The deadbolt clicked. The sound was deafening in the pitch-black apartment.
Jane didn't scream. The clinical ice flooded her veins, freezing the terror before it could paralyze her. She stood perfectly still in the dark foyer, freezing water dripping from her bare skin onto the hardwood.
The heavy oak door swung inward.
The hallway emergency lights cast a sickly yellow glow over three massive silhouettes. They weren't Ryan. Ryan was too much of a coward to do his own wet work. These were Council enforcers. Half-shifted. Shoulders bulging with unnatural muscle, claws clicking against the doorframe. They smelled of wet dog, copper, and the cheap, synthetic cedar cologne the lower guards wore.
"Grab her," the lead shadow grunted. "Alpha Ryan wants the pureblood intact. Break her legs if y
