“Dead,” Willow says. “I saw him die.”
A pang hits my chest. I barely knew him, but he had a good feel about him; he didn’t deserve to die.
“Show me the letters.”
What? I lift my head slowly, pinning the alpha with a glare. “No.”
“Get me the letters,” Bear says to Legion.
He stands there, wavering, and finally steps towards me.
“I’ve read them. It doesn’t affect us at all,” Mordecai says easily.
Willow makes a rude sound.
“What?” Mordecai snaps in a tone that makes everyone flinch.
“It’s just, I mean, he would say that. He’s in love with her.”
I lift my head to stare at Mordecai. What? Love? We barely know each other. I expect him to laugh, to deny it, but he just stares at me, and the silence lengthens. A warm liquid feeling expands, filling my chest.
Oh.
Bear looks between Mordecai and me and sneers. “Are you losing your ability to be objective? Are you going to give up years of planning for an omega?”
“It’s not like that,” Mordecai says slowly. He stands up off the wall, leaving us all very aware of how big and strong he is. “My feelings and my devotion to this cause can walk hand in hand.”
“No, they can’t. It won’t ever work. It never does, and there will come a time when you will have to choose between love and duty. What will you choose?”
“I have spent my entire life devoted to this plan, and even if my heart says otherwise, I would not throw away so many people’s lives,” Mordecai says succinctly.
He doesn’t look at me; I’m sure he can feel the devastation pouring into the air as my scent gets dull and brittle.
“You know I am in the room,” I say bitterly.
Jarek is silently fuming, but the Resistance ignores us.
“Are you sure you can do it?” Bear barks.
“Of course,” Mordecai says easily.
My knuckles turn white, but I refuse to look up anymore, refuse to acknowledge them.
“Then, get me that letter,” Bear says.
Mordecai stares at him. The weight of his convictions is being tested, and we all know it. If he takes the letter from me, it’s another blow to the fragile trust he’s already damaged, but if he doesn’t, Bear and the Resistance will lose faith.
Mordecai slowly turns to me.
“Can I please borrow the letter, Keres?”
Keres? Well, I guess he needs a way to live with himself.
I reach into my pocket and pull it out, holding it out with a shaking hand. I have no choice, and everyone in this room knows it.
He’s careful not to touch me when he takes it, but my emotions are clear in the bitter notes in the room.
Jarek makes a hissing sound and steps forward, grabbing Mordecai’s wrist, hard enough that Mordecai winces.
