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But I take note that Godric just gave me valuable information.

Wolves can scent emotions. I’ll have to be aware of that.

“And what does my being pissed off smell like?” I challenge, then mentally kick myself.

My brother is right. I have zero survival instincts.

He doesn’t open his eyes as he grins, but his nostrils flare as if he’s sampling me anyway. “As I said, your defiance will only attract a younger wolf. They are drawn to a challenge. So I suggest you use the scent-muting soap that’s in the bath car.”

A younger wolf?

Does that mean he’s not attracted to me? That he doesn’t see me as a challenge?

Then did he really just buy me so that the royal hybrid couldn’t have me?

What’s he going to do with me now?

The questions swirl in my head as I stare at him until his breaths quickly turn shallow.

And now… he’s fucking asleep?

Fury vibrates through me. I’m not sure why, but it’s just the fact that this beast of a man finds me to be such a small threat and such little interest to him that he can pass out like a baby in my presence.

But I know the train won’t take long to take us wherever we’re going. Monster Isle isn’t that large, so I find the door to the attached car and go through it.

Not making any effort to be quiet, I slam the door behind me, earning scowls from far more females than I was expecting.

Sofia is conversing with one in the corner, then waves at me. “Over here!” she whisper-yells.

Taking a moment, I evaluate at least twelve other women in the bath car. Some of them are in thin white gowns, completely submerged in the steaming bath. Others are peeling off various styles of clothing. Most have tattered dresses like mine.

This isn’t a collection of warriors for next year’s Monster Games.

These are human slaves brought to slaughter.

And I’m one of them.

Keeping my eyelashes low, I make myself invisible as I hurry over to Sofia.

And just as I reach her, I swear a shadow crosses one of the windows.

One in the shape of the hooded figure I’d seen earlier.

Sofia curls her long fingers through mine as I slowly sit down. “What is it?” she asks, her voice still hushed as the other girls murmur and the rolling sounds of the train drown out our conversation.

I glance at the window again, then look down as I thumb one of my vials at my thigh. “We’re being followed.”

Perhaps it’s my sister.

But if it were, surely she would have posed as one of the slave girls instead of clinging to the moving train car outside.

Which leaves another, more disturbing possibility.

I’ve spotted one of Godric’s enemies.

And given the number of scars covering the Alpha’s body, he has many.

And he’s left an entire car unguarded with over a dozen half-naked human women. Just because we’re moving won’t protect us from someone who has already hitched a ride.