And since when was killing humane, Noa?
In my chest, the answer tugged. And in the distance, thunder rolled. Grayson’s thunder. I turned to Effa and Caerwen and said it was time to go home.
CHAPTER 26
Noa
Laura arrived at the archive twenty minutes late and offered a flustered apology. She didn’t say why she’d been delayed, but I guessed it had something to do with Anson. The Gathering was not going well. This was day three, and last night, Grayson had come home in a dangerously bad mood. He was dealing with the Alpen’s gloating and insults, after all. The Mule insisted his crimes no longer mattered, compared to Mosbach. At least, he’d never sold children. But his predecessors had, and every time I watched Laura rub the scars on her wrist, I wanted to scream. I didn’t know how Grayson did it. Why he hadn’t attacked the Alpen by now, when I burned with a need for vengeance.
We need him, Bedisa…
There’s no way he can compare himself to you and come close.
I’d been unable to convince Grayson that Mosbach’s crimes did not taint the soul of the Sentinel Falls pack. Or his soul as Alpha. Mosbach was a murderer. One man. Not a culture in the pack.
Grayson had pushed the hair from my cheek while shadows darkened his eyes. Then he’d rolled over, pretending to sleep. But in the dark, staring at the ceiling, I’d listened to him breathe, hurting over the distance between us. In this one thing, I could give him no comfort.
“News came from Cariboo.” Laura snatched a book from the shelf, then a second, slamming them down with unusual disregard for the ancient bindings. “Did Grayson tell you?”
“Grayson left before I was awake.” Another worrisome action on his part, withdrawing into a silence he didn’t wish to share.
“Anson got a call early this morning.” Embarrassment flushed into her face. “He… woke me when he got up to answer.”
“I’m happy for you, if you’re happy,” I said.
“It’s different.” She shrugged. “I haven’t been with anyone before, and…”
“You’re swimming upstream without knowing if you’re euphoric or drowning.”
She turned to look at me. “Is it wrong? He’s the Alpha of Carmag. And Gray…”
“Would approve,” I said, smiling. “In case you haven’t noticed, he loves you.”
“Like family. Which makes it weird when they face off like rivals. My almost-brother and my lover.”
“Like alphaholes.”
She giggled. “They are, aren’t they?”
I touched the back of her hand. “Do you hear his voice in your head?”
“No. He’s just as cautious. We sort of talked about it this morning. Why I was late.”
“You’ll work it out,” I said.
“I’m worried.” She walked around and scraped back a chair, sitting with the abused books on the table between us. Behind her, the fake fire fluttered with monotonous regularity. “He didn’t give me the details, but I guess Cariboo reports are getting bad. An army amassing in a valley. Men and signs of creatures. Probably hybrids, too. It’s been going on longer than they expected.”
“What’s been going on?”
“Making hybrids, although they think the new hybrids are… less stable.”
I frowned. “That’s a lot of information from someone who didn’t give you details.”
“I sort of listened to his end of the phone call,” she admitted. “Is that bad?”
“Not if he knew you were listening. Tell him you’re sorry and offer make-up sex.”
Her cheeks reddened and her laugh turned awkward. “It was hard enough letting him see my scars.”
