Something was tickling her nose. Rowena tried to lift her hand to bat it away, but she didn't have the strength. She turned her head away from the familiar meowing sound at her right ear. Deep purrs vibrated against her neck before the sound was abruptly taken away. Rowena's eyes fluttered open.

The familiar white walls and expensive sheets of the bed she was laying on told her she was back in Cross Howler's home. She grimaced. Her head ached and her breath was so bad she could taste it.

"She's awake!" A female voice called out.

Rowena turned to see Abby Howler, Cross' sister, staring down at her. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she was wearing an oversized white knit sweater. If Rowena hadn't personally heard her threaten to kill Casey earlier that week, she would've assumed Abby was a sweet human as opposed to the revenge-hungry wolf she made herself out to be.

"W-what happened?" Rowena asked, trying not to gag after smelling her own breath.

Abby pursed her lips together as if she were debating what to share before coming to a decision and shaking her head. "I think we should wait for Cross to get here. He should be able to answer any questions you might have."

"Did you at least catch Casey's brother?" Rowena asked. "I think he tried to kill me."

Abby frowned but didn't answer. Rowena could hear her cat meowing. "Is that Kitty?"

Abby bent over to pick up the overweight calico cat. "Your cat is named Kitty? She looks more like a horse, she's so big. I've never seen a cat this big."

Rowena didn't have the strength in her to get upset on Kitty's behalf. Kitty was nowhere near the size of a horse. Instead, she gave Abby a noncommittal shrug. "The vet said she's healthy but needs to be on a diet."

Kitty hissed and Rowena swore her cat understood the word diet was as good as a curse word.

"Is there a special toothbrush kidnap victims get around here? I really want to brush my teeth." Rowena said. "My own breath is making me want to vomit."

Abby made a garbled sound as if she were trying to swallow her laughter but failing. "A special toothbrush for kidnap victims? As if we have more than one kidnap victim but only one toothbrush and you all have to share it?"

Rowena's head pounded. "Or a mint? A piece of gum will do."

"There are extra toothbrushes in the bathroom. Do you think you have the strength to get up?" Abby asked.

Rowena groaned as she forced herself to get up from the bed. She swung her legs over the bed and took a deep breath. She coughed and almost gagged. "Seriously, why does my breath smell like something died in my mouth?"

"You were vomiting quite a bit before you passed out again. Cross said it was your body trying to get rid of the poison."

"So, Flint really did try to kill me." It was more of a statement than a question. Rowena didn't wait for Abby to respond. She pushed herself up and made a mewling sound as she forced herself to the bathroom.

"I left a shirt and some sweatpants in there for you too in case you want to change," Abby called out. "I can't imagine you want to stay in that nightie."

Rowena nodded her thanks and closed herself into the bathroom. There were a few personal toiletries like deodorant, soaps, and shampoos on the counter. There was also a new pack of underwear and bras next to the clothing Abby said was waiting for her. Rowena forced herself to look in the mirror and gasped.

She had dark circles under her eyes, her cheeks were sunken in, and her eyes and hair appeared dull and listless. She looked a mess. She shuffled over to the shower and turned on the water, thinking she'd at least get herself clean before the nightmare that was her life continued.

Rowena had just finished showering, changing, and brushing her teeth when she heard bangs coming from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Rowena? Are you okay? Open the door!" It was Cross and he sounded worried. Did he think she was going to run away again? There wasn't a window in the bathroom. She rolled her eyes upward and noticed a vent in the ceiling. She filed that knowledge away to possibly use later if she needed to make another escape attempt.

She pulled the door open to see Cross standing on the other side, his fist up as though he were about to knock again. He lowered his hand when he saw her and leaned forward to pull her into his arms.

"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Rowena scowled. "Put me down this minute!"

Liam, his beta, and Matt, his head enforcer, were standing by the bed next to Abby. They all watched with wide eyes as Cross carefully placed Rowena back into bed and tossed the covers over her. "You need to rest," he said as if that explained his actions.

Rowena turned her head to the others to see if they thought he was being over-the-top but none of them dared to look at her.

"What in the world is going on?" Rowena asked.

"We found you in Nightshade territory," Cross answered. "You were almost dead!"

"Poisoned," Matt confirmed. "We didn't think you were going to make it."

Rowena closed her eyes as she tried to concentrate. "Well, I was trying to escape when a stranger grabbed me from outside the window." Rowena pointed to the window she had escaped from. "He was too strong so I couldn't get away."

"She said it was Casey's brother," Abby offered, her worried eyes on her brother.

"The entire Sloane family is a nuisance," Matt muttered. "Always have been. Always will be."

"Casey was a handful but Flint never usually did anything crazy. Maybe it's his grief causing him to act this way," Liam suggested. He glanced at Cross.

"Tell us what happened. All of it," Cross demanded. His voice was demanding and caused Rowena to break out into goosebumps.

"Go ahead," Abby said, stepping closer to the bed. "Don't leave anything out."

Rowena sighed. She didn't see any reason not to share what she learned from Casey's brother. "Well, Flint Sloane, abducted me. I didn't see much of what happened because he hit me and I passed out. When I came to, I was tied to a chair in some sort of cement storage room."

A growling sound came from Cross but Rowena ignored it.

"He was kind of handsome in a serial killer kind of way," Rowena said. "For a second, I thought I was having another kinky sex dream."

"Rowena!" Cross snapped. "Can you spare us the nonsensical description of Flint being handsome?"

Abby stifled a giggle.

She frowned. "Anyway, he said his name was Flint and he was Casey's brother. He seemed upset no one was willing to get justice for his sister. There was a guy named Stuart there. Apparently, he was supposed to retrieve me so you all didn't cause any trouble for them. Stuart mentioned she had several enemies. Did you know that, Cross?"

He shared a look with Matt and Liam before his eyes darted back to Rowena. "What did he share?"

Rowena's forehead creased as she tried to think back. "He said that Greg, the Nightshade alpha, wanted to banish her but didn't because of Flint."

Liam nodded. "Flint is one of his strongest enforcers. He probably knew banishing Casey meant he'd bail on the pack as well."

Cross gave a single nod and waited for Rowena to continue.

"Let me think." She tapped her fingers against her thigh. "Oh! He said Casey liked to hit on mated males."

Aby snorted. "That's not surprising."

Rowena had to wonder if anyone had cheated on Abby with Casey. Casey was a beautiful woman but Abby was more appealing to Rowena. She hadn't been super-friendly the first time she met but Rowena was willing to befriend Abby if they both had boyfriends who cheated with Casey.

"We all know Casey didn't mind if a male was mated," Cross said. "That hasn't brought us any new leads about who could have killed her."

Rowena's head snapped towards the alpha. "Are you admitting I'm innocent?"

She swore she heard Matt chuckling.

"Everyone in this room knows you didn't kill Casey," Cross said. "There's no way you have the strength it would've taken to overpower her and tie her up. We're not letting anyone outside of this room know that."

"Why?" Rowena whined. "I want to go home! I can't lose my job. I have bills to pay."

"Maybe I can pretend to be Rowena and ask for a leave of absence?" Abby suggested.

Rowena shook her head. "No way! My boss Rolando does not like people calling in sick at Sweeter Homes. Besides, I work to get money. You need money to pay bills."

Abby shrugged. "Cross will give you money. He's rich."

She heard Cross make a frustrated sound from beside her. Rowena wasn't surprised. Rich people hated parting with money.

Rowena persisted. "I also have friends and neighbors who worry about me."

Liam made a humming sound. "When we picked up your cat, your neighbors didn't seem to care that we were breaking and entering. They were too busy fighting. You live in a bad neighborhood."

A stab of anger pricked her at his words. Rowena counted to ten in her head before speaking. "You're super judgmental. I do not live in a bad neighborhood because I have great neighbors. That couple you heard were the Vasquez family and they weren't fighting."

Liam lifted an eyebrow. "They were screaming and threatening one another."

Rowena waved her hand in the air. "You probably just misunderstood."

Liam had his hands on his hips. "I did not misunderstand. The wife said she was going to stab her husband with a screwdriver."

Rowena had a palm up to him. "See? You must've misunderstood because they don't even own a screwdriver! She couldn't possibly have threatened to stab him with one."

Liam's face scrunched up in confusion. "What? Who doesn't own household tools? Everyone has household tools. How do you know they don't own a screwdriver? Maybe you really are a witch if you can know that kind of information about your neighbors." He turned to Cross. "Are you sure she didn't put Casey in a spell to tie her up? You want us to use her to find the real killer but I still think she's our number one suspect."

"I am not a witch! I know they don't own a screwdriver because I borrowed it from them last month and never returned it!" Rowena was shouting.

Liam pointed at her. "That's theft!"

Rowena's voice rose even higher. "That's life!"

"Enough!" Cross shouted. "You two fight like cats and dogs."

Rowena scowled and pointed a finger at Liam. "Don't you dare fall in love with me."

Liam's mouth fell open and he sputtered before looking at everyone with a shocked face. Rowena took a moment to explain. "This is what happens in all the werewolf romance books. The wolf who hates the human the most ends up falling in love with her. It's a huge cliché. Don't be a cliché, Liam."

"I'm not a cliché and I'm not going to fall in love with you," Liam said through clenched teeth.

"That's what they all say," Rowena said, sighing. "Then, the next thing you know, he's asking the human to run away with him."

Abby and Matt were laughing. Liam opened his mouth to argue.

"I said enough! My beta is not going to fall in love with you," Cross snapped.

Abby cleared her throat. "As fun as this is to listen to, can Rowena please keep telling us what happened when Casey's brother took her? Who else did he mention as Casey's enemies?"

Rowena snapped her fingers in agreement. "Yes, there was apparently someone named Bobby who broke up with Casey and she ruined a recreational center because of it. Stuart said there were plenty of women who hated her on account of her going after the mated men. He also mentioned something about a gambling ring."

The room became silent as the wolves all stared at one another except Cross, who was looking out the window Rowena had escaped from.

"What is it?" Rowena asked. "Did something I say, ring a bell for you?"

"The gambling rings," Matt said cryptically. Liam and Cross nodded. Abby looked pale.

"What is it about the gambling rings?" Rowena asked. "Do you think it has something to do with Casey's death?"

Cross turned back to Rowena and changed the subject. "Did you know we found you almost dead in that cement storage room?"

Rowena shrugged. Clearly, someone had to have found her for her to be in Cross' house again. She thought she was dying after Flint left her.

"Flint poisoned you and then left you to die," Cross explained. "Luckily, their alpha had an antidote. He forced it down your throat,, but you ended up throwing up quite a bit. When that didn't work, we had to inject it with a syringe but you were still spewing everywhere like the main character from The Exorcist. We didn't find Flint which means he's out there, somewhere. He'll find out you're still alive, Rowena. He'll still think you killed Casey."

"I'm innocent. Why can't we announce that?"

Cross gave her a small smile. "Unless we find definite proof someone else killed his sister, he won't believe you even if we do. As far as Flint's concerned, you're guilty, Rowena."

"What does that mean?"

"That means, Nightshade's deadliest enforcer is gunning for you. You can try to hide but he's going to do everything he can to find you."

Rowena gulped before whispering, "And then?"

He didn't answer but the silence was answer enough. Goosebumps skittered across her skin.

Rowena stared at the bare wall across from her and answered her own question. "And then I'm dead."