Simone held on to me while I had my mini-breakdown, and when I was done, I got to my feet, my wolf raging in my chest. In normal circumstances, after a run, she would have been tired, but the news of Dannie being hurt at the hands of this pack had us both ready to try round two of murdering their asses.
The only thing holding me back was the fact that if I pushed them too far today, they might kill me, and I couldn’t let that happen before I knew Shadow and the library were okay. Not to mention everyone else in the Solaris System I’d grown quite fond of.
Simone jumped to her feet, energy animating her face as she nodded. Whatever she’d been mulling in her head, she’d come to a conclusion, and was now ready to share her plan.
Leaning close to my ear, she acted like she was hugging me again. “There’s a secret pack meeting tonight for enforcers and the top pack members,” she whispered. “I think it’s going to be about you and everything that happened. I didn’t want to tell you because I’m scared you’re going to get yourself killed fighting them, but we definitely have to figure out what they did.”
I clutched her shirt, holding on to her. “Yes. I need to get to that meeting. Maybe just give me the coordinates, and you can stay home, where it’s safe…”
She shook her head, pulling back from me. “Not a fucking chance, bitch. I’ll be at your side, just like I should have been when you were taken.”
I grimaced. “Did you not hear what Shadow did to Alpha Victor? He’s absolutely ruthless and without mercy when he’s angry. If you got in his way, you’d have done nothing other than die. And if you’d done that for me, I would have been so angry that at least two lifetimes would have had to pass before I’d forgive you.”
Her eyes sprinkled with tears as she shook her head again. “When I realized you’d run from Torma just before your shift, I blamed myself. If I’d been a more supportive friend, I’d have been with you.”
I swallowed as my eyes burned. “I’m so sorry for leaving like that, girl. Especially after telling you I wouldn’t.”
Her voice was fierce as she shook me a little. “It wasn’t your fault. I’ve had a lot of time to think about… well, everything. You lived through hell, and I did nothing to help. Not really.”
That wasn’t remotely true. Her love and support had definitely saved my life more than once. Simone continued before I could. “When you were taken by Shadow Beast, I promised that if you ever returned to me, I’d never let you go. I can’t break that promise… please don’t make me.”
Our gazes were locked for what felt like an eternity, and eventually, I nodded, seeing in her face the same determination I’d seen in my own for years. In truth, me making decisions for her was just as bad as Shadow doing it for me. I was no stronger or smarter than Simone, and as long as she knew all the risks, it wasn’t my job to stand in her way.
“Okay. Just be aware that I’ve almost died twenty times since I was taken from here,” I told her. “If you’re okay with living on the edge of death, I won’t stand in your way.”
She scoffed. “We’ve got this. Pretty sure being in Torma is living on the devil’s gate anyway.” There was a pause, and we chuckled.
“I’ve literally been living with the devil,” I snorted.
Simone shot me a smirk. “I know.”
Both of us laughed and I had to shake my head at the irony of my last year. To shifters, Shadow was god, devil, beast, sinner, and saint. He was the complete package of yin and yang. Dark and light. Good and bad. I’d been living in the devil’s house for a year, and if anything, had come out stronger and more independent than I’d ever been here under the pack rule.
“We will stop them,” I said with conviction.
Simone’s face was fierce, her lips pursed as she narrowed her eyes. “We will. I need to go home now so I can follow my parents. I’ll text you the coordinates.”
I grimaced. “I have no phone.”
She smiled. “I kept an old one of yours.” From her pocket, she pulled out my phone, fully charged and in pristine condition. For an old piece of crap. “I hoped that one day you’d call your number, so I never let the charge go out.”
My throat was tight as I hugged her once more. “I love you. Be careful following your parents and text me as soon as you know the location.”
“I will,” she whispered, squeezing me as she spun and took off.
I slipped the phone in my pocket just as Jaxson and Torin got back to me—they’d clearly been hanging close by.
“See?” Torin’s first and only word as he smirked at me.
I played dumb. “See what?”
His smile faded, darkness rolling through his eyes. “See what I can offer you if you just stop fighting me? You will not be a prisoner with me. You’ll be an alpha female, mated to the alpha of all alphas.”
I tilted my head to the side, like I couldn’t quite wrap my head around what he was saying. Truth be told, I couldn’t wrap it around his arrogant stupidity, but thankfully, he couldn’t read my thoughts.
“I just need some time,” I lied. “And being totally honest, I’m getting fairly annoyed by men thinking they can throw their weight and power around and drag me off by my hair. You should really think about your approach going forward; I mean, if you want the sort of powerhouse relationship that you’re dangling in front of me.”
Keeping them happy until the meeting was my new motto. Hopefully tonight, I’d get all the information I needed about Shadow and the library, and equally importantly, about Dannie. I needed to know if I had a friend to avenge or not. If they had hurt Dannie, I would figure out how to make them beg for death.
The thought of that brought a smile to my face. Of course, Torin, the stupid fuck he was, thought I was smiling at him. “You got it, babe. We are going to rule this damn world and have the most beautiful pups.”
My stomach churned at the mere thought of touching him. His dick was probably half-rotted from being inside so many shifters. Especially Sisily. Speaking of, I wondered where that bitch even was. Did she know I was back? Did she know Torin wanted to claim the bond now? Why wasn’t she here to scratch my eyes out?
“How’s my mom?” I asked them suddenly. Not because I really cared—she’d been nothing to me for years—but it felt like I should at least ask.
Jaxson stepped forward, taking my hand. The revulsion I felt around Torin wasn’t there with him, but I still didn’t want his touch. When I removed my hand, he seemed surprised but recovered quickly enough. “Your mom fell into depression when you were taken by Shadow Beast,” he said slowly, softly, and my stomach clenched at his tone. I knew that tone. It was his bad news is forthcoming voice.
“Get to the point, Jax!” I snapped.
“I went to check on her, and she was unconscious,” he said in a rush.
Torin cut in. “I had the best healers take her case, but there was nothing they could do. The abuse on her body was just too great. Not even shifter genetics could save her.”
“I’m so sorry, Sunny,” Jaxson added.
The pain was a dull thud in my chest at the knowledge the last member of my family was finally gone. I was more alone than I’d ever been… a blow I hadn’t been expecting when I’d asked about her.
“What happened to her body?” I breathed.
Shifter ritual was to burn the body, but only after a family member sent them off to the Shadow Beast with their blessings. My mother had no family without me, so I wasn’t sure what they’d done.
“My father blessed her to the afterlife,” Jaxson said.
Anger swelled against the dull pain, and it was sharper, more colorful than my grief ever would be. “The father who murdered her true mate? That was the shifter you thought was a great choice to send her into the next life?”
I silently added another name to my list: Dean Heathcliffe.
Each of them would pay, even if it took me my entire life. It wasn’t about revenge… It was about righting wrongs that shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
Eh, maybe that was the same thing, but whatever, no one said I was perfect.
“We’re sorry, Mera,” Jaxson said. “Torin and I have wanted to say it for a long time.”
Torin crossed his arms, not bothering to even open his stupid mouth as he let his beta talk for him. What the fuck had I done wrong to get this mongrel dog as a mate? I needed to ask Shadow about that… if I ever saw him again.
“How about you make it up to me?” I said, once again lying through my teeth. “By telling me what exactly happened when you all snuck into the Library of Knowledge.”
The friends exchanged a look before they turned back to me. “Do you really need to know, though?” Torin smarmed. “I mean, all that matters is you’re back. Tomorrow we’ll call a pack meeting and introduce you as the alpha-mate. This is exactly what you’ve been working toward, right?”
I couldn’t stop the snort from escaping; Torin didn’t miss it, his expression darkening. But what did he expect? The last thing I ever wanted was to be his mate. I’d wanted to get the hell away from this pack as soon as I could, so this was a little like my worst nightmare.
Keep the peace. Keep the peace.
Just a few more hours.
