Even though I tried to sound casual, my voice didn't seem to lift the storm brewing around Elliot. He sat behind the wheel, his posture rigid, aura tense like a true Alpha scenting something amiss in his territory. Every instinct of his pack, his dominance, radiated from him, and I felt it pressing against me, making me shrink just a little.
"Why did you let that jerk go instead of handing him over to the authorities? And how… how did you even end up at the hotel?" Elliot's voice was low, rumbling like a wolf growl beneath his calm exterior. His piercing gaze locked onto me, demanding honesty.
I forced a casual shrug, hoping to dampen the tension. "I got tricked into the hotel… I don't even know that man."
"Who tricked you?" His voice carried that sharp edge, the edge of an Alpha who smelled weakness in his mate's choices and wanted to protect his pack.
I hesitated, then murmured, "Someone I knew over a meal."
