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He sighs. “You’re not. We can both smell the lie in the air, Mal.”
“I’m glad Nora brought you home,” I offer.
“Yeah.”
“How did that happen?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
“She was just… Atticus was facing off with the hunters, and she was there at his back. I could smell her fear, but she didn’t cower or back away, she stood there behind him, waiting. He made her run, and, fuck, she took off. I had no choice but to give chase.”
I laugh. “I met her on her first day at work. She wasn’t impressed with me, refusing to acknowledge her wolf,” I say, remembering the day. “She was strong-willed, but also sort of timid.”
“Vulnerable,” Cevon supplies, and I nod.
“You should’ve seen her face when she came to see Atticus and realised we were together,” I add, and there’s a small smile on his face.
“She told me about trying to kill herself,” Cevon says, and I sigh. “Are you okay?”
I nod slowly, surprised he’s asking. “Yeah. We’re working through it.”
“Good. I never thought I’d get a second chance.”
“No?”
He shakes his head. “Nora didn’t tell me we were mates until Sunday. She tried to claw my throat out on Saturday, and then tried to stab me in the night time.”
“Fucking hell. I can’t even imagine her being that way.”
“She was fighting to come back home,” he says seriously. “To you and the other fools inside the house. She wanted to live, Malachi. She wanted to survive and come home to you. So if you’re holding onto anything with that suicide attempt, let it go.”
“I have.”
“We might not be friends anymore, but I doubt you’ve changed,” he says. “Don’t let one incident ruin your future. Let it go, move past it, and accept she’s trying.”
“What’s your plan? Are you going to continue working with the hunters?”
“I’ve got four names left,” he says quietly. “I think Nora expects me to kill those four men and then retire and continue living.”
“But you’re not sure if you can.”
He shakes his head, and we both fall silent as an owl hoots in the distance.
“I’ve never hated you, you know,” Cevon says, and I frown. “Atticus, sure. But you? You were just following orders. It’s not your fault that you sided with him, I understand it. You were obeying your Alpha.”
“I never tried to fight his words,” I say, not wanting him to give me grace I don’t deserve. “I fully believed in Atticus when he tried to connive you into staying. I don’t think you should have gone.”
And, honestly, I never trusted Lainey at all.
I think if she and Cevon had remained in the pride, we’d have learnt the real truth about her. Including the adoption she claimed happened that I can’t find any evidence of.
“Where’s Nora’s room?” he asks, and I feel like we’ve just taken a tiny step forward. Seems Griffin’s advice worked.
Don’t insult his mate, and maybe we can continue making small breakthroughs.
“I’ll take you up there,” I say, and he follows me inside the house. I show him Nora’s room, and he lets himself inside. I hear him quietly talk to Micah, but I close the door and walk down to Atticus’s office.
It’s no surprise that he and Orson are sitting inside.
“Well?” Orson asks.
