never let people on his lands.

Roman had tried to convince me to stay at home, but he understood that if he was going, so was I. This was personal between Nyx and me, and I wasn't going to sit back and let Roman do all the heavy lifting. I had to free my own kind.

Brandon hadn't been invited. Apparently, he didn't trust him the way he trusted Roman and requested that the two of us just come. However, Roman wasn't an idiot, and he made sure we were being tailed by a large group of guards. One wrong move from Nyx, and we'd attack.

"Your mark is covered, right?" Roman questioned as he clutched onto the steering wheel of the car tightly, his eyes glancing down at my hand.

I'd covered my mark as best as I could with the foundation I'd bought. It hadn't made much of a difference, but it gave me another safety blanket which I liked.

I was wearing a long-sleeved top with flaring to cover my mark. It looked casual enough to appear as nothing more than a fancy top, and I was certain that Nyx would probably believe that I'd dressed in my nicest attire to try to impress him and his pack.

I was anxious to say the least, but Nyx was like a bloodhound and could sniff out any doubt. I needed to remain confident and act as if nothing was going on. Really, we were here to gather information.

"We're here," Roman said, parking in the lay-by Nyx had instructed him to. "Now, this isn't the pack he usually resides in. It's just one of his bases. He definitely doesn't trust us enough to let us into his inner circle and reveal the location of his home, but I'm hoping that, eventually, he will."

"Got it," I said, gulping as I clambered out of the car, spotting a few guards standing by the tree line. They were nattering amongst themselves, not having noticed us yet.

"This is a quick in and out. We won't be here long. You're good under pressure, so I know you can stand your own. Just tell Nyx what he wants to hear without being too obvious." Roman smiled at me as we approached the guards, and he nodded at them as a greeting. "Alpha Roman and Scarlett. We're here as Nyx requested."

The bald-headed guard dipped his chin, seeming uninterested in our presence. "Yes, follow us." We were led through the shrubbery, a small path having been dug into the ground. "There are a few rules you must follow while you're here," said the guard. "No talking to the gifted wolves. You'll see them around, but Nyx has requested you act as if they're not even there."

Roman nodded. "We can do that."

I was going to see my own kind out in the open. Fuck. I hadn't been expecting that. I was under the impression they'd be locked up somewhere. Instead, I was going to have to meet their eyes and pretend that I was another sick fuck that was here to force them into dominance.

This was about the bigger picture though. I was going to have to play the part for just a little bit. Then, I could hit Nyx where it hurt.

"Don't go into any buildings that aren't approved by Nyx or one of us, and stay with us at all times. As Nyx has said before, gifted wolves can be unpredictable, and although we've got these ones well-trained here, they aren't overly used to visitors. It may throw them off."

Well-trained? We weren't dogs.

But it appeared that this was one of the locations gifted wolves came to once they were trusted and broken in. How the hell was I going to be able to look at them and act as if I didn't care they were being forced into this life? I wanted nothing more than to shelter them from this life and take them all back to the pack with us. But that wasn't an option.