Blood Bond (40 page)

I groaned. “I feel horrible about that.”

Alex looked up from his magazine. “What am I
missing?”

“Nothing,” we said in unison.

“What else?” she asked.

I told her about Miles and how he’d created
the hybrids so he and I could rule with them as our army.

“That’s completely creepy,” she said.

“Agreed.”

“Where is he now?”

“He attacked me and Cord killed him,” I
said.

“Wow.” She shook her head.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. It’s just … a lot. This is
the stuff fairy tales are made of.”

“I think you mean nightmares,” I said.

“
I don’t know. You’re
pretty badass from the sound of it. And we thought Sam was the wild
one.” I caught her smile just before it faded.

“She’s got nothing on me,” I joked.

Angela looked over at Alex. “You can take
her upstairs now,” she told him.

He raised a brow at her. “You sure?”

“I trust you,” she said. The look she wore
dared him to contradict her. Like before, he regarded her with
curiosity before scooping Sam up and carrying her out.

“He’s handy,” she said.

“When he wants to be.”

“He’s waiting for me to freak out, isn’t
he?”

“You are taking it pretty well.”

“You realize you’re comparing me to Sam,”
she said. “I’m insulted.”

I grinned. “Sorry.”

“She’s really only sleeping, right?”

“Promise.”

Angela smiled. “She’s going to be pissed she
missed being carried upstairs by someone like him.”

I started to smile back, then remembered she
wouldn’t even know it happened.

Angela’s amusement faded. Lines creased her
forehead. “You must’ve been terrified at the beginning, when you
first found out about all of this, about what you are, especially
doing it alone.”

“Ang, it’s not your fault, and I wasn’t
alone.” I gestured around me. “But I am glad I can finally tell
you.”

She shook her head. “If I hadn’t seen it
with my own eyes …”

“I know.”

“Nothing’s going to be the same, is it?” I
shook my head. Her eyes were sad. “Sam’s a mess.”

“She’ll be all right.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Your grandma said
something about Wes. What will he do to her?”

“He can make it so she doesn’t
remember.”

Her eyes widened. “He can do that?”

“Yes.”

“Can you do anything?”

“Um …” I thought about how I’d almost
shifted earlier and my emotional bond with George. George. I still
hadn’t gotten to that part. Crap. The more I told, the harder it
seemed to be.

Grandma came in wiping her hands on a towel.
Something about her expression made me sit up straighter. “What is
it?” I asked.

“Fee’s awake.”

I jumped up but Grandma waved me back down.
“She was a mess. Lots of pain. I gave her something to drink. She’s
out again.”

“How’s Jack?” I asked.

“He’s pacing. And grumpy.” She scowled.

“Is she going to be …?”

“She’ll be fine. She took a bad spill,”
Grandma said, “dislocated her shoulder and hip. It’s too painful to
shift right now so healing is slow, but she’ll be all right. Wes
went to get cleaned up, before you start badgering me about him,”
she added.

I clamped my mouth shut, pretending I hadn’t
been about to ask. “Cord’s with her too?”

She nodded. “They’re shaken. After Bailey …
well, they don’t like the idea of Fee being injured.”

I nodded in understanding. Inside, relief
washed over me, sharp and sweet. Fee would be all right.

“How’s it going in here?” she asked. She
sent a pointed look at Angela.

“I’m holding it together,” Angela said
wryly.

Grandma shook her head. “You’re doing more
than that. Most level-headed first-timer I’ve seen.”

“Maybe I’m tougher than I look.” Angela
rounded on me. “Or than you gave me credit for,” she added. “So why
are they after you? The evil hybrids, I mean.”

I hesitated. I still hadn’t
answered her earlier question, but since this one was easier, and
right in front of me, I took the opening. “I don’t know,” I said.
“They work for a woman named Olivia. She’s the one who sent them,
who told them to
use
you and Sam. I have twenty-four hours to give myself
up.”

“You don’t know what she wants with
you?”

“No.”

She tilted her head. “Are you going to give
yourself up?”

I looked over at Grandma. Her expression was
neutral, blank. I suspected deep down she’d go along with whatever
answer I gave. Alex, who’d returned in time to hear the last
question, wasn’t so placid.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said.

I’d known this was coming since the minute
they’d walked in from the rescue mission. I’d braced for it. “I
can’t ignore them, Alex—”

“You can, and you will. Don’t start with me.
I’m serious.”

“It’s not up to you.”

“What’s not up to him?” Wes asked. He stood
in the doorway, his hands securing the drawstring on his shorts,
his hair still wet from the shower. For once, Alex’s reaction at
seeing Wes wasn’t a scowl or muttered curse.

“She thinks she’s going to give herself up
to the Lexingtons,” Alex said.

Wes’s head came up, and his hands stilled.
His eyes on mine were fierce, determined. “Like hell.”

“For once, we agree,” Alex said.

Cambria and Derek appeared behind Wes.

“What’s up?” I asked too brightly. Anything
to quell the imminent argument. I didn’t like my chances against
Alex and Wes on a good day—especially as a united front—and this
was definitely not a good day.

“Derek needs a buddy for patrols,” Cambria
said. Her expression changed as the mood in the room registered.
“Or we can come back later …”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go,” Alex said,
rising.

“I can do it,” Wes said at the same
time.

Derek leaned in, making a production of
sniffing Wes’s shoulder. “You smell way too pretty,” Derek said. “I
can’t take you.”

Wes swung out, but Derek jumped back,
grinning. “Save your energy. You and George have second shift.”

“George?” Angela echoed.

Both boys froze. The room went quiet.

“Oops,” Derek muttered.

“I thought you told her everything,” Wes
said to me.

“Baby steps.”

“George is here? Where?” Angela’s voice rose
with each question. “How?”

“I’ll explain,” I said. I looked at Cambria.
“Can you get him?”

“I’m on it.” She disappeared down the
hall.

Derek looked at Alex. “You ready, man?”

“More than,” Alex said, following Derek out.
I glared at their backs and listened to the front door open and
close behind them. No one spoke while we waited. I could feel
Angela’s eyes on me.

A second later, George appeared. He’d
showered and changed, but there were circles under his eyes.
Carrying the stress and worry of two people weighed heavily. I
knew, firsthand.

“Hey, Ang,” he said quietly.

Angela’s eyes bulged. “What are you doing
here?” she demanded. “You’re supposed to be at football camp.”

“Yeah, about that … I’m not.”

“Obviously.” She glared at him, then me.
“How could you tell him and not me? Everything you said about
wishing you could tell me for so long, and then you went and told
him?”

The hurt in her eyes reflected back, and I
realized the reason for her sudden show of anger. She wasn’t
freaking out about Werewolves or Hunters or anything supernatural.
She thought I’d chosen George over her.

“I had no choice,” I said. “He was kidnapped
and then turned. I had to bring him here to protect him.”

“Turned into what?” As soon as she asked the
question, understanding dawned. “He’s a Werewolf too?” I nodded. “I
don’t believe this.”

George frowned. “I don’t have to prove it,
do I? Because I just put fresh clothes on.”

“Angela?” I asked.

She rubbed her fingers against her temples.
“No, please, no more wolves tonight. Geez, Tara. Does it get any
weirder? Anything else you want to tell me?”

“Um. I’m a wolf too, now. Sort of. And
George and I have this bond thing, where we can feel each other’s
emotions.”

“Of course you do. I need some air.” She
stalked out.

George went after her, and I let him. I
didn’t have it in me right now. All I could think about was that
I’d had Angela’s understanding, and then I’d lost it.

Wes’s arms came around me, and I laid my
cheek against his shoulder. “She’s going to hate me,” I said.

“She’s not going to hate you.”

“She probably already does.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“She’s going to freak out, like Sam.”

He paused and then said, “Do you want me to
make her forget?”

“Sam? It’s probably best.”

“Angela.”

I sighed. “I don’t know. She’s taken
everything pretty well up until this point.”

He didn’t answer except to pull me closer.
For just a moment, I forced everything else aside and enjoyed the
feeling of his body against mine. The way his shoulders curved
protectively, the way we fit together—all of it was as familiar, as
comforting, as coming home.

“We need to talk about what you said to
Alex,” he said, and just like that, the feeling slipped away. I
pulled back, bracing myself.

“There’s nothing to say.”

He stared at me incredulously. “There’s
everything to say.”

“Wes—”

“I knew you were going to do this. I knew as
soon as they threatened your friends. That doesn’t mean I have to
stand by and let it happen. It doesn’t mean I have to agree.”

“Listen, if I can get close enough to the
hybrids, figure out how this Olivia lady is controlling—”

“We’re back to the hybrids? Is that what
this is about for you? They can’t be saved, Tara. You need to
realize that.”

“You don’t know that. And we have to at
least try. We could save lives.”

“I am saving lives. Yours.”

“Does that mean others have to suffer? That
if it isn’t a direct threat to me, we should ignore it, do nothing?
They were people before. With lives and families.”

“And now they’re evil. They killed Bailey,
tried to kill you, and tonight they tried to kill your
friends.”

His words weighed heavily on me. Still, I
held on to my argument. “Tonight was a warning.”

“The hybrids don’t know the difference. You
honestly still think you can save them? That they aren’t evil,
after everything they’ve done?”

I hesitated, unsure. I couldn’t say they
were evil. Not when I’d been the one to convince Wes and the others
to try and save them in the beginning. Then again, Wes was right.
Look where that had gotten us. Bailey was gone, Fee was injured,
Sam and Angela could’ve died.

Were they worth saving?

Especially when the only way to do it might
involve forging a bond with them like I had with George? The
thought made it hard to swallow. Then I thought of Victoria, of the
way she’d looked when I told her I’d seen her parents.

“What if it were our parents instead of
Victoria’s?” I asked. “Would they be worth it then?”

“It’s different.”

“Is it?”

“Yes! I couldn’t save them—I can save you. I
will not lose you like I lost them!” His voice rose to a yell in a
sudden show of temper. The air thickened. Something inside him
seemed to strain against its hold—his wolf.

My bones ached, my muscles bunched. I stared
him down. A part of me—a less-than-human part—knew this moment
defined the future. Who looked away first mattered very much. I
felt enough sympathy that, had the stakes been lower, I’d have
given in. He’d lost so much, rebuilt it piece by piece. No wonder
he was terrified of losing it. Of losing me. But the stakes weren’t
low. To me, to the wolf straining inside me, this moment defined a
leadership I thought I’d never want.

He blinked. “This is insane,” he said.
“We’ll find another way.”

“And while we figure it out, everyone else
is in danger. Sam and Angela … it could’ve been bad.”

“But it wasn’t. We saved them.”

“And so you’re going to what? Let them move
in here so you can protect them around the clock? What about their
families? What about George’s? What about anyone I’ve ever met? You
can’t protect everyone forever.”

He pressed a hand to my cheek. “Neither can
you.”

“It’s my decision. It’s my life.”

“It’s our life.” His voice was instantly
fierce. Not angry, but desperate. He leaned in so we stood toe to
toe, eye to eye. “We’re a team, remember?”

“We are a team,” I agreed, “so be on my
side. Believe in me. I can do this.”

I waited, fully prepared to continue the
argument, but he nodded slowly, looking defeated, and pressed his
forehead to mine. “I need you to come home,” he said. “Promise
me.”

“I promise.”

*

At five, Wes went to find Alex and Derek to
help with patrols. George still hadn’t returned from talking to
Angela, but Cambria came in and told me they were huddled in the
supply room, so I knew she was safe. I wanted to see Fee, but
Grandma said she was still sleeping, and I didn’t want to sit in a
room with a worried Jack—or Cord, worried or not.

I found myself knocking on Vera’s door. My
mom hadn’t come out since the others arrived home. When I poked my
head inside, I realized why. She was passed out on Vera’s bed. Vera
sat sideways on the loveseat, a book propped on her lap. A lamp
cast a yellow beam of light across her face, throwing the rest of
the room into shadow.

“Tara, come in,” she said quietly. “Is
everything okay?”

“It’s fine. I’m just tired.”

“You should get some sleep.”

“I will soon. I was waiting for my friend,
Angela.”

“Your mother speaks highly of her. How’s she
taking everything?”