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Oof. Could I sound more accusatory if I tried?
It’s not his fault that I couldn’t give him what he wanted. Deep down, I know he blames me for not even giving him a chance, but Aleks doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a shifter. Vampires have their own version of a bonded mate, but it’s… it’s different than what exists between a mated pair of wolves.
From the moment I was a fifteen-year-old girl, I knew that I was meant for Ryker Wolfson, just like I knew that we’d eventually end up together.
Aleks’s gaze flickers away, but not for long. He knows I’m a wolf, that prolonged eye contact is a challenge, but it’s never felt like that with him before.
It… kind does now.
I tell my wolf to sit down and stop grumbling. I’ve got this. “It’s been a while. Are you back for good now? Or are you just stopping in?”
A look of surprise flashes across his flawless features. Probably because he’s not used to me speaking to him so coldly. That’s a vampire thing—shifters run hot.
I missed him, and I don’t blame him for going, except that’s total shit. Idoblame him. Six weeks? Six freaking weeks? Where did he go? What was he doing?
Why did he leave me?
I can’t ask him any of that. I gave up the right to be anything but his roommate when I chose Ryker, but I thought he was my friend. That… that’s what makes his abandoning me like that feel so personal. I thought we were friends, but I’m not so sure we ever were.
Especially when Aleks answers my demands with a cryptic comment of his own.
“I wouldn’t have returned if it wasn’t of utmost importance.”
Utmost importance… suddenly, I’m thrown back to earlier today. To the visit from two members of the Cadre.
Great. Let me guess. While Dominic and Tamera were questioning me about my run-in with that other vamp, Roman was running to tell Aleks on me. And now that I’ve gotten into trouble with the Cadre, he finally decides to make a reappearance.
I should be grateful he cares enough, but I’m not. I’m just plain annoyed that he decided it was time to come home when he was ready to play my knight in shining armor again, just like he did the last time a trio of vampires were threatening me.
“Is this about Monroe?”
The outer rings of Aleks’s pale green irises start to darken, a red-rimmed line bleeding in from the edge. “I heard what that lowly menace did to you. I was already on my way back when Roman passed along his apologies. I refused to accept them.”
I blink. “He apologized to you?” When Aleks nods, my jaw drops a little. “What the hell for? I’m the one he was trying to bite.”
“Evidently, he knows you once wore my fang. In vampire circles, that means I’m the one owed the apology. And yes,” he adds, as I open my mouth to argue, “I know you returned it. That doesn’t change anything. Unless another vampire marks you as theirs, I’ll always have the stronger claim to you.”
I never really looked too deeply into vamp traditions. I never thought I’d need to. In hindsight, that was a bad idea since Aleks was able to use my ignorance against me until Ryker filled me in on what all the seemingly innocent gestures really meant.
Like, oh, how wearing his fang around my throat meant that I accepted his pursuit of me.
I shake my head. Since continuing this line of discussion is a no-go for me, I have to change the subject.
“So you didn’t come back because of Monroe. Was it the lamppost?”
Aleks frowns. “Lamppost?”
Oops. “Nothing. Utmost importance, huh? It had to be something to drag you back to Muncie after you were gone so long. Is it Cadre business?”
That would explain why he’s being evasive on purpose. Who knows? Maybe he left because of me, but stayed away because of Cadre reasons. Like how Ryker had to fly across the country for the Alpha gathering. Most Fang Cities are sanctuaries for vampires, each with its own ruling coalition. Maybe Roman gave Aleks an excuse to get out of town for a bit and I’m just being unusually self-absorbed by assuming everything has to do with me.
And then he has to go ahead and say, “Cadre business? You could say so. Any time someone breaches our borders, Roman must know about it.”
Breaches our borders… Cadre patrollers only call it that when there’s a shifter trying to get inside of Muncie. Vamps have an open invitation, and humans are free to come and go, but shifters aren’t allowed in except for very rare occasions.
“Shifters?”
Aleks nods. “There’s been rumors about wolves testing our borders. I’ve spent the last few weeks in Europe. Licking my wounded pride, I guess you could say. But as soon as I heard, I flew home. I arrived last week, but only made it back to Muncie this morning. Roman filled me in on everything. From your wolf sharing our territory to unfamiliar shifters trying to test our boundaries… I stayed away too long.”
