“What the hell is she talking about?” Claire hissed at us.
Oh, fuck.
My fears had come true and poor Celeste had remembered straight away why she’d run from us.
I sighed. “It’s my fault, Claire. Ask Dexter about it, he was there. He’ll explain everything.”
Claire narrowed her eyes and poked me in the chest with her pointed finger.
“You are going to tell me right now what the hell is going on. What was that girl doing at the bottom of a cliff in the middle of the night?
Claire was practically panting she was so angry.
I let my shoulders drop, the weight of my guilt too heavy to bear.
“When Grayson, Dexter and I met with the bears, they told us an attack was imminent, and from what Celeste had told me about their numbers, I knew that much of our town would die if it came to war. So, I asked them for a treaty, a way to buy us some time to work out a full solution.”
Claire put her hands on her hips. “Okay. So, what did you offer them?”
I glanced over at Dane, who met my look and then grimaced.
I turned back to the doctor who’d saved my child’s life.
“They wanted Celeste, so they could carry out the death sentence they’d imposed on her six months ago.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You didn’t say yes?”
I ran a hand through my hair and tugged at my shirt.
“I had no choice. It was the only thing I could say to put them off attacking. I told them to give me a month, until the baby was born, and then I’d send her back to them.”
Claire glared at me with the fury of a thousand suns. “Tell me you’re joking.”
Why didn’t anyone understand that I’d been lying through my teeth? As if I’d EVER give up my mate. The one person who completed me.
“I would never have done it, ever. You weren’t there, ask Dexter. I was in an impossible situation, so I lied. It was just to buy us some time.”
Claire rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Oh. My. God. Please tell me she didn’t hear you lying to the bears.”
Dane nodded. “She did, we think. Because she snuck out in the middle of the night and ran off. Nothing else makes sense.”
Claire sighed dramatically. “She definitely heard you because she was just telling me that you’re going to send her back to the bears. Jeezuus… That poor girl.”
Claire slapped her palm against her forehead. “What a mess.”
My chest cracked open, pain pouring into my wounds like salt.
“I know. What do I do, Claire? How do I explain to her that I was never going to go through with it?”
I clenched my teeth against the wave of nausea that rolled through me.
I’d been sick to my stomach every single moment since it had happened.
Not only did I have to find a way to save my pack and the lives of those in our town, but my mate was hurt and no longer trusted me.
The walls were tumbling down around me and I didn’t know what to do.