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Trish dares a peek up at me. “The scary bloodsucker? No way. I’m lucky he let me stay. I wasn’t gonna push him for anything more than that.”
So she did meet Roman. But if he wasn’t the vampire who told her where to find us...
“Then who?”
“The same one who came and found me outside of River Run. The pretty one. You know. Your friend.”
Ryker’s eyes flash angrily. “Filan.”
“No. It’s like Alex or something. He’s got this dreamy accent.”
“Aleksander Filan.” Who I’m very quickly reconsidering whether he’s my friend or not. Aleks told Trish where I worked?
Wait—
“What do you mean, the one who found you outside of River Run?”
River Run in the nearest shifter pack to Mountainside. About two hours away when we’re in our wolf shape, I wouldn’t think of them as our allies, but they’re not our enemies, either. Ryker’s pack stays on his territory, Kendall’s pack stays on his, and there’s no trouble.
Is that where Trish ran off to when Ryker banished her from Accalia? I don’t know, I think I always assumed she’d tag along with Shane when he joined the Western Pack. But from everything we learned after his betrayal, it seemed less like Trish was working with Shane and more like he used her to try to better his own chances to become an alpha.
“I’m not like you, Gemma. I’m not made to be without a pack. If I couldn’t go back to Mountainside, I thought River Run might accept me. But their Alpha could tell that my loyalty was back with my old pack and he put me on probation. I was still on it when that vamp showed up, telling me that he could arrange for me to apologize to you, too. That, maybe if I showed you that I really meant it, the Alpha might let me back into Accalia.”
“Do you mean it?”
When she stays quiet, Ryker growls softly. Not enough to attract the attention of any passersby—supe or human—on the street, but more than enough to have the delta wolf trembling in place.
Ugh.
I don’t want to feel sorry for her. I really, really don’t. For almost a year and a half, I’ve loathed Trish Danvers for the way she pushed her way between me and Ryker. The snotty comments she made about me being an omega, the nasty looks, and the way she made me feel like I wasn’t worthy ofherAlpha.
Then she led me to believe that he was choosing her over me and I let my jealousy twist me into someone I didn’t like being. For Luna’s sake, I almost ripped Ryker’s heart out of his chest. If I could’ve gotten my claws on Trish that night, that’s probably the least I would’ve done, I was so close to being feral.
I’m not feral right now. The bond between Ryker and me keeps me grounded, so even though I still can’t get over her nerve to stand here in front of Charlie’s as if she has every right to intrude on my life in Muncie, I’m not angry, either.
Nope. I feel bad for her, and that’s about all the emotion I can muster. She worked hard to be some kind of knock-off version of me to steal away Ryker, but it didn’t work. She lost everything—and I have it all.
“I said,” echoes Ryker, “do you mean it.”
Trish gulps, but she knows better than to refuse to answer him. “I do. I’m so sorry, Ryker. I… it’s no excuse, but I thought I could make you happy. You’re a strong alpha male. You would’ve eaten an omega wolf alive, and I didn’t think you’d be able to get along with another alpha. I… I thought I’d be perfect for you. That you would be better off choosingme.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“No. It wasn’t. And I regret it. I regret letting Shane get in my head, and I regret trying to tell you what to do. You were right to banish me from the pack, but I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do to get you to forgive me, I’ll do it. I swear to the Luna, I will. Just… I want to go home.”
Ryker crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t just ask me then.” He jerks his chin in my direction. “You want forgiveness? Ask Gemma.”
Oh, boy.
He’s daring her. It’s easy to see she regrets her actions, that she really means it when she apologizes to Ryker. But will she be able to show me the same remorse?
Trish shudders out a breath. For a second, I’m sure she’s going to refuse—and then she says softly, “Gemma. I… I made a mistake. A big one. I judged you when I shouldn’t, and I made the cardinal shifter sin. I interfered between two mates. I regret it. More than regret it. I’m ashamed of myself. But I’m sorry. Nothing like that will ever happen again, I swear.”
I shrug. “Okay.”
They’re both looking at me now.
What? Is this the part where I’m supposed to accept her apology or something? Because, sure, I feel bad for her, but I don’t know if I’m a big enough person to shove everything she did behind me and get over it just like that because she said she was sorry.
