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?”

DE

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.”

some sort of input from me, I nod to

Renard escaped, but the territory is under our control.”

I nod again.

your pack,” he says, as

“I don’t care what happens to them.” Too bad all the important people

is in the hospital. She’s in critical condition due

Clearing the

now. Like sadness, anxiety, worry, or other emotions that would be applicable to a

vengeance in my soul that is happy

possible future mate that I’m a raging psychopath. He’s treating me so carefully as

rough fingers between mine. He must think I need comfort, and I’m not sure how to break it to

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. Right now, another alpha is helping me keep things in control over there, but I can’t just let other people

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

317

the Air

something.”

twists. The “other alpha” must be Clayton; that’s why he called. Maybe Clayton doesn’t

it out soon. I have to head this off before

only have a few minutes. There’s a flight tonight

is all I need. I just need you to

is admirably calm with my words. “Whatever you have to tell me, don’t worry, Ava. I won’t

seem odd, but I don’t have time to worry about them. “When I was taken from Cedarwood,

has his fingers going slack against mine, and his brows

a deep breath. “There were some rogues in Cedarwood who caught

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Ava: Clearing the

go into heat without a wolf?” Lucas asks,

and I freeze.

know

meet mine, unwavering. “At the Gala, I’d been under the impression

looked at me with such

the Gala, I looked into you. It took us a long time. to get someone into the pack to get the information, but I heard that

and his thumb rubs over the back of my hand, over

contrition.

my head out of my ass, I would have 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