17. The Inn

*Quarantine?!*
Sona used the same harsh tone he had earlier. “Explain.”
Taos’ jaw worked as if he was debating what to say next. Sona doubted he had a shortage of secrets, and she didn’t blame him for not wanting to tell her anything after only knowing each other for an hour at best. 
He knew that, too. “I won’t explain shit to a stubborn, disrespectful Omega-class like you, trinket,” Taos growled heartlessly.
“*I’m* stubborn and disrespectful?!”
“Yes, in fact, you are. I am an Alpha and you are a Moonvalley female—”
“So that makes me lesser. Funny you should belittle me when the fate of your packmates is now placed in my care—by *you*.”
Sona heard his teeth grind. He was doing well to control his rage, though his next words were forced. “What happens, happens, trinket. Now we know what the issue is, so let’s fix it.”
“*I* fix it or *you* fix it? Don’t you even care?!”
Taos’ grin was fanged and dangerous. “*We* fix it.”
From within the house, Hazel let out a keening wail. Sona’s throat closed. *The shadow of death takes another*. Before he could hide it, Sona caught Taos’ expression flicker, like something behind that facade of nonchalance was trying to break free, and his smile fade away. But it was gone so fast she thought she imagined it.
She was about to turn away when Taos snatched her upper arm. “My Epsilon will take you to your new lodging,” he said stiffly.
“What? No! Let me console Hazel—”
“Roshan is waiting for you. Congratulations, you pass this test. Go before I lose my temper with you.”
With a shove he released her, nearly causing her to trip right into one of the uniformed males suddenly right behind her. His lips peeled back in a snarl. “Lucky you. Our Alpha decided you get to be his neighbor.”
Sona had no choice but to stumble further down the street until the Epsilon caught her by the scruff to stop her in front of a large building with a sign over the door that said *Inn*. Though in a daze, she scanned the buildings on either side, even catching a glimpse across the street. *Neighbors. Godsdamnit*. But nothing looked grand enough to be an Alpha’s residence.
The Epsilon pointed to the building on the left. “Epsilon quarters.” To the right, “Gamma Edom’s quarters. And…” He turned Sona around with a push. “Alpha Redbone’s personal residence.”
No, it was no different than any other home, certainly no indication of a flaunting tyrant like him living in such a plain place. She half expected some massive display made of bone. The only sign was the single Epsilon guard standing in front of the door.
“Watched and guarded at all times,” her guard said with a savage smirk. “With a perfect view in your new room.”
Sona looked where he pointed—a second-story window where she could make out someone’s form behind the glass. Her heart skipped a beat. “Is that Arden?”
“Don’t sound so hopeful. Get going.”
The inn was surprisingly spacious, the wood floors and walls fresh and somehow pleasant, doors lining them on each of the three levels. The Epsilon unlocked the first door on the left. He shoved Sona inside—and she stumbled right into a familiar-scented body.
“Sona,” Arden croaked. His hands cupped her face, drawing their gazes together. She was so weak with relief that she let him press his lips to hers in a lingering kiss. “I thought…”
She broke the kiss gently and murmured, “I’m alright.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She held his face, too, thumbs stroking his bristled cheeks. Her friend looked like hell. He hadn’t been able to bathe, either, still caked in blood and dirt. But at least he wasn’t injured. 
Behind them, heavy footfalls shook the room. Arden put himself in front of Sona like a shield. She bit back her protest when she glimpsed the hulking body on the threshold.
It was the lethal-looking male Taos was talking to before he brusquely dismissed her. Up close…she felt her blood freeze. He was the biggest werewolf she’d ever seen, near seven feet tall, shoulders wider than even Taos. Like all Redbone wolves, his hair was deep red. His chiseled jaw was unshaven and marred with flecks of scars—a tiny one near his mouth, a straight, deep one nicking his right eyebrow down to below his eye, among others. But Sona’s eyes were drawn to his shoulder-length hair to the single braid looped through a tiny bird’s skull. 
*Decorated with the dead*, she thought.
“Don’t let Taos see that.” The Gamma’s voice was cavernous. “My Alpha may call you guests, but to me you’re infiltrators. Do nothing, and we won’t have a problem. Cause trouble, you better come to terms with a missing body part.” 
Sona cursed and admired Arden’s sudden courage—for more than half their lives, he’d always been afraid to speak up, even to his lower-class packmates. Now, raising his voice to the Gamma of a rival pack, she wondered if it was all for *her* sake, to protect her, even if it meant going outside his comfort zone. Indeed, she felt his heart pounding through his back against her. 
“I demand to speak with Taos, Gamma Edom.”
Betas had more power over Gammas, but that meant nothing to this Gamma, apparently, because the Redbone Gamma—Edom—burst into a bark of humorless laughter. Turning on his heel, he rumbled, “You have no authority here, banished Beta.”
“Who the hell says I’m banished?” Now there was a waver in Arden’s voice. 
Neither he nor Sona had the slightest idea what was happening in Moonvalley right now. The Alpha and Luna were dead, the heir was here in enemy territory, which meant…Conri was the only thing keeping their pack from chaos. 
What truths or lies was he telling their packmates?
Edom looked over his shoulder. A sneer warped his face. “You’re wondering if it’s that scowling brother of yours.” 
“It…it can’t be…”
The sneer widened into a fanged grin similar to Taos’. “Betrayal bites like a bitch, doesn’t it?”
Edom ducked through the doorway. Sona grabbed Arden’s arm, not sure how to comfort him when she needed to be comforted too, but neither could open their mouths before a female stored into the room. 
She was older, faint lines chiseled into her severe face framed by gray-streaked red hair that fell to her waist. “I’m the innkeeper,” she said snappishly. “Never thought I’d even consider letting Moonvalley stink up my inn.”
Behind her was a younger female who carried the scent of—of *food*. Sona stared at the large tray set on the small table at the foot of the single bed. Chicken and a few apples. It was no feast, but it escaped Sona how long she’d gone without any substance. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled. 
“Thank you,” said Sona breathlessly. 
The innkeeper just glared before storming back out and slamming the door behind her. “Wasting good meat on you. Huh!”
“Go ahead and eat, Sona.”
The despair in Arden’s voice made her hunger seem irrelevant. “No. We both need to.” she had to be strong for the both of them. “But first…”
Sona padded toward the meat and inhaled deeply. It smelled fresh and cooked-through. That was good, but what was even better was that there was no trace of wolfsbane.
“What did Taos do to you?”
She was already chewing. “What?”
Arden came up behind her, his chest to her back, arms snaking around her waist to loosely trap her against him. She tried not to stiffen. Though his touch grounded her thoughts, she didn’t really feel like being touched. The day fried her to her wit’s end. Even when his lips brushed her neck, even when the thought of sex crossed her mind and how it could easily relieve some stress, Sona didn’t want to use Arden as an escape from reality.
But maybe he wanted to use her. 
“Did Taos harm you?”
“Not physically,” she muttered before she could stop herself.
“What did he do, Sona?!”
The distress in his tone worried her. She turned quickly and shoved a piece of chicken in his mouth. He nearly choked on it, but it bought her the silence and distraction to murmur, “Did you see all the wolves on those damn streets?”
Arden swallowed. “Don’t change the subject, Sona. I need to know if you’re alright.”
“I’m fine. Taos was… He didn’t do anything but irk the living hell out of me. You’re fine, too?”
“As I can be.”
“Good. So…did you see them?”
“Yes,” he said, finally indulging himself in some meat. “They’re starving and dying.” 
“Arden…I’m not sure we can get out of this as quickly as we’d like to.”
He choked on a bite before eyeing her, torn between sharpness and wariness. “Why?”
Sona was not one for nervous habits, but she found herself toying with her braid. Her hair was coarse and damp. “I’m a healer…”
“Yes…?”
“And his packmates…they’re dying. From coming into contact with wolfsbane.”
“*Wolfsbane*? But that was eradicated decades ago—”
“We all thought so. But it seems I’m the only one who knows what it looks or smells like, so no one is the wiser. He’s asked—and that’s the kind way to put it—me to save them.”
“There’s no cure to wolfsbane, Sona.” Arden sounded sad and confused.
“I know.”
“You told him that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Please tell me you’re not thinking about helping. They’re Redbone, Sona! The things they’re responsible for in our lives—”
The door burst open. “Meal’s over,” the innkeeper barked. For someone rather small, her presence was large. She grabbed Sona’s right arm and Arden’s left and near-dragged them across the hallway into the room across. 
Sona was too surprised to resist, though she did offer a warning growl that the female didn’t bat an eye at. Nor did she hesitate to shove Arden into a long wooden tub. Her yelp was lost to his louder one as he splashed into the soapy water and thrashed to get his bearings. Sona lurched to help, but the innkeeper yanked her in the opposite direction, forcing her to sit in front of a crude vanity and mirror.   
Her jaw dropped. She looked like absolute *shit*. Taos had to be lying through his fanged teeth when he called her pretty. 
The innkeeper wouldn’t let her turn around to check Arden; she could only hear his spluttering and protests against a female’s voice saying, “Just stay still! Either I clean you or you go naked and covered in mud.”  
“I’m capable of cleaning myself.”
Sona’s scalp protested from the innkeeper’s rough yanking, retying her braid with a red ribbon. When she saw the armband on the vanity desk, she tried to knock it off, but the Epsilon who she’d already forgotten about caught it before it hit the ground. He bared his teeth and snatched her arm to put it on himself despite her struggling. 
It was made of bird skulls strung together with a red string through the eyeholes. The tinted-black beaks dug into her skin.
“To mark you invincible,” grunted the innkeeper, finishing her braid and smacking Sona’s hand away from the band around her bicep, “because you belong to the Redbone Alpha now.”