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She fluttered her lashes and stared at me with those big blue eyes that fooled everyone into thinking she was a sweetheart. “That’s not true. You’re my bestie, Tate.”
I crossed my arms and stepped toward her when I should have been hauling ass to my room. “You left me surrounded by dragos last night, hoping they’d take me out. You tried to kill me.”
“You’re being dramatic.” She plucked a piece of lint off her—my—shirt, fighting back a smile. “You’re such a perfect raven. I thought you were more than capable of handling a few sub-demons by yourself.”
This time, sarcasm wrapped each of her words, dripping off like sticky tar. If Hawk were here, he would have seen through her pretty mask too.
I pinned my clenched fists to my sides, so I didn’t break her pert little nose. “Pretending to be me to get Hawk won’t work. It’s pathetic.”
Fire flared in her blue irises, and all pretenses shattered as she shoved me into a wall, towering over me with her extra six inches. “You are nothing but a piece of trash, and the moment you left, Hawk went straight to me. To my bed.” A twisted grin pulled at her lips. “He really enjoyed taking full advantage of all my body had to offer. I’m sure it was better than anything you could ever do.”
A sour taste coated my tongue. Hawk quickly fell into her bed when I’d left on the mission, but he wouldn’t have touched her if he’d known what a horrible bitch she really was.
Roxie wrapped her fingers around my upper arms, squeezing. “One day, Hawk will realize you belong in the gutter where his aunt found you. And then he’ll come crawling back to me.”
The rage I’d tried to force into a cage roared back as her words pierced my defenses like sharp blades. I broke Roxie’s grip and slammed her into the opposite wall, her head bouncing against the hard surface.
“Stay out of my way, Roxie.” As my senses sharpened, her racing heart thundered in my ears while the stench of fear and sweat permeated the air. “Or I will end you. And I won’t leave you at the mercy of sub-demons. I’ll do it myself.”
Her mouth parted as all the color drained from her cheeks. “Bullshit.”
My fingers wrapped around her throat, applying the tiniest bit of pressure. “Don’t worry. I won’t snap your neck.” A dark laugh tumbled out of my mouth. “It’ll be a slow, torturous death that lasts for days until you shrivel into a ball like the scared, insecure little girl you really are.”
Roxie swallowed hard, her throat bobbing beneath my grip. “Oh, my God,” she whispered as tremors raced through her.
Had my pupils shifted into diamonds? Or was my icy demeanor and sinister voice enough to frighten her?
As soon as I released her, she scurried down the hall and vanished around the corner. She’d go straight to Coltrane or Hawk if she saw anything strange.
I pivoted and darted in the opposite direction toward the back stairs, urgency quickening my steps. My escape window had dwindled significantly from my encounter with Roxie.
Why didn’t I just ignore her and hurry to my room?
My reflection in an antique mirror on a wall caught my attention as I rushed by, and a shaky breath expelled from my lungs. My eyes were normal, no elongated pupils or anything.
“Tate? What are you doing?”
Coltrane stopped a few feet away, crossing her arms over her chest while her brows furrowed. Her catching me was bad enough, but the intimidating person beside her sent alarms shrieking through my head loud enough to make my ears bleed.
Head Alpha Barric Hartwell stiffened as his nostrils flared and muscles bulged. “Shifter.”
ChapterNineteen
That one wordexploded through the atmosphere like an atomic bomb, shattering my world. My boots stuck to the ground, and my muscles froze. I couldn’t move.
“She’s not a shifter.” Coltrane shot him an incredulous expression. “That’s Tatum Teague, one of my ravens. You met her a few months ago.”
He shook his head and scratched at the thick brown beard shadowing his jaw. “A few months ago, she was a human raven.” His baritone voice mixing with the wolf form within him vibrated my bones and even the glossy floorboards beneath my feet. “She’s a shifter now.”
“N-No, I’m not.” I shoved my trembling hands behind my back.
Lines developed across Coltrane’s forehead. “I would have sensed if she was a nightworlder. We all would have.”
I tried to swallow, but the choking panic made it impossible. “That’s right.”
The head alpha took a step closer, his powerful physique straining in his faded jeans and the indigo button-down shirt. “She was recently bitten and hasn’t shifted yet. That’s why you can’t sense it.”
Doubt quickly took hold of Coltrane.Oh, shit.My cover had been blown apart.
