Send help.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said, ignoring my inner-slut who was currently telling me to jump him. “What happened back there?”
“I don’t know. Malcom woke me, then he shifted.”
“You think it was Wolf Creek?” I asked.
“Probably,” he said. “I doubt the king’s guard is even looking for you yet. You’re not a direct threat.”
“Then why are we going through all this to break my dad’s claim?” I asked.
“Because once you become an alpha, you’re inner circle to the king. He’ll have no choice but to make an example of you,” he said.
“Why did you have to go hunting down my father in the first place? He never even knew I was born. What were the chances we’d shift at the same time and he’d even know what he was feeling was a connection to me?” I asked.
“I didn’t know you when I first found him. I hunted down information about your mom and found out she’d had a child that could, in theory, be his. I wish I could take it back. I was chasing the toxin recipe and I thought if I gave him information, he might help me,” he confessed.
“Did he?” I asked.
“No, he didn’t know anything about the toxin,” Alec admitted.
“So it was all for nothing,” I mumbled.
“I’m sorry. After we met, I went back to see him and asked if there was a way to keep you safe. He offered some blood. Said he needed to atone or something,” he said.
“I just wish his atonement wasn’t because my life was at risk,” I said, bitterly.
“I’m sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you,” Alec said.
I looked up at him, our eyes meeting. He seemed sincere. Alec had a way of getting to me when nobody else could.Dammit.I wanted to stay mad at him. I wasn’t ready to work through my feelings with him. Not with everything else I was dealing with.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Exile,” he said.
“Where?” I asked.
“Chicago,” he said.
“What’s so bad about Chicago?” I asked. “Can’t he just leave?”
“I forget how much they didn’t teach you,” he said.
“Well, tell me now,” I replied.
“Chicago is vampire territory. Your uncle, the king, worked a deal with the vampire king. Your dad steps a toe out of line, the vamps get to take him down.”
“Fuck,” I said.
“Yeah,” Alec agreed.
“Now what? Do we try to find the others?” I asked.
“No, we keep going,” he said. “That was always the plan. If we were attacked, they were to provide the distraction.”
I jumped to my feet. “When were you going to tell me this? I didn’t sign up for my friends to be sacrificial lambs.”