"Most of the staff here know me," Lillian said. "And you don't worry about the check, they'll put it on my account."
I shook my head. "You're the oddest nun I've ever met in my life."
"I can't imagine you meet very many of us. We're a dying breed. Much like another little issue of yours. Tell me, how does Tommy deal with you?"
The server brought a bottle of wine, showed us the label, and I realized I had no idea what I was looking for on it; that I was merely trying to get my bearings. Every time she spoke, it was to throw me off balance. She practically had me doing cartwheels just trying to keep up with her. Why would she start with Tommy? "He likes me well enough. He's the reason I'm here. I think Hudson probably told you he wasn't, but he's just trying to take care of his kid."
She listened to me, taking a sip of the wine and watching me over the glass. She cursed, she drank, and she acted like a princess. It wasn't like I'd gone to catholic school or anything, but Lillian just got weirder the longer I was near her. Over the course of the next hour, I was certain I never wanted to see her again. She loathed my men and acted as if Tommy was a prize to be won, not a kid who was great because he was.
Another bottle of wine was delivered. I hesitated, knowing I had a long drive home ahead of me. "I don't know."
"You'll wear it off before you get anywhere near a car," she assured me. "Enjoy yourself. It's cold outside. That stuff'll warm you right up."
I watched the server pour my glass full and I fought with myself. I'd already had an entire glass, while Lillian drank down most of the other bottle. Two wouldn't put me over the limit, but the conditions outside were treacherous enough. I needed to be ready to skid to a halt if some idiotic deer jumped out in front of me.
But it was so rare that I got the good stuff, and that was all the restaurant seemed to serve. I didn't know much about wine, but the server had acted as though the second bottle was even better than the first; and the first had been incredible.
I picked up the glass and took a tiny sip. A rich, warmness seeped into my veins, inviting me to have another sip and see what happened. When I hesitated, Lillian waved me on. "Do it. You won't get a vintage like this again. Hudson's terrible about wines, he prefers those terrible fruity drinks. Who ever met an alpha who wanted to drink daiquiris?"
I couldn't resist. She was terrible, but she was right. I wanted the wine and hadn't I been through enough to deserve it? I tipped back the glass and shook my head at her. "He can have whatever he wants and you really don't have any right to criticize him."
The words came out of me, but they felt as though they were being spoken from a dozen yards away. I frowned and rubbed my throat, a chill overtaking my skin. I'd taken my coat off on the way in, but the cold hadn't really bothered me throughout the night. Now, my skin prickled and gooseflesh trotted along my arms. I shivered, the first time since I'd-
Oh.
Oh no.
My pack had been distant since I left the house, but now they were a million miles out of reach. I tried to remember their individual scents, the way they tasted when I kissed them, the quivering release of their mating, and found nothing. The memories were intact, but the complex, visceral reaction I'd gotten used to wasn't there.
"You...?" I asked, desperately wanting it to not be true.
Lillian only smiled at me, her head tilting. In a calm, measured movement, she reached out and knocked the rest of the bottle to the floor. The evidence soaked into the carpet, spilling away forever.
"Oopsie."
I ran.
Grabbing my coat from the back of the chair, I hurled myself from the restaurant. I had no way to know if she wanted to follow me, no way to know which employees were friends of Lillian's. Everyone looked the same to me, the predatory features gone to my vision. All I could smell was the pasta, marinara seeping into every frame of my being. I flew through the front doors and narrowly avoiding collision with the line of people waiting to get in.
I wanted to tell them, to warn them that there was a monster inside. That the woman who had lured me out under the guise of trying to resolve the problems between my new family and her own had poisoned me. No, her weapon hadn't been poison. It had been deceit. She'd stripped me of everything, of everyone, and I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know.
My heart hammered my ribs as I caught the handle on the Hummer. The door didn't open and I cried out, slapping the big, stupid hunk of metal. I clawed through my pockets, intent on the keys. The unlock button wasn't right, nothing was right, but I hit every pad on the key ring until I heard the doors click open. In I went, huddling on the driver's seat and curling my arms tight around my knees.
At last, I tipped my head back and howled into the frozen night, my instincts giving a final, mournful cry.
And then they were gone.
I pulled down the vanity mirror and yanked my scarf off to look at
