“He’s nothing to me,” I say with a slightly defensive tone, as if I’m arguing with my inner voice. “If he had to choose—if it wasn’t for the Elders—he wouldn’t have chosen me as his mate.”
Portia snorts as she takes a sip of her tea. “He sounded quite sure of himself when he came by the clinic the other day. I asked him when he’d announce your mate bond, and he was being coy, but he seemed happy.”
“A lot has happened since then,” I admit dryly. “When Laura attacked me in the forest—”
“Alpha Brooks threw her in the dungeon for what she did,” Portia reveals, and I gasp in shock.
I had no idea that Laura was punished for what happened. “That can’t be right. I had no idea.”
“It’s only a befitting punishment for someone who was solely responsible for Amelia’s death. Alpha Brooks was devastated at her memorial service this afternoon.”
“He was?” I frown, to which Portia nods slowly.
“Amelia used to work for his parents as a maid. She practically raised him in that house,” Portia sighs. “I can only imagine how her death affected him. He even lost his temper and fought with someone at the reception in the hall.”
Shocked because I had no idea that the woman who was killed by the demon that day was someone close to Brooks.
It’s no wonder he’d become distant. He was battling his own grief when she died.
“I had no idea.” I blink fervently as the shock settles in, and I realize how regretful I am of the things I said to him earlier tonight.
“It’s no wonder he had Laura thrown in the dungeon,” Portia goes on. “I’m just surprised he didn’t kill her.”
“For obvious reasons, he would have picked her as his mate if it weren’t for me. He’s probably keeping her alive—”
“No, honey,” Portia interjects as she reaches over the table and places a hand over mine, shaking her head. “You don’t understand. Laura was always jealous of you. I heard her a few times in the clinic. But it was always one-sided. Alpha Brooks fought with someone at Amelia’s memorial because he was defending you.”
My jaw drops as realization hits me, and Portia goes on to explain what happened and how Brooks valiantly defended me as his mate.
In my absence.
It wasn’t all an act, after all.
I just jumped to conclusions when he became distant, not realizing that he was going through something internally.
My eyes fill with tears, and I feel foolish and, at the same time, guilty that Brooks felt like he couldn’t open up to me. I’d kept myself so occupied with building the traps that I neglected our relationship.
Hanging my head in shame, a torrent of emotions washes over me, and all I’m left with is regret.
I should have trusted him. I shouldn’t have spoken so horribly to him when he probably needed me earlier tonight. What’s worse is that I might have sabotaged the relationship we formed, all because of my insecurities, even after he assured me so many times that I could trust him.
Didn’t he prove it enough?
Of course he did.
I failed the man I love.
Gasping when I recognize why I’d been feeling so torn, I lift my eyes at Portia and shake my head. “I need to go. I need to go home.”
Portia smiles as she sips the remainder of her tea. “You need to go to Brooks.”
Nodding slowly, it’s my realization that I love Brooks that gives me strength now. I need to fix this, and Portia assures me that she’ll take care of our cups and that I can go.
Just as I walk toward the door, an unsettled feeling washes over me, stopping me in my tracks. Goosebumps erupt over my forearms, and a sudden, icy chill sets in the air.
I lift my head to see that the natural light that had been filtering through the curtains and the crack beneath the door is blacked out now. My eyes widen with horror as I slowly make my way to the door and tentatively turn the handle, pulling it justa crack to witness the black smoke covering the clouds floating toward the woods.
The demon dog is here.
