Tangled

91 Ava Clearing the Air (0)

91 Ava: Clearing the Air (I)

All my thoughts circle into some sort of insane melodrama right out of Selene’s favorite TV show, and I slap my hands against my face, rubbing hard against my cheeks, as though I can push the tears right back into my eyes.

“Sorry,” I say, as Lucas rests a worried hand against my back, stroking me like you would pet a puppy. It’s cute.

He doesn’t seem to know what to do with me, while

I’m just grateful that he’s trying.

Once I’m sure my tears are gone, I smile up at him. “I’m just frazzled.”

“You’ve been through a lot. Did I upset you when I took -the phone call?”

“No!” The word bursts from me in horror. Does he

think I’m that kind of person, who gets upset when he has to do important things instead of watching me sit in a hospital bed? “Not at all.”

He blows out a breath in what I’m sure is massive relief. No one wants a mate that high maintenance. “Are you upset that I have to leave?”

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91 Ava: Clearing the Air (1)

I cringe. “It isn’t that.” I just came to some insane levels of assumptions. “Why… do you have to go?”

“Ah.” Now he looks uncomfortable, and takes a seat on my bed, grabbing my hand.

Oh, God. This can’t be good.

“Once we were safe, Kellan–my beta–led a force of my men into the heart of the Blackwood pack.” I must not look devastated enough, because he clarifies, “In

an act of war.”

to want some sort of input from me, I nod to show that I’m

your family and Alpha Renard escaped, but the territory is under our

I nod again.

pack,” he says, as if I’m not

I tilt my head. “I don’t care what happens to them.” Too bad all

is in the hospital. She’s in critical condition due to the wolfsbane I injected her

Clearing the

think I’m probably supposed to feel a lot of things right now. Like sadness, anxiety, worry, or other emotions that

there’s a huge demon of vengeance in my soul that

I’m a raging psychopath. He’s treating me so carefully as he tells me all these things, and not a single one

rough fingers between mine. He must think I need

to go because there’s a lot of work to be done. We are working on disavowing every wolf from the Blackwood Pack and integrating them into ours, or letting them go as rogues. I’ll be back every few days.

out and rub the lines on his brow. “You’ll do great,” I assure him. “But before you go, I have to tell

317

the

something.”

The “other alpha” must be Clayton; that’s why he called. Maybe

out soon. I have

few minutes. There’s a flight tonight that I have to

all I need. I just need you to promise to listen without

face is admirably calm with my words. “Whatever you have to

time to worry about them. “When I was taken from Cedarwood, it wasn’t by

fingers going slack against mine, and his brows come together in thought. “No?

rogues in Cedarwood who

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Clearing the Air

can you go into heat without a wolf?”

and I freeze.

know

been under the impression you were working

why he looked at me

to get someone into the pack to get the information, but I heard that you were wolfless and not

regret all over his face, and his thumb rubs over the

contrition.

brought you back with me that night. You would have been safe. I was so focused on how I felt about your alpha that I didn’t stop to think that