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“I’ll just be a moment.”
Shea waited for the corporal to pull the bathroom door closed before she glanced over at Hudson.
His hands were folded in his lap, his gaze on his twitchy fingers.
“Hudson—”
“You saved my life,” he murmured. “I promised I’d never put you through that again, and you saved my life. Shea, you’re an angel.”
She wasn’t an angel. What she was was a soft touch.
A rough exhale escaped her. Now that she knew he was in once piece, she could allow herself to experience some utter frustration.
“Hudson.” Another bewildered exhale. “What was I supposed to do? You got tossed in front of my shop like a piece of garbage. I couldn’t leave you there. How would I have explained that to Nana?”
His eyes shadowed. He glanced up, his features twisted in a tortured expression. “She’s gonna kill me. You know that, right? Where Julian failed—”
He shut up. Just closed his mouth with an audible click.
Too late.
“Julian did this to you,” Shea said.
It wasn’t a guess.
Hudson winced. “He said I was a reminder of your vow. That you belonged to him, not some mangy wolf. I tried to tell him that I would’ve known if you’d hooked up with a shifter, but he didn’t believe me.”
Shea’s heart seemed to skip a beat. So she was right. Hudson’s attack was retaliation for her bond with Colton, wasn’t it?
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say.
22
That was just fine. Hudson wasn’t done yet.
“You don’t have to do it. I won’t go back there. I… I promise, Shea. I’ll kick it. This time I know I will. I can’t let you give yourself to that monster to save me. It isn’t right.”
It wasn’t. Shea knew it. But Hudson… she’d heard these promises before. And maybe he did mean it. But she also knew better.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. It’s… it’s worse somehow. Okay?”
“He wants you. Am I supposed to
let him have you? My sister?”
That did it. The fake concern she could deal with. But this outrage when he was the one who got her in this mess to begin with?
Oh, Goddess, no.
Shea tightened her hands into fists, hot tears welling in her eyes. The words burst out of her with a fury she wasn’t aware she could feel. “I don’t know, Hud. Were you supposed to offer him my blood in the first place? Huh? Wake me up while I was sleeping, dress me like I was a doll, then parade me in front of your… your dealer? Were you supposed to do that to your sister? Hmm?”
His mouth dropped open.
Her chest heaved as she panted angrily.
In the silence that followed her explosion, the toilet flushed. The water from the tap flowed. The electronic hand dryer went on, then off. The bathroom door creaked open.
Corporal Wright took one look at Hudson’s slack-jawed expression, the sheen of angry tears in Shea’s eyes, and frowned.
