Paul Smith’s face was beaded with sweat when he returned. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m afraid this particular set will be going up for auction this afternoon.”“What’s his value?”“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say.”Jackson smiled at him, “Of course you’re not. Go back. Tell them I’ll double what he’s expected to bring in. Jackson Carmillan, just in case you didn’t know the name.” He didn’t hold out his hand for the introduction.“Yes, sir. I’ll be right back.”Jackson turned back to the cage. “C363M657.” The wolf tensed. “That’s a fucking mouthful. If you don’t have a name, think one up, otherwise I’m calling you Fido.”Nothing. Not a twitch of the lips to show humor or anger. No tensing. No relaxing. Jackson sighed and turned his back on the cage. He hated this goddamned p

 Jackson let the car idle for a moment as he dug through the middle console. Buried in the bottom and scratched to hell, he found his old pair of sunglasses. “Here. Put these on.”Wren squinted at what he held out, then carefully, he reached out and took them. His face relaxed as he slid the sunglasses on.“How long were you blindfolded?”Silence.All right. That’s fine. They’d brought in new wolves before who took a while to settle in. “Ok. Let’s just get you home so you can have a bath.” Wren tensed up at his words. “You have to look presentable before you meet my dad.”They drove home in silence. Wren was a tense statue beside him, not once did he turn his head to watch out the window. He didn’t fidget. He didn’t ask a single question about where they were going.Jackson felt a prickle of insecurity run down his spine at the utter stillness of his companion

Jackson Carmillan of Carmillan Collars. The metal collar around his throat hadn’t felt so tight, so restrictive in a long time. I think I know how the collars work better than you do, the words echoed in Wren’s mind. Wren stayed on edge. He wasn’t going to trigger any anger in Jackson for as long as he could help it. Silence had always been his best friend. He couldn’t say the wrong thing if he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to guess the right choice if he just waited until the choice was made for him. He knew he stunk. He knew his hair had grown out to a better length but had become unmanageable in the process. The makeup caked on his face itched. He wanted to be clean, but he didn’t want the bath. His old owner was bad enough, a bucket of cold water tossed over him to clean off the blood after a fight and it was called a day, he didn’t want to know how the Carmillan heir treated his wolf. What his idea of a bath would be. Wren’s hair had been

 Jackson flipped the switch on the bedside box as they left the room. “Come back in an hour with some lavender tea,” Jackson spoke clearly as soon as they stepped out into the hallway.“Yes, sir.” Kia blew him a kiss and laughed as she left.“Follow me.”Barely in his peripheral, Wren kept pace with him. Down the hallway, up another staircase. They stopped in front of a set of intricately carved double oak doors. Jackson ran a finger over the nose of a carving of a wolf and steeled himself before knocking.“Come in.”Jackson straightened up and opened the door. “Dad.”His dad was sitting behind his desk, bent over some paperwork. His glasses rested on the end of his nose. His dark hair was starting to gray around the edges. A shadow of stubble told Jackson enough about what kind of day he’d had, and he straightened his spine further.With a heavy sigh, his dad took

Jackson opened the door across the hall from his room, then stepped aside and gestured for Wren to step in ahead of him. Wren hesitated, then stepped forward. The room was dark and smelled faintly of disuse. Jackson stepped in behind him and Wren forced himself not to whip around. He didn’t like people at his back.“Light is here,” Jackson said and the lights came on. Wren turned around at a normal, sedate pace, in direct odds to the pounding of his heart. Jackson had his hand on a panel at the door. “Bed, couch, bathroom.” Jackson pointed at each thing in turn. “Just come to my room when you wake up in the morning. Kia’s bringing breakfast up.”Wren stared over Jackson’s shoulder. The words Jackson said were all normal, easy words… They just didn’t make any sense. Why was he leaving Wren in this room? Where was his cage? The bars with the slot so food could be pushed in to him. The flat pillow and thin