Page 25 of Virtually Guarded

The other man, short with blue-streaked hair, looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. He hadn’t been involved in the assault, though. That was all Gregory and his buddies. “Arian Davies, Anax.”

Trembling, I stared at the table. The Anax needed to send them out of here. Get them the hell away from me. Especially Gregory. The one who had helped. Who had wanted to hurt me.

“I suggest both of you walk away right now,” the Anax said. “Gregory, I will be speaking to your Alpha shortly. It would be advisable to find him yourself and come clean with him before I fill him in.”

“What…” Arian began.

The Anax didn’t let him finish the question. “Arian, how long have you been a member of Connecticut Pack?”

“Seven years, Anax. Is that…Oh, shit.”

I managed to glance toward them. The guy’s face was bright red, and he was staring at the floor. Before he said another word, I knew. I knew exactly who he was. And I hated him with fury that raced through me like a bonfire.

“Apologies for the language, Anax,” he mumbled. “I believe I understand what you need to speak to our Alpha about. I didn’t know Gregory was one of them.”

“Gregory and two other trackers came here only days ago trying to find Ren Torres and return him to Connecticut Pack,” the Anax said. “I sent them away. Ren is my wolf now.”

“Good. He deserves to be safe.” Arian took a couple of shaky breaths. “Anax, I am the one who changed Ren. I didn’t mean to. He startled me. We startled each other. I attacked without thought and tried to minimize the damage when I realized what I was doing, but I had already wounded him too badly. I had him brought to the Alpha to recover.”

Exactly what I’d thought. This asshole was the one who’d made me a fucking werewolf. Who’d taken me away from my human life and put me in a place where people tried to destroy me when they realized what I was.

Honestly, that wasn’t much different from my human life. Except for the human part.

“So long as you didn’t intend to change him against his will, you face no consequence from me.” The Anax paused. “You were present when Ren awakened from his first shift.”

Arian nodded. “When he was awake, I told him I was sorry. He was still wolf, though, so I’m not sure if he understood. It’s hard to know what people understand when they’re in wolf form, but the Alpha made most of us leave before Ren shifted back.”

He’d apologized? I didn’t remember that. I barely remembered him being there when I woke up.

Beneath the table, I clenched my fists. Breathing slowly, I tried to shut down my anger before I said or did something I would regret. Arian saying he was sorry was good. At least it meant he hadn’t changed me intentionally. But I wouldn’t accept his bullshit apology, because nothing he said could undo the assault or make me human again. I covered my face with my hands. I didn’t want to look at anyone. And I damn sure didn’t want them to see me burst into tears, though I hoped that wouldn’t happen.

“I don’t think Ren is in any shape to talk to you right now, but I’ll extend your apology,” the Anax said. “Do me a favor, Arian.”

“Of course, Anax,” he said quickly.

“Go to your Alpha and tell him I will find him before the meeting. We’ve got about another half hour, forty-five minutes before we have to head to the auditorium.”

“I’ll tell him, Anax.” After a second, footsteps sounded, growing fainter as presumably Arian walked away.

The Anax came back to the table, making enough noise for me to know he was there even though I didn’t uncover my face. “What happened?” I asked.

“The guy you pointed out was one of the trackers who showed up here the other day.” His voice was low and soothing. “He shouldn’t have been anywhere near the place. I’d told him to stay away. I’m not sure why the Alpha brought him to the gathering, and I sent him to tell the Alpha that he was one of the ones who basically invaded my territory. The other one…Did you recognize him?”

“I…” Okay. I wasn’t going to cry. That was good. I folded my hands on the table and decided not to admit that I knew exactly who frigging Arian was. “Something was familiar.”

“This might not be easy to hear.” Obviously he didn’t realize I’d already heard. He hesitated. “He was the one who attacked you. Who changed you. He said you startled him, and he went on the attack instinctively and tried to stop when he realized what he was doing, but it was too late at that point. For what it’s worth, he wants you to know he regrets it. He never meant to harm you.”

“Intention doesn’t override impact.” I sighed. “Okay, well, I guess it’s good that he didn’t do it on purpose. I mean, he did harm me, though. There’s nothing that will change that. He turned me into this.” I waved my hand over my torso. “The only good thing about being a werewolf is at least when I’m a wolf, the body matches the brain. And Xavier, I guess.”

“There are definite downsides.”

I nodded. “Okay. I don’t want to talk to him. The one who changed me. I don’t want anything to do with anyone from that pack.”

“Does that include the Alpha?” I glared, and he held up a hand. “I’m asking for clarification, Ren, not to talk you into something you don’t want. The Alpha hates what was done to you and wants to make amends. If you don’t want to meet with him, you don’t have to.”

“I’d rather not. Maybe sometime, but it’s too fresh right now.” I rubbed my forehead and tried to push away my anger. Enzo had fucked up. So had Arian. Hating them wouldn’t change what had happened to me, but the Anax was trying to make things better. Someone actually gave a shit. “All of this is too much too fast, and I can’t even catch up with it. The only time my mind isn’t going a zillion miles a second is when I’m asleep.”

“All right.” He glanced around the room. “I need to talk to a couple of people before the meeting starts. Do you need anything else?”