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Karissa still looked as if she wanted to slap him. For long seconds, tension hummed between them. Then she said, more gently, “I don’t think that woman has a lot of life left in her, Stone. Don’t ruin what’s left of her.”
Stone’s eyes widened in surprise. He hesitated before he promised, “I won’t.”
Karissa held his glance for a long second. “You know what Brennan would think of you, if you did.”
“Karissa.” I rose to my feet, knowing she’d hurt Stone, even if his face was coldly stoic. “That’s not fair.”
“Nothing’s fuckingfair,”she spat, and then she was gone.
I looked around for Liam, but he wasn’t in the room. A howl went up from outside. He’d spent only a few moments as a human, and I wondered, after the trauma of today, what had been so important it had pulled him away from being the wolf.
We all liked to shift when we were hurt—physically or emotionally. It felt like healing to be the wolf. But Liam practically lived as a wolf, and he never seemed to heal.
I wondered if Amelia was even capable of healing after everything she’d been through.
Stone still stood at the head of the table looking furious and dazed—a combination Karissa often inspired—and Teresa had her arms crossed over her chest, fuming as though she wanted to slap Karissa but had missed her chance.
“I didn’t bring Amelia,” Teresa said tightly. “Karissa was feeling . . . protective. Of theLongroad pack.”
Then she added, “I can get her now, though. If you keep your sister under control.”
Stone turned toward her with a harsh look as if he didn’t appreciate her criticism of Karissa, though God knew Stone had plenty to say about her himself.
“There’s no need. Louisa will be here any time.” I tried to ease the tension that crackled through the room. “We can find out what Amelia has to say for herself through other means.”
Stone nodded. “We can try that first.” He turned to Teresa. “Teresa, make sure they’re safe. We don’t know if the Longroad pack will realize we have them in our possession and come for them.”
Teresa looked as though she were biting down so hard on her tongue that she was about to draw blood. But she nodded.
Unlike his siblings, Teresa and I would do whatever Stone needed from us. He was my closest friend, but in the end, he wasn’t my brother.
He was my alpha.
Even if I couldn’t get Amelia’s face—her wide eyes and her lips parted in horror and her hair blowing around her face in the mist—out of my mind.
Later that night, I walked out of the command center from our debriefing, determined to clear my head. I shed my clothes and went for a run. I could’ve sworn I scented something different out there, something that shouldn’t be, but when I walked back out of the forest dressed in my jeans and carrying my other clothes, I saw her.
Amelia.
She was leaning against the balcony railing. The breeze teased her hair around her face. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. From what I’d observed today, as she stayed cool and determined for her son in the midst of all that carnage, she was strong too.
No wonder Brennan had been willing to throw away his position, his pack, to possess her.
When I looked at her, I didn’t feel like my head was getting any clearer.
Her gaze fell and then met mine, her eyes widening as she realized I was staring at her. I could’ve sworn heat flared in her eyes, just for a moment.
I covered the ground between us, standing closer to the balcony, but once I’d strode nearer, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t dare make this woman any promises, even an unspoken promise of comfort or protection. My loyalty was to Stone, and Stone still hadn’t admitted what he wanted to do with her.
She leaned against the railing, watching me. The air between us felt charged. I wanted to say something to her, but for the first time in my life, words failed me.
Then Stone emerged from the woods too, and the spell that stretched between Amelia and me was broken. She stared at him, her eyes widening, then turned and fled from the balcony back into Brennan’s old room.
“What the fuck?” Stone stared up at the balcony. “Did Karissa put her in Brennan’s old room?”
“She said it would soften Amelia up, make her more likely to tell us the truth about what happened with Brennan.”
He snorted. “Karissa, the queen of mind games. Because she learned them practicing on all of us.” He looked toward the house. “Where’s Liam now?”
