Enemy of my Enemy

𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

As soon as Reyes left the room, Bianca stood, dusted herself off, and muttered, "Asshole," whilst glaring at the door Reyes had walked out through. It took Grayson's brain several seconds to remember she hadn't actually been rendered to kneeling on the ground because of her injury. She was still hurting, though, and he could see right through her tough guy act: "Phase one is complete," Bianca clasped her hands together, trying to hide her limp as she approached him.

"You should sit down."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "I hardly think now is the time for you to start pretending you're a gentleman."

"How the hell are you even walking right now? When Vincent gave Reyes that scar, Reyes couldn't even lift a finger for two whole hours."

She shrugged like it was no big deal. "Most of it probably has to do with wolf genes."

"Huh?"

"Dunno, it's something Henry-" Her breath caught on the name of her friend who'd betrayed her. "It's something he told me about, after..." She gestured to her first scar. "The stronger your wolf, the less you're affected by an alpha's direct attack. It's kind of like how we don't respond as well to an alpha's calls when we're in our human forms."

"Stronger? As in, power wise? Or transformation wise?"

"Both. I'm the direct descendant of an alpha's bloodline, meaning I have a fiercer wolf side than most. And right before I had you do this to me, I called on a bit of my wolf side to help with the pain. Reyes, though..."

"He isn't of a powerful bloodline, and he was in his human form the night my father..." Grayson nodded.

A few seconds of silence passed between them, but unlike their previous ones, this one wasn't all that uncomfortable.

"You know, Blackburn," Bianca cleared her throat. "We got off to a rocky start, which is all your fault, and I still hate you and think you're a despicable, narcissistic idiot, but..." She offered him her hand. "I think we have the potential to become good friends."

Grayson's smile was forced. He would've liked for it to have been because he was planning on betraying her at the last minute, or something. But in truth, it was that the word 'friends' that made him want to lose his mind.

Which is how he found himself in the city for the second time that day, standing in the apartment lobby he hadn't been in since he'd been in high school. He'd just gulped down half a bottle of tequila in the car- Which was perfectly safe, as he hadn't been the one who was driving, and as wolves had a higher tolerance level than humans.

He managed to get all the way to the elevator without stumbling once, which was a feat he was quite proud of in that moment. The doors opened on the seventeenth floor. Grayson staggered out like a crazed man, but he was perfectly composed by the time he was knocking on room 1702. At least, he thought he was.

Kenna Chase came to the door wearing an old shirt and red sweatpants. Her jaw dropped softly when she realized it was him. "Grayson?" she whispered.

The only place Grayson hadn't felt entirely alone as a child was when he'd been at school. Normally, kids of filthy rich families such as himself were sent off to private boarding schools, where being an heir to a fortune was something that warranted nothing more than a few nods. But, as Vincent hadn't cared enough about his son to bother with his education, Grayson had found himself tossed straight into the whirlwind of chaos known as public school- With the human workers of the Redwood House dropping him off every day in fancy black limousines, of course.

Fortunately, Vincent had unknowingly managed to teach Grayson one single lesson about life before he'd started the first grade- Never let anyone use you. Which was how Grayson had managed to get all two hundred kids in his year competing for his attention, instead of having them take him- and all the benefits that came with being his friend- for granted.