Van

The weight of Luca's arm grew heavier with every passing minute. After the third time Van tried to shrug it off, he slipped his other hand under the table and pinched the soft skin above her hip in warning. It was gentle enough that she didn't gasp out loud and draw the attention of the two men sitting across from them. But if he thought that was going to make her behave, then maybe that collar had truly scrambled his brains. There was no hope for him.

As soon as she thought about it, she banished the thought. She had reached him in the alley. The love in his eyes had been genuine, and that meant there was hope. She just had to figure out what had triggered his switch back to Gabby's obedient slave.

Across the crowded bar, Van spied a familiar face weaving through the bodies, and this time she did gasp out loud. Livy... and behind her, Hailey and Bane followed. They'd found them. Livy locked eyes with Van, and Van nodded to her, knowing the shifter would understand her.

"Is something wrong?" Luca asked, peering down at her. His strong, dark brows knitted together. Almost like he actually cared about her answer.

She snatched her eyes away from the group. All it would take is for him to look up, and he would see them. "Actually, yes. Your friends smell."

Tank growled and fur sprouted from his knuckles. The big brute beside him glared, but didn't move. His name had been something shockingly normal and almost dull. Peter? Kevin? She hadn't really been paying attention when Tank called him to join them at the bar. Her ears were too full of the sound of her heart breaking.

"That's not very nice." Luca's brown eyes twinkled. He lowered his lips to her ear. "Even if it's true."

"We can hear you, you asshole," Tank snapped.

Peter/Kevin rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck. "This isn't accomplishing anything."

"What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?" Van asked, once more trying to shrug Luca off. This time with more force. He winced and dropped his arm, moving it to his lap. His jaw tensed, and the strain around his eyes deepened.

"That injury still bothering you?" she asked sweetly.

"What injury, boy?"

"Don't," Luca growled and slapped his hand on the table. "Call me boy."

Tank smirked. His yellow eyes gleamed as he leaned over the table, and this time, he purposefully allowed his features to become more lupine. Van resisted the urge to mimic him just so she could watch his shock.

"That's what you are. A half trained pup who got put in charge of something he had no business being in charge of. Give us the girl, and we will get her to Gabriella. Since you clearly can't manage it."

"Wait, a second."

Everyone looked at her. A sour taste coated the back of her mouth as tension rose around the table. Their dissension could work in her favor.

"Didn't I escape you too? What makes you think you're any better than Luca?"

Peter/Kevin snarled, and Tank put a hand on the werewolf's chest as if to hold him back. "You escaped from Axl. You used your foul magic to convince him to break sacred pack laws."

"It wasn't foul magic," Van responded, and this time she let her power surge forward. Pure Protean magic flooded her veins, turning her eyes white. She could see the reflection in Tank's eyes. "He was obeying an Alpha. The Alpha."

"You little bitch!"

Peter/Kevin swiped at her, and Luca jumped over the table, ramming his long nails through the man's shoulder and pinning him to the booth. Blood oozed around the wound, and Van suspected the only thing that would save the man when Luca removed his claws was his fast werewolf healing.

"Luca. You're making a mistake."

"No, Tank. Kurt made a mistake when threatened her."

Kurt. Van smothered a laugh. She wasn't even close.

"She belongs to me. Her blood is mine to spill. Do you understand?" Luca pressed his face into Kurt's face, which was growing increasingly pale.

Van ignored Luca's claim of ownership and took the opportunity to scan the room for her friends. She had to trust they were making a plan to get her–and Luca–out of here safely. And that didn't mean she didn't expect a fight to get out of Hex. There were too many people, and many of them were likely loyal to Gabriella. They would be foolish to think the woman hadn't recruited more than the werewolves from Sucre.

The cushioned seat dipped as Luca returned to sit beside her. Kurt put his hand over the bloody spot on his shirt, and as Van predicted, while the blood loss was substantial, the wound was already knitting closed. A drop of blood fell from Luca's claws as they retracted back into his body, and it pooled on the scarred surface of the table.

"Gabriella entrusted me to get Van to her," Luca said, sliding his arm back around Van's shoulders. She wondered if the other two noticed the pallor of complexion. That wound must really be aggravating him, and she wondered why it continued to bother him after this long. It should be healed.

"To question me is to question her. Would you like me to tell her that you're questioning her?"

Kurt and Tank both shook their heads. A beautiful black woman approached the table with a tray in hand. Her shoulders and slender, protruding collar bones had been dusted with glitter, and her full lips were painted metallic blue. She was the first server to bother with us, and I thought there was something odd about her blue eyes when she spoke.

"Would any of you like something to drink or eat?"

Tank cleared his throat and hardened his gaze. "Why are you bothering us, Tinsley? You know you don't bother anyone at this table. We'll call for you."

Tinsley fluttered her long, spiky lashes and shook her head so hard the beads in her braids clacked together. Tank and Kurt looked at the girl suspiciously, but before they could speak another word, she flipped the tray sideways and slammed it across their faces.

Van yelped as plastic splintered and bone cracked. Tinsley grabbed a glass by its handle from the table next to them and broke it on the edge of the table. She took the jagged edge of the handle and drove it into Kurt's wounded shoulder. The werewolf howled so loud it smothered the pulsing beat of the music and drew the attention of the entire bar.

"Shit," Luca shouted as chaos erupted. He grabbed Van and dragged her over the back of the booth. Limbs knocked together as they landed with a thud, and the floor stuck to her skin as she tried to roll away from him.

"Van, wait."

In answer, she drove the heel of her palm toward his nose, but he caught it before it made contact. The save cost him, and he grunted as her boot sank into his abdomen. Just below his injury.

"Good god, Van," he snapped, catching her by her foot as she tried to crawl away. Glass shattered nearby, and shards fell into her hair. He brushed them off and clenched her against his chest.

"I'm this close to shifting into something that will do some serious damage, Luca. Let me go!" Tears burned in her eyes, and it made her even angrier. She should be using this moment to try to bring him back to her. But after that betrayal in the alley, she didn't have it in her to try. Not so soon.

"Didn't you tell me we were the real thing?" he whispered.

"Luca? Wait..." She looked up. "You...it's still you."

"I figured it was better if Tank didn't know I was slipping out of Gabriella's control. They're easy enough to scare when they think I'm her pet, but if they suspected I was turning on her, they would have fought tooth and nail to get you away from me. I couldn't risk it."

Van sobbed. "I thought...oh my god. You're really back."

They made their way along the backs of the booths, pausing between tables to avoid being spotted by the vicious crowd. Bloodlust had consumed nearly everyone in the room, and she prayed their friends were okay.

"For now..." His voice was grim. "But we have to get this collar off. So let's find Ha–"

"Luca!" she screamed as he was jerked away from her.

Tank wrapped a meaty fist around Luca's throat, careful to avoid touching the collar. The Alpha werewolf snarled. "I can still hear you. Boy."