16

DERRICK

There were reasons I stayed away from Amira.

Important reasons.

The security of my position as alpha depended on it. Keeping her alive was already a risk. Every day she breathed was a threat hanging over everything I had built.

She could be killed right now, and it would all be over.

Plenty of wolves had lived without finding their mate. It wasn't common, but it happened.

In a situation like this, being alone might even make an alpha stronger. No weakness. No distractions. No divided loyalties.

For three years, I kept my distance.

When Gareth Holloway told me her body was covered in scars, I said good.

When he reported that she was afraid of everyone and everything around her, I told him it was justice.

When he mentioned that she had started taking an interest in the Silver Fang Inn, I ordered him to shut the place down.

He didn't.

For the first time in all the years I had known him, Gareth openly ignored one of my commands.

And for the first time since losing his mate, he seemed to care about something again.

The reports he gave me slowly changed.

At first, he simply updated me about her.

Then he started defending her.

Eventually, he began criticizing me for refusing to acknowledge her existence.

The arguments grew worse.

One day, after listening to him push me again, I finally lost my temper and snapped that she should be grateful I hadn't broken her neck already.

After that, Gareth stopped giving reports altogether.

Damn him.

He hadn't been there when Mirelle dragged Amira's broken body back into the Obsidian Realm.

He hadn't seen it.

He hadn't stood beside Eldric when the healer nearly lost his mind after his sister died.

He hadn't witnessed the horror waiting for us at that camp.

He wasn't there when we found those children sitting quietly among the dead bodies.

Amira had played a part in what happened.

She had admitted it herself.

The words had come directly from her mouth.

That wasn't something I could forget.

And it wasn't something I could forgive.

Then Gareth put a bullet in his own head.

Now the responsibility of protecting her had fallen onto me.

Seraphina was gone.

She had been missing for weeks.

The witch I trusted most had vanished without a trace, and somehow I was forced to depend on the coldest woman I had ever met to help find her.

"I don't think you've taken a breath in the last ten minutes," Eldric said casually.

I glanced at him.

"That vein in your forehead is sticking out."

Several hours had passed since he treated Amira's injuries.

Several hours since he looked directly into the eyes of the woman he believed was responsible for his sister's death.

Considering everything, he was handling it surprisingly well.

"Why did you volunteer to come with us?" I asked.

"Seraphina is my friend," he replied. "I am worried about her."

A dark look crossed my face.

Eldric answered it with a sad smile.

"It was time," he said quietly. "This gave me the chance I needed. Right now, I have something important to focus on. I couldn't afford to fall apart before I found answers."

"If she's hurt..."

"I will do everything I can to save her."

The answer came without hesitation.

Not even a second of doubt.

We continued walking through the forest.

Several minutes passed before Eldric began humming softly under his breath.

Then he spoke again.

"You know, the last thing my twin said before she died was, 'You have to help her.'"

His eyes stayed ahead.

"For a long time, I assumed she was talking about one of the survivors. Or maybe one of the children."

There had been no other survivors at the camp.

"Maybe she bonded with one of the children," I said. "Or maybe Rowan Kingsley killed someone else before we arrived."

The children had eventually been brought back to the Obsidian Fang Pack.

They had been so terrified that they could barely form complete sentences.

Seraphina had cared for them personally while I searched for their families within the Silver Serpent Pack.

"Maybe," Eldric murmured.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then he asked the question that had been bothering all of us.

"Why would the Shadowthorn Coven take Seraphina?"

A smile slowly spread across my face.

My fangs showed.

"When we get there," I said, "I plan to ask them myself."

Eldric studied me for a moment before changing the subject.

"We need to stop soon."

My jaw tightened.

"Why?"

"She's shaking with every step she takes."

Amira.

Even from a distance, her pain was obvious.

"Then she should shift and heal," I snapped.

"There is still at least an hour of daylight left. I'm not wasting time because she wants to keep hiding her wolf."

Eldric frowned.

"Why do you think she's refusing?"

"Because there were reports years ago about a red wolf working alongside Rowan."

My voice hardened.

"The wolf was never identified."

Understanding flashed across his face.

"You think it was her."

"It probably was."

The words tasted bitter.

"If it was her?" he asked quietly.

I already knew the answer.

She would have to die.

That should have made the decision simple.

But it didn't.

Not anymore.

I already had her confession.

I already knew what she had admitted to.

Yet I still hadn't killed her.

Those words she spoke that night had created a crack between me and my wolf.

A deep one.

My wolf had chosen her.

Chosen her despite everything.

And he still hadn't forgiven me for staying away from her all these years.

The divide between us grew worse whenever darkness fell.

During the quiet hours of the night, when there were no duties to distract me and no voices around me, I could feel her through the mating bond.

Every emotion reached me.

Every ache.

Every lonely thought.

The desperate need to be close to me.

The painful longing for my touch.

And the worst part was knowing exactly how much she suffered.

Because a part of me wanted the same thing.