Page 40 of Starting a New Life

And if I had to pay a price…

I bit my lip. I could help out with magic if they wanted me to. Maybe, if I was agreeable enough, they might forgo the collar. Maybe…

“Nix? You okay?” Levi sounded worried, his voice pitched higher than usual, the panic he’d exuded down in the cells back in his aura.

“I’m… I’m here,” I croaked, my thoughts still running wild. “I…” Fuck it! “I’d like the clothes.”

For some reason, I’d expected the bathroom door to open with a creak like in a horror movie. Instead, the door opened smoothly, and Levi appeared, his face a carefully schooled mask, but he couldn’t hide the wince as he took me in. Couldn’t hide the way his aura pulsed in distress, the way his magic tried reaching out with the intent to heal.

But you couldn’t heal malnourishment with magic.

“Thank you,” I said as I quickly reached for the bundle of clothes in Levi’s arms, eager to get his scrutinizing eyes off me.

“You’re welcome.” Levi swallowed, his throat bobbing as he paused, mouth opening as if he wanted to add something.

I raised my brows at him.

“Uhm… Rhett and Gray are outside. In the hallway, not in your room. They want to talk to you. But if you’re not up for it, I can tell them to come back later.”

“Gray is the Alpha?” I asked, hating the way my voice was almost inaudible.

Levi nodded. “Yeah.”

I blinked. “Then you can’t tell him to come back later.”

What was he saying?

If the Alpha wanted to talk to me, he would. Levi putting up a fight would only result in him being reprimanded.

Yet Levi snorted as if I’d made some kind of joke. “Oh, Nix, I definitely can. You look like death warmed over. Jasper will want to have a look at you first anyway. If you tell him you’re not up to answering questions, they’ll have to wait. And if you don’t want to tell Jasper, I’ll tell Rhett and Gray. They’re not monsters, you know?”

I, in fact, didn’t know. Nor did I really believe him.

He hadn’t seen what I’d seen.

He didn’t seem to know how packs worked. He didn’t know that even if a pack was an okay-ish or good place for wolves, that didn’t translate to mages.

We were at the bottom of the paranormal food chain. The hippies of the magic-user world. Laughingstock for witches and wizards and sought-after property for packs.

When I took too long to answer, Levi gave me a pitying look. “You’ll see. Once you get to know them, you’ll see that they’re good people.”

Once I got to know them…

I didn’t want to get to know them. But I didn’t have a choice.

The Alpha was my mate.

I turned my head to the ceiling and took a deep breath, fighting the panic rising in me, clawing at me, reminding me that my days of freedom were over. Forever. Because fate had decided to tie me to a wolfpack.

They didn’t even need a fucking collar. Once the Alpha had gotten his fangs into my neck, I wouldn’t be able to run ever again.

“Hey. Uhm… is it okay if I go grab Jasper? You can get dressed in the meantime.”

“I don’t need a doctor.”

Levi laughed, but his eyes were shining brightly, his magic reaching for me again. “Yeah, you do. You might not see it, Nix, but you definitely do.” He gave me one last, hesitant smile before leaving me to myself, the bundle of clothes in my arms.

I tried to draw a deep breath, but my chest was tight, panic gnawing at me as more and more realizations hit me.