“I already saw what Bea looks like, Mom.”
Tongs in hand, my father turned. “Whydo you want to go?”
“To see if the blood cocktail worked.”
“Liam can tell us when he gets back,” Mom said.
“If it did work, I’d like to talk with Bea.”
Mom sliced through an orange with such force most of the juice spilled out before she fit the cut half atop the plastic cone. “About what?”
“About how she’s feeling.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“She’s still in there, Mom.” The halfwolf who’d attacked me yesterday flashed before my eyes. I blinked to push the vision away, desperately recalling memories of Bea pre-bite. The girl who’d sat by my hospital bedside, who’d made me special dishes and told me the funniest stories. The girl whose smile and laughter came easily and often.
Mom finally sighed. “Even if we tell you not to go, you’ll go.”
“Yes.”
She looked toward our Alpha for input. Or perhaps, for help in dissuading me.
“If Bea isn’t herself, I’ll get Nikki out and back here safely.”
“Or I can just getmyselfout safely.”
A smile grazed the corner of his lips.You can be your own hero when I’m not around.
My teeth immobilized against the slice of bacon. Was his hearing so acute that he’d heard my conversation with Grant through the walls of Pondside?
Before I could ask him, he roped my parents into a conversation about what sort of motor-skill toys he should get his son. I spent the next half hour hoping he’d been on his way home, because if his hearing was that good, then he’d heard my entire conversation with Adalyn, the prospect of which was mortifying.
Chapter 37
We left shortly after Nate descended the stairs, face matching his rumpled white tee. When we mentioned the bunker, he swallowed, but made no move to come along with us. Simply took a seat at the island and let my parents fuss over him. He was probably glad for the respite of no longer having to take care of Bea on his own.
As the compound gate ground open, Liam glanced my way. “You were uncharacteristically quiet during breakfast. Something on your mind?”
“I simply didn’t have much to say.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
I inhaled deeply and ripped off the Band-Aid. “How sharpisyour hearing?”
“Sharp.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It was the answer to your question. If you want another answer, ask another question.”
I expelled my breath. “The hero line. It’s not a coincidence you used it, is it? You heard me say it to Grant.”
His gaze slid to mine, lingered a moment, but then the gate’s grinding stopped, and his attention returned to the road. “Yes.”
“Were you still at Pondside when you heard it?”
“No. I’d just stepped out.”
