I had to stop myself from frowning. I disagreed with him but I couldn't voice it. The way he spoke you would think all werewolves were like the rogue who had attacked me. And I knew for a fact that wasn't the truth.
"Are all werewolves bad?" I asked, unable to stop myself.
His jaw tensed.
"Yes, although we can only administer punishment when certain rules are broken."
I was stunned. Killing the rogue werewolf had been 'administering punishment'? I swallowed my fear as the Keeper watched.
CHAPTER SIX
Kyle
The next morning I wasn't in the mood to see Keri when I entered my study and she stood waiting for me. The tracker that had gone over the most recent murder scene had come up with very little. Keri looked slightly thinner than the last time I had seen her. She stood with her back to me looking out the window. I hadn't seen her for a while but the time had done nothing to weaken the anger I still felt for her.
"What do you want?" I asked bluntly, not even trying to be civil.
Her shoulders tensed for a moment before she turned to face me. Her blond hair was swept to the side.
"I was worried about you," she said, and I gave her a disbelieving snort as her soft blue eyes pinned me. I was being an asshole and I knew it, but I was still wrestling with my anger for her.
"Really?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.
She gave a slow nod.
"When you kept the fact Crystal was my mate from me, it didn't feel like you gave a damn about me." I tightened my fists by my sides as my anger swirled with intensity inside of me. "And then you decided to keep me locked up so I couldn't go after her when she made the decision to put herself in danger by infiltrating a rogue pack."
It was difficult to keep my voice calm when I could feel the anger inside me build up like a volcano ready to erupt at any second. She kept my gaze as she linked her hands in front of her.
"And finally you allowed her to disappear before I could get to talk to her. And now we have someone going around murdering rogues." There was no guilt or remorse in her features and it made me angrier. I wanted her to beg for my forgiveness instead of looking righteous. "Because of your actions I wake up every morning wondering whether I'm going to find her. And now I wonder if this might be the day I'll find her body."
She flinched, revealing my words were impacting her. Even I couldn't ignore the millisecond of guilt I felt.
"So if you've come here to ease your conscience, you can leave," I told her, crossing my arms across my chest as I gave her an unforgiving look.
"What do you want?" I asked when she made no attempt to leave.
"I want to help you find Crystal." I was already shaking my head.
"She's gone." I said the words with the heaviness of my soul that ached for her.
No matter how much I searched, no matter how hard I tried.
"I know you're still angry, but I want you to understand I only did what I did to keep you alive." She said it so sincerely, but I shook my head at her.
"It doesn't matter why. The only thing that matters is you kept her from me and there's a chance I may never see her again," I said. The anger I felt unfurled in my stomach. "I might never have the chance to touch her."
I had been looking forward to finding my mate but as the years had passed I had begun to think maybe something tragic had happened to intervene in my fate. But that hadn't been the case.
Why didn't she want to be my mate? Was I so awful she had rather run away from everything she'd ever known and the people she loved to get away from me? Keeping the hurt hidden inside, I walked around the desk and sat down.
"Leave me alone, Princess."
I don't know what made me say her nickname instead of her name. The familiarity of it along with our friendship had ended when she had betrayed me.
"Where's Blake?" I asked, deciding on getting rid of her another way.
"He's talking with Nate," she answered, stepping forward to grip the table. "I'm here to help and I'm not leaving until we find her."
