She slows, whipping out her phone to send a quick text before popping one earbud out. “You’ve got some nerve, Laz.” Still huffing to catch her breath, her eyes shoot daggers sharp enough to kill. “And before you think about hanging around until Faye gets back, I just texted her to tell her you’re here, so she won’t be coming home soon.”
“How is she?” I ask. “Is she okay?”
“What do you think?” She puts her hands on her hips. “Faye’s strong, but she’s hurting. What did you expect would happen? You lied to her. And you lied to me.”
“What Damon did?—”
“Spare me the details!” She holds up one hand to signal that she doesn’t want to hear it. “We all know what Damon did. Kady got some hotshot PI to investigate.” Her shoulders slump along with her features, fury giving way to something else. Hurt. “You should have told me, Laz. I know you and Damon are best friends, but why would Cole let him stay in the pack after doing something like that?”
“Come on, Sabs. I’m your brother. Do you really think I—or Cole and Ren—would have wanted Damon to stay if it was his fault?” I’m talking too fast, but this may be my only chance to tell the truth about what happened. “I didn’t tell you for Damon’s sake. He was already beating himself up about it enough.”
“As he should!” Sabs explodes. “Kady showed me the police file. He assaulted and blinded an omega!”
Sabs has a fiery temper and because of her stubbornness, she’s hard to reason with at the best of times, especially when she’s convinced that she’s right.
“Damon and the file don’t tell the full story. Faye has to know the truth,” I plead. “She’s my mate. I can’t lose her, Sabrina.”
It’s probably the second time in her life I’ve addressed her by her full name. I only use it when I’m being 100 percent serious, which for me is unusual.
Sabs’s eyes bounce between mine. “You really love her, don’t you?”
I don’t answer her right away. I haven’t really put my feelings into words before, and it seems crazy to say I love Faye after knowing her for such a short amount of time, but…
“Yes,” I confess. What I feel for her is more than love, though. It’s fate, and all I know for sure is that I can’t live without her.“We all do. She’s our scent match. We can’t lose her, so we need your help.”
“I don’t know if you can fix this.” Sabs shakes her head. “You know how Faye’s parents died, don’t you?”
I nod. The fact that she believes we could be anything like the monster alphas who killed her parents is soul-destroying.
“Then you should understand that there’s no coming back from this. You haven’t seen her the past few days.” Sabs grimaces. “She’s broken.”
“Please, Sabs,” I beg. “Let me tell you the full story. The parts Damon didn’t share with Faye. If that doesn’t change anything, I promise, I’ll walk out of her life forever. You have my word.” I hold up my pinkie. “Pinkie swear.”
“Fine.” She huffs and removes her other earbud. “You have ten fucking seconds before I call Margie over.”
I better make this count because, even though she’s my sister, Sabs isn’t joking, and I don’t want to be introduced to Big Billy. It’s not just my future happiness at stake, but the entire packs. If Sabs doesn’t hear me out, we risk losing Faye forever.
THIRTY
Faye
“Thanks for picking me up from class,” I tell Delilah as she pulls up outside Stella House in the golf cart.
“It was nice to drive. Sabs likes to hog the carts.” Delilah giggles. The journey was more chill than with Sabs, who makes every ride feel like a rollercoaster. “And at least we didn’t run into any knot-heads.”
“I better get started on my essay for Professor Grub,” I groan as we trudge inside.
Despite my attempts to return to normality, class has completely wiped me out, and I feel even more drained.
“Are you sure I can’t tempt you into helping me make banana bread?” Delilah wiggles her eyebrows. “It’s way more exciting than homework.”
“Don’t let her be a bad influence, Faye,” Kady mutters, passing us on her way out, arms laden with books. She’s wearing thin, wire-framed glasses that make her look edgy instead of geeky that I’ve never seen before. “I need to take these back to the library.”
“I thought you just got back from the library?” Delilah asks.
“And? I need to go again,” Kady states like it’s the most normal thing in the world. “You can come with me if you’d like, Faye?”
I get the sense they’re taking shifts to look after me, and while it’s sweet, I really just need to be by myself right now.
