However, Iwasbeginning to wonder if maybe there was something wrong with me and my survival instincts. Because while I could apparently tackle an oversized wolf and stab it in the eye without even blinking, I also only had a mild adrenaline response to being face-to-face with my attacker at my place of work.
“The stage is yours.”
“Right. Well, like I said, I didn’t really come here with the best intentions, and I still do want to hurt Poynter. It’s like a weight deep in my gut, and it makes me sick.”
Uh, that didn’t really sound like a redemption to me?
“But then I saw you with those kids through your class window. And I heard them laughing and being so happy to seeyou. They said something that made it seem like you were gone for a while. I’m guessing it was that sickness you mentioned in the car?”
I nodded again.
“Yeah, I thought as much. And something about hearing their little voices so excited made me realize something.”
“And what was that?”
“That I’d become the same monster that Charlie had turned into.”
So, hewasCharles’s brother!
“I ran away from our home when I was sixteen, ya know. I always told myself I would come back once I was old enough and strong enough to save my little brother, but by the time I was big enough, he and my mom had already gotten away to another pack.
“Maybe if I hadn’t left him behind, he wouldn’t have done what he’d done. Maybe if I’d tried to join him in the new pack… But I already felt like it was too late for me. I’d been gone for two years, and he’d had to take our father’s wrath all on his own. I shouldn’t have…”
He shook his head, and my mind automatically began to connect different pieces of the story.
“I ran away because I didn’t want to be like the rest of the family, but now I’ve stumbled right onto the path I was trying to get away from. Gamblers. Cheats. Wife beaters. We weren’t good stock. We hurt people just because we could. When my designation presented itself and we all found out I was an alpha, I realized that I needed to get away.
“My brother was a beta, so I thought he would be safer, and then Mom and him got adopted into another pack, so I was sure of it. But they got their hooks into him and drew him into this stupid, mostly alpha-roving pack and he actually—” his voice cracked, and I could see the whole picture clearly. It wasso incredibly sad how often hurt people hurt other people, but Charles had obviously pushed it to its limits. “When I heard of what he did, I couldn’t believe it. In fact, I was in denial for a long while. I went nearly crazy trying to track down this so-called alpha who had killed him. I was socertainhe had somehow done my baby brother wrong.”
“What changed your mind?” I asked.
“I got a visit at my hotel room from a woman.” Oh? “And by visit, I mean, she kicked my door down and hit me with a baseball bat that was coated in wolfsbane oil. Not exactly something you wanna experience while recovering from a silver wound.”
Okay, now I was confused. Who the hell could that be?
“She pinned me to the ground, and I thought she was going to kill me, but she told me about her sister and showed me all this proof. I had to face facts. My brother was a murderer, who continued the legacy of our bloodline.” He looked away for a long, long,longmoment, but I gave him all the time he needed. Because my heart was beginning to pick up speed—not like it had the other night—but just enough to ache for him.
Poor guy. I couldn’t imagine growing up in an abusive home and barely getting away, swearing to return and save the rest of your family, only to find they’d done that without you. I couldn’t imagine the relief combined with the shame; the pride combined with the sense of failure. Such a potent combination.
And then living on his own for so long, taking solace in the fact that his little brother was doing okay, only to find out he was dead. Not just dead, butmurdered.
God, the rage. The sheer, unadulterated fury I would have had in the same situation. I would have been blind with it, mad with it, and yeah, maybe I would have kidnapped an innocent woman in my desperate attempt for vengeance.
That didn’t mean I would completely forgive him, but I did understand him a lot more.
When he finally looked back at me, tears were streaming down his face. Normally, I would admire someone who could cry without sounding like they were drowning in their own snot, but unfortunately, I’d worked with kids long enough to know that silently weeping was often a sign of an abusive background where they never had a safe placetocry.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I am. I got lost in it. I wish I could say her beatdown made me give up on this stupid,stupidvendetta of mine, but I was just soangryat everything that, like I said, I came here.” More tears, but he never once blinked. “God, I hate to say that I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for the kids. I like to think that I would have realized I was being a moron and falling into everything I’d run away from, but I just don’t know.”
Finally, true sobs broke from him. I was glad I was leaving school early for a teacher, but late for a parent to pick up a student, because otherwise he would be drawing quite a bit of attention to us. And even though I was sure I would be able to explain the situation away, he deserved his privacy.
“I just don’t know.”
I couldn’t say what possessed me to step forward—this could still be a trick—but I extended my hand until it was resting on his shoulder.
“Let’s not worry about the ifs, ands, or buts,” I said softly, the same way I would comfort someone I knew in need. “What’s important is that you’re here apologizing. You’re making things right. And you gave me my bracelet back, which you could have destroyed. Ididtake your eye out with it.” My gaze went to the thick patch and the angry, red veins. “Not permanently, I hope?”
Ben had made it seem like healing was much more expedient, and we were close to three whole days since the wound.
