“Death.” The wolven paced around, his long, lean body churning under his camouflage clothes. “It was supposed to be an old maiden’s tale, something that was blown out of proportion to scare the young—a deal made with the dark forces, a resurrection with a price… a curse hiding behind a gift.”
Apex marched down to the male. “You were the one who took him to that fucking hut.” He punched the guy with two fingers, right in the pec. “You fucking did this.”
The wolven bared a set of fangs that were long as stakes. “He made the choice.”
“Without knowing what he was getting into, right? That’s how it works—it’s a false decision because the landscape is a fucking lie.”
“You wanted him to live.” The wolven punched back with the same fore- and middle finger combo. “You asked me where to take him, and it was the only hope you had for your lover.”
Don’t say it, Apex thought.Don’t—
“Too bad you didn’t take yours to her.”
As his words dropped, the face in front of his own went sickly white. “You fucking asshole—”
The door to the bathroom opened and Kane came out carrying a small bundle wrapped up in a towel.
“Can we hurry?” he said.
The wolven put both palms up in the air, sure as if he had a weapon against his back. “Sure. Fucking fine. Let’s go.”
With a choppy march, the guy went to the staircase and ascended out of the private quarters, and Kane was right on his heels, skipping every other step.
Apex glanced around at the private quarters, and had an odd thought: They were really cozy.
He wasn’t used to thinking about comfort.
Tossing that idiot thought aside, he followed along and became aware that Kane wasn’t the only one who had gone through some kind of metamorphosis. He didn’t feel anything like himself either as he emerged into the hunting cabin.
Just as he cleared the entry, the panels of the floor moved back into place, sealing the way down. For a split second, he glanced at the hole in the roof and imagined the deadly sunlight pouring in.
“Are you coming or not.”
Feeling like he was in slow motion, he turned to the wolven who was in the doorway of the cabin. The male was looking down at the rough planks of the floors, his boot tapping, his impatience sparking the air.
As Apex approached the exit, he could see outside to where Kane stood with his precious cargo. But he didn’t put his focus there: He only had eyes for the wolven who was right in front of him.
And that was a huge change, wasn’t it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The trip back up to the wolven clan’s mountainside territory took forever, but as Kane rounded one of the last turns in the trail with Nadya in his arms, two familiar faces were coming down toward him: Lucan and Mayhem were side by side in a patch of moonlight, the icy blue illumination making them seem like specters.
But they were alive.
As they rushed forward to greet him, he felt a surge of joyful reunification, and his steps quickened. Except then they stopped and just stared at him.
“And greetings to you as well,” he said as he had to keep on going.
He knew there were things they wanted to ask him, but now was not the time—and even if it was, he didn’t think he could answer the questions they had. He couldn’t even answer his own.
On that note, he couldn’t really think straight at all. His mind was churning over the implications of what he had done under the guise of helping his female. That he hadn’t known feeding her was dangerous was bullshit.
But really, he should have guessed. He had seen anatomy disintegrate as the result of his bite. He just hadn’t been thinking properly—
No, he thought as that final turn in the trail presented itself. His problem was that he’d been thinking too much about other things.
Like a fantasy future that could not be.