I recognize both of the men but neither of them is Alpha. Beta Niles is over by a bookshelf perusing its titles. His back’s to me but I recognize his sandy hair. The other man is sitting on a low-backed couch next to Niles. He’s the man from the night before. On impulse, I reach up and touch the purplish bruises on my cheeks.

Everything about the man seems on edge like he’s waiting for the right moment to pounce. And everything in me is telling me to run.

Right as I am about to bolt for the door, consequences be damned, Niles turns around and I stop, keenly aware of the consequences, but Niles doesn’t look mad.

He opens his mouth to say something, but in the same moment, the other man stands and stalks towards me, interrupting whatever Niles had planned to say.

“Nice to see you, again,” he grins, towering over me. I stifle the urge to fold myself into a ball. He wants to scare me and I don't want to give him the satisfaction for the second time in as many days.

"You look prettier now," he murmurs softly, maybe so Niles won't hear. His words push back some of the fear, irking me at his supposed attraction to my injuries. Injuries that he’s inflicted.

“Anil, give the human some space. I’m sure she doesn’t appreciate the tiger impersonation either,” Niles chides, but I hear humor in his voice like he thinks this behavior is amusing.

Anil walks around behind me, heat radiating off of him. He isn’t touching me but I know he’s almost pressing against my back. I feel the pressure of his presence like the very air has grown heavier.

"How do you just stand there, Niles, when she reeks of fear like prey?"

“Perhaps you’ve grown rusty these past few years.” It sounds like a challenge but Niles looks congenial. I look over at him and find that he’s not even looking at Anil but at me. When our eyes meet he smiles, “I’m told your name is Ama. Is that correct?”

I nod as Anil leans over me, his head next to mine. He breaths in exaggeratedly. “Really, Niles. Does it matter what its name is? And a strange name at that.”

“Oh, because Anil is so commonplace?” I snap and immediately covered my mouth, mentally cursing myself for being rash. The rollercoaster of emotions has clearly left me addled. But he doesn’t seem offended; rather, he seems pleased.

“Do you think she knows that insolence is our bread and butter? It just makes her a more appealing snack.”

“Anil,” Niles says in warning, this time sounding a lot more serious.

“Yes, yes. Alright.” Anil sighs and suddenly the weight on my back is gone. He goes back over to the couch and sits, suddenly very interested in his fingernails.

I am grateful that he’s moved away but I don’t thank Niles. I know he hasn’t done it for my benefit, especially considering Anil already forced himself on me once in the past 24 hours and no one seems to care about that.

“Ama,” he begins but I cut him off. It’s now or never and I have to know.

“Is she really dead?”

“Is who dead?” Niles asks, seemingly surprised by the question.

“My sister. Nia. The little girl. She’s dead?”

“Why would you think that?” he counters, his eyebrows up.

I blink at him, confused. “Alpha said…” I trail off, trying to collect myself. “He said that he’d killed her.”

Niles and Anil exchange a look and something passes between them because they both turn back to me with blank expressions. “I’m not sure…” Niles begins but is cut off again, this time not by me or Anil.

“Alpha decides the fate of those on pack lands.”

I recognize the voice without looking back. I can’t let Anil out of my sight; it feels like the moment I do, I’ll die.

Kane’s answer was just as confusing as Niles's. It’s like they’re speaking in riddles.

“Have either of you done what Alpha requested? Or were you tormenting her, instead?” Kane growls, coming around and standing between me and the other two.

Niles holds his hands up, as if in surrender “I was trying to. Anil kept getting distracted.”

The man in question shrugs, throwing his arms over the back of the couch before adding, “We don’t keep humans around. I’ve grown bored with all the old ones. Fresh meat is enticing.”

A shiver goes up my spine and I hope he hasn’t noticed my discomfort.

“I see Harry gave you his hiking sticks. Do you want something different? A crutch perhaps?” Niles asks as he comes forward and peers around Kane at me.

He is yet another body between me and Anil and I wonder if they are trying to block Anil from my view or the other way around.

“I,” I pause, deciding if I want to ask for something else. On the one hand, having more suitable support would make work easier. It would also make escape easier. On the other hand, I don’t really want anything from these people. “These are fine,” I murmur, meeting his eye and hoping that I seem sincere and unphased.

Niles clears his throat and holds my gaze. “You should stop doing that, you know. Wolves take these little staring contests as challenges.”

That startled me enough that I blink and look away. Nothing is safe. I

keep my eyes down as Kane turns away from us and asks Niles for any report of the western border. Niles reports and then Anil asks Kane if there had been any more sightings. Sightings of what they didn’t say. I’m trying to take in everything I am hearing but I can barely process the fact that I shouldn’t be making eye contact anymore.

I feel Kane's eyes on me as he leans against Alpha’s desk only a few feet to the right, but I don't want to look at him for fear of provoking him. I’m now afraid to look up past anyone’s neck if it will end up with another repeat of what happened with Anil.

But then I remember the night I arrived. I'd looked directly at Kane and he hadn't responded like Anil or Niles. He didn’t seem to mind us maintaining eye contact. You know, like people do when they are having a conversation.

I look up and meet his gaze. He continues speaking with the others in a calm tone but his eyes are hard and cold and boring into mine. Since he’s looking at me I can only assume I've done something wrong, though I have no idea what. With these creatures, it was impossible to know what might set them off.

But more surprising than the fact that he's apparently pissed off at me is the fact that it hurts to have him look at me that way. I’d thought he was one of the few who wasn’t a complete enemy. That's my mistake; a moment of politeness isn’t friendship and I doubt they are capable of compassion after what I’ve witnessed.

They continue to conduct their business as if I’m even there, and when Kane shifts his body to face the other two, I think I might be able to slip out unnoticed. They seem to be done with me anyway.

Right as I get up the courage to leave, the door opens again and Alpha walks into his office. I’m not even more of a statue than before, afraid to even breathe. But his only acknowledgment of me is as he grips me by the shoulders and moves me off to the side, out of his path.

I’m so startled I don’t even protest as he walks over to his Betas and joins in their conversation.

I don’t move from where he’s shuffled me off to for a long moment, completely motionless, before I think ‘Perhaps now?’ I start for the door when everything goes quiet.

“Come here, little one.”

I close my eyes and curse the high heavens for not giving me this one thing. Turning around, I see the Betas have left through the door on the other side, and I’m alone with the Alpha, which is the absolute last place I wanted to be, or perhaps only second to being alone with Anil again.

“Harry has said you worked well with him yesterday. He’s requested to keep you with him in the gardens. I have a mind to install you here though. Maybe as my personal secretary.”

He watches my face intently, clearly wanting me to show some sign of how I feel about his suggestion. In truth, it’s a whirlwind inside my brain but I don’t want to give him that satisfaction again. I’m so tired of being at the mercy of their whims and inhuman behaviors.

“I like to garden. I can be useful there.”

“I can make use of you anywhere.”

I keep my eyes down, thinking of Niles warning, and knowing that Alpha is nothing like Beta Kane.

But it seems that nothing I do is right as Alpha chuckles and is on me before my next breath. I stumble backward, my back hitting the closed door as he fills the space in front of me.

“What happened to that defiant creature who was in my office yesterday accusing me of murder?”

I keep my eyes averted even as he grabs my face and forces it up. His other hand snakes underneath me and pushes me up the wall until our faces are level.

“Did it only take a day for all the fight to leave you, little one?”

His hand leaves my chin and gently caresses my cheek, leaving a trail of heat across my skin. It feels like he’s a thousand degrees and the air’s stifling being so close to him.

"I see you've already made some friends," he murmurs but he didn't sound pleased as his fingers ghost over my bruised flesh.

"You didn't need to make it this short either." He continues as his hand slid around and cups the back of my head, forcing my face up to his.

"Was it Anil or Haden?" He asks, his voice soft but stern. "Or maybe someone else?"

I don't answer, I just stare at his lips, doing my best to avoid his eyes. I’m not sure what telling on Anil would get me but the popular phrase 'snitches get stitches' runs through my head and I’m not keen to test the theory.

"No, I suppose you're too smart for that. Wolves do enjoy their retribution." His lips pull to one side before he sighs. He releases me and backs away. Just as it was when Anil moved away, it’s immediately easier to breathe and I suck in a deep breath.

"So you plan to stay with ill-fitted hiking sticks? Your stubbornness only hurts you. I don't care what you have." I know he’s right and I hate that he’s right.

"Fine," I snap, forgetting not to look him in the eyes, as I shoot mental daggers at him. I know it’s a huge mistake as his flash and he’s on top of me again.

"Well, what will it be?"

"A forearm crutch for the right side." I’m in awe of how steady my voice is, conserving I’m a few seconds away from pissing myself in fear.

"Good." He keeps his eyes on mine and I’m sure I shouldn't but I keep on staring. His hand cups the back of my neck again and he surprises me by breaking eye contact to lick up one cheek and then down the other.

What the fuck was that?

He pulls back, releasing me, and walks to his desk. "Report to Harry," he says, dismissing me.

I’m out the door and down the steps as fast as my feet can carry me. This time as I walk back down to go outside, I don't bother to look around to admire the space. I need to get out of here if only to hide away in the greenhouse.

By the time I reach the glass doors to what is becoming my sanctuary, the reflection that greets me shows that my bruises have already faded to the yellowish-green of days old. Did these people have magical healing spit?

I wonder if he expects me to be grateful because I’m not. I wouldn’t have needed to be mended if one of his Betas hadn’t hurt me in the first place.