Chapter 5 Do You Know?

• I could hardly speak; my throat was so sore. "What is happening?"
• "Come, sit," Mom said, and led me into the kitchen.
• The atmosphere was filled with the smell of stale beer and tension. My father was sitting at the table, holding the bottle in one hand, not looking at me. On the opposite side, Alpha Scott Savage sat nursing his own drink, silent but heavy, as though the room itself bent around him.
• Annabelle leaned in the doorway, smug as ever. "And me? This is my home.”
• I turned to her before I could help myself. "What about you?" The venom came loose, unchecked.
• Her smirk wavered, but my stomach sank when I felt Scott turn his gaze on me. I bit my lip, conscious of how a single word could cost me my life.
• Mom cleared her throat. "You are flushed, Olivia. Did you come directly from training?”
• Her effort to deflect the moment was awkward, but I nodded. “Yeah.”
• "Ralph is a good trainer, I hear," Dominic said from the corner, his voice carrying just enough weight to make my cheeks warm.
• Annabelle snorted. "She is definitely doing more than training with him. That is why she goes to the gym every night.”
• Jealousy oozed out of her voice. My eyes were narrowed. "Not my fault he thinks you are a witch."
• "That is enough." Nolan banged his hand on the table. "Do not speak to Annabelle in that way."
• Mom gasped. “Excuse me? Did you just take her side?”
• The relief in her voice was painful. Somebody saw it. I was not the only one calling it out this time.
• However, it did not matter. Not really. Scott Savage had not moved. He had not spoken. He was observing me.
• Those eyes—dark, piercing, inscrutable—fastened me more firmly than chains.
• I made myself meet them. My voice trembled, but I forced it to be steady. You wished to speak to me.
• At last he spoke. His voice was low and calm, but it had more weight than a shout. "I heard you were here a year ago. Immediately after Johnny was made Alpha, true?”
• “Yes.” My reply was curt and monotonous.
• "The longest damn year of my life," Annabelle grumbled.
• I turned my head to her sideways. "Want me to staple your mouth shut?"
• Her eyes flared, darting to Nolan, but this time he remained silent.
• Scott smiled, or perhaps it was only my imagination. His attention was diverted to me. "What was your relationship with Johnny?"
• "I did not have one. We were acquainted since our mothers were friends. When I was old enough to make a choice, I remained at home. I did not like him.”
• Scott looked at me, without blinking. "Your mother confirmed that you grew apart. But now—” his voice changed, grew hard-- “he has broken out of our custody.”
• The words fell like stones into silence. My chest was tight. Nobody had told me that. I was already slipping.
• "I know," I whispered.
• All the heads in the room turned toward me. Even Scott stared, his eyes narrowing to something more predatory.
• "And how…" he leaned forward, voice like a blade, "do you know that?"
• My throat choked up. Fear knifed through me, but I forced the words out. "He came here. Because he was here. Last night.”
• "Olivia," Mom gasped, moving toward me.
• "It's all right," I said hastily, though my voice shook. "I have nothing to hide. He appeared, and I told him to go. I was not going to be dragged down with him.”
• Scott stared, and I felt stripped. "And did he?"
• “No. This morning I met him in a cave as I was running. I told him to get out, that I would not cover him. I am not responsible for him.”
• Scott's silence was worse than shouting. I scratched the marble on the table to keep myself steady.
• "Where did he go? Do you know?"
• I gulped. "I told him of a deserted warehouse on the Northeast border. No-man’s land. He went there, I suppose, if he was smart.”
• Scott stared a moment, his eyes glazing, the faintest flicker of a mind link. Orders sent. Warriors summoned. Then he opened his eyes, and his attention was riveted on me. He picked up the bottle, emptied it, and placed it down with a calm deliberation.
• My father hastened to take another, almost thrusting it into his hands. Scott nodded but did not take his eyes off.
• Then he spoke, the order cutting through the room. "All of you, out!"
• Chairs scraped. Nolan, Annabelle, Dominic, and even Mom hurried. Relief swept over me as I stood to follow—until a hand caught my waist, strong and uncompromising.
• "Except you.”
• The words struck me on the spot where I stood.
• I fell back in the chair, pulse pounding. "Everyone, you said....”
• He smiled a little. "You are not everyone."
• The silence that ensued was intolerable. The house subsided. A clock was ticking in the distance.
• Scott finally broke it. "You say he was here last night? Where was he before? Tell me that. Where has Johnny been the last two months?”
• My fingers were twisting in my lap. "I do not know. I did not inquire. He looked like hell, though," I said. "As though he had been living in the dirt.”
• Scott popped the cap off his beer, and he never took his eyes off me. Why you? Why not someone else? Why did he come to you?”
• I made myself look him in the eye, though my heart was beating hard. "He told me I was the last one left. I did not believe him. That is why I told him to go to hell.”
• Scott sat back slowly, taking a long drink of beer, his face inscrutable. But the burden of his gaze remained, as though he could scent the truth—or the lie—on my skin.
• And this was the first time I wondered whether I had made the biggest mistake of my life by telling him about Johnny.