Drayden’s eyes went wide. “Woah. What the hell are you talking about? When did you beat someone to death with a baseball bat?”
Kara shook her head. “Long before I met you.”
The alpha cocked an eyebrow. “You’re only nineteen, Kara. It couldn’t have been that long ago, unless you were a badass five-year-old, too.”
“Shit!” She ignored Drayden’s question and jumped to her feet, gripping her hair. If she wasn’t inwardly freaking the hell out, she might have told him she had indeed been a badass five-year-old. But a nuclear bomb had just been dropped in her lap. Could Lizzy really be alive? The girl she’d left beaten and battered on the floor of a disgusting pedophile’s house? What have I done?
She made a beeline for Drayden’s trash can. “I think I’m going to puke.” She felt Nick’s hand on her back. The crackers and soda suddenly made a reappearance, this time in far-less appealing form. She turned her face away from the vomit pooling at the bottom of the wastebasket and handed the bin to Drayden. To his credit, he didn’t flinch. Maybe he was still hung up on the fact that she had beaten a man to death with a baseball bat. “He deserved it,” she said, with no further explanation.
Drayden sat the trashcan down away from her. “I’ve no doubt that he did. Can you please explain to me why this woman’s name has triggered such an extreme reaction in you?”
Nick yanked a bandanna out of his back pocket and gave it to her. It wasn’t typically used for this type of thing, but it had recently become her designated mouth-vomit rag. “Thanks,” she croaked and began to pace, her mind reeling. Kara felt as if she was going to crawl out of her skin. She had no idea if Finn’s mate was her Lizzy or just some chick with the same name. And Kara was terrified of either option. Which did she want it to be? She searched her heart of hearts and couldn’t come up with an answer. If it was her Lizzy, then Kara had left the girl to fend for herself. If it wasn’t her Lizzy, then the possibility that she might see her friend again would, for a second time, be extinguished. Curse this Finn person. Why did his mate have to have the name Lizzy Fairchild? Kara’s knees went weak. It was as if she was grieving her friend all over again. “Fu—” She bit back the vulgar word. Kara had said that word enough in the aftermath of her Ludcarab situation, and she didn’t want it to become a habit, especially since they would have a little one soon. The last thing she wanted was their daughter’s first word to be the F word.
Kara took a deep breath and steadied herself. She explained her past to Drayden, who thankfully kept his questions to a minimum and didn’t seem appalled by her actions. Then she looked in Nick’s eyes. “What are the chances?” She knew he would understand exactly what she meant.
He shook his head. “I don’t know, babe. It’s possible, especially if she was a dormant. She could have healed from her wounds.”
Kara covered her mouth to stifle a wailing cry. Her knees finally gave way, but Nick caught her before she hit the ground. He scooped her up and sat back down on the love seat, placing Kara in his lap. “Shh.” He smoothed her hair while she buried her face in his neck. “We’ll find out for sure. Fane can speak to this Finn once more and get some additional information on Lizzy.”
“What if it’s her, Nick?” Kara whispered. “What if I left her?” She started to ask how Lizzy would ever be able to forgive her, but that was a selfish question. It wasn’t about Kara. It wasn’t about her feelings. It was about Lizzy and what she had surely endured since Kara walked out of that house.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, Kara.” Nick ran a hand down her hair and pulled her closer against him, apparently unconcerned that she might puke on him. She was nauseous, but this time it had nothing to do with morning sickness. The sinking feeling in her gut couldn’t be helped with crackers and a soft drink. This feeling might never go away. How could it? Not only had Lizzy likely endured more horrific foster homes after being abandoned by Kara, but now she was in the hands of a vampire. She was being experimented on, apparently being turned into a hybrid monster … if she even survived the procedure.
“We have to get her out of there.” Kara pulled her face back and wiped at her tears. She had no right to cry. Lizzy wouldn’t want her tears, at least not the Lizzy she remembered.
“I’ll call Fane back.” Drayden pulled his phone from his pocket. “We’ll see what more information we can get.”
Kara nodded, though her mind was a million miles away. More memories of her friend infiltrated her thoughts. She closed her eyes and let the images run like a movie through her head. There’d been so many bad times, but so many good ones, as well. She’d not allowed herself to think about Lizzy since the other night when she’d told Nick about the closest friend she’d ever had. But now, she couldn’t stop the memories. I’m so sorry, Lizzy-girl. Most prominent were the memories of all the times they’d laid staring up at the stars, dreaming of a better future than the one in which they found themselves.
She had gotten her better future, though it had come with its own dark moments. In the end, she wound up with four best friends, a pack, and a mate who loved her. What had Lizzy ended up with?
Kara ran a hand over her face and swallowed several times. Even though she knew Nick wouldn’t even bat an eyelash, Kara didn’t want to vomit on her mate. Vomit was not sexy.
“If we need to talk about some other kink to help keep your focus off vomiting, I’m totally open to that,” he whispered against her neck.
She grunted in reply.
Drayden spoke up. “Fane, do you have any more information about the dormant, Lizzy?”
Kara turned to look at him. She couldn’t hear the exact words being spoken. Unfortunately, she didn’t have her mate’s wolf hearing, but she could hear the rumble of a voice coming through the speaker of Drayden’s phone.
Their alpha nodded. “All right, thanks. Yes, we’ll be in touch.” Drayden lowered the phone, and his jaw tensed. He shook his head. “Fane hasn’t spoken to the male again. So he only knows what he’s already told me.”
“What do we need to do?” She could feel Nick’s anxiousness coming through the bond. He didn’t want to leave the pack’s territory. It was in their own territory that his wolf believed it could best protect Kara. If it was up to her mate, she would be locked up in a room full of bubble wrap.
“Definitely locked up in a room. But probably not wrapped in bubble wrap. That would make it too hard for me to get to you when I wanted, so—”
“Enough.” She mentally barked at him. “Mind your own thoughts and listen to our alpha, please.”
Drayden’s face was serious. “Fane wants you to get as close to the vampire king’s location as possible without engaging any enemies. Dalton Black, of the Colorado pack, and his mate will join you.” He took a deep breath, and his already broad chest enlarged, his shoulders raising and lowering as he blew the breath out. “I don’t want to ask this of you, Kara.” He looked straight at her. Kara didn’t drop her eyes. She didn’t feel the need to. She’d asked Drayden about this once since other pack members could not hold his gaze. He told her it was because of her nature as a healer. The purity of the healer’s heart meant they didn’t instinctively need to find their place in the pack's hierarchy. Which meant Kara also had neither the need to fight for dominance nor the urge to submit. Likewise, his wolf didn’t see her as a threat to their dominance.
Kara made sure her voice didn’t waver when she responded. “I’m not broken, Alpha.” She could feel Nick’s agitation through their bond, and she reached up a hand and rubbed the back of his shaved head, soothing his wolf. “And I know my mate can protect me if the need arises.”
“Low blow, sweetheart,” Nick whispered. She’d just challenged him. If he argued against her going, then it made him look as though he didn’t believe in his ability to protect her.
“I never promised to fight fair, biker boy.” She grinned but didn’t take her eyes off Drayden.
“Come up with a different pet name,” Nick grumbled. “I’m a man, lover, not a boy. I’m pretty sure I’ve already proven that.”
