My eyes start to burn. “I told you?—”
“I don’t care what you told us,” he says harshly. “Evan was going to do it with or without our help. And I knew I had to watch over him for you.”
I suck in a jagged breath, trying to digest what he’s saying. “I need to see him.”
“You need to rest first. You’re too weak right now,” Zara says. “Get cleaned up and have the doctors check you over.”
But I don’t want to. I need to hear his voice. See his face. Know he’s okay.
Pups.I call through our mindlink.
Realisation dawns on me when it vanishes into thin air. A sharp pain rockets through my chest, knowing our matebonddoesn’t exist. I drag a hand over my dirty shirt and clutch at the fabric. It doesn’t make the ache go away; it intensifies it.
“What happened? How did you get back? Is Ryker still alive?”
I lick my dry lips and take the cup from Zara to gulp.
“Easy,” she warns me. “Take it easy.”
Once I feel the cool liquid slip down my throat, I inhale a deep breath. My eyes burn, and I’ve never felt this defeated in my life. They both stare at me, waiting for answers.
“He’s dead,” I croak. “I killed him.”
Zara’s eyes widen. “What did he do to you?”
“K-kept me locked up,” I murmur. “He had a whole building full of innocent people he was using for sacrifices. He had gone mad.”
“How did you kill him?” Felix asks.
I glance at my Beta. “I figured out that I have the same powers he did,” I state. “I don’t know how I didn’t know earlier, but they’re driven by intense emotion. And after what he did to Evan, forcing me away from all of you, it gave me a new purpose to stick by my promise of coming back.”
“Fuck.” Felix’s mouth falls open. “Seriously?”
I nod. “Where’s Carson?”
Felix frowns. “Not here, he said he had something to do a few nights ago. Why?”
“He’s the traitor. He’s the one who told Ryker about the attack and my relationship with Evan.”
His face twists into fury. “That motherfucker. How do you know?”
“He turned up, but ran off before I got the chance to question him. We’ve got to keep an eye out in case he tries to come back. I’ll fucking kill him if I see him again.”
I don’t care what Ryker threatened him with. You don’t go against your own pack, let alone Alpha. It’s one way to get yourself killed.
“Only him?” Felix arches a brow.
“From what I know so far,” I sigh. “Could be more, but Carson knew everything. It makes sense that it was only him.”
He hums. “I’ll ask around, see what people have to say, and get to the bottom of it.”
My eyes flick over the meal, and as much as I want to eat, I barely have an appetite.
“Eat something,” Zara says. “Then shower, and then you can go and see Evan. You know it’s the right thing to do. He’s okay. We promise you he’s okay.”
I stare down at the food and grunt as I reach for the sandwich and take a small bite. Never has it taken me this long to try to eat one half, but my mouth feels like sandpaper, and my throat is hoarse, making it hard to swallow.
Once the doctors have come in to do an examination, it’s obvious I’m dehydrated and malnourished, but I’m alive, and I’m not letting anything stop me from seeing my mate.
