The worst part was the innocence missing in his eyes. There was none of the impish joy I remembered, just a cold, dead fury.
Aimed at me.
I mouthed a final apology as my hand hit the door.
Then I was running.
I shifted as soon as I hit the tree line. My clothes fell to the ground, now nothing more than scraps of material. I didn’t care. Didn’t pay any attention to it. I let my wolf takecharge, trying to escape the feelings threatening to drown me.
Horror.
Guilt.
Shame.
I should’ve known Clyde was lying to me back then. I should’ve listened to what Reid had told me.
And when I’d found out the details about the attack on Danny’s family that only the inner circle were privy to? I should’ve fuckingsprintedback to their lands to check on Reid.
But I hadn’t. I’d left and got on with my life, like the little kid who’d asked for my help had never existed.
Worse, I’d forgotten him entirely.
I should’ve put two and two together the instant Finn had said there was a human who knew about shifters. He’d said his name was Reid, and itstillhadn’t jogged my memory. What the fuck was wrong with me?
I’d never mentioned Reid’s presence in the clan to the others. It hadn’t seemed relevant in light of everything else I’d had to report on. None of them knew the Clarkson alpha had a human son.
But I knew. I should’ve figured out who Reid was the second Finn mentioned him.
My wolf tried to steer me towards the clan boundary, determined to hunt down Clyde and get some thorough answers. I gritted my teeth and took control back from him long enough to point us towards our clan house. We couldn’t go in all guns blazing. We had a clan to protect. I wouldn’t do anything that would endanger them.
Even if I had endangered Reid. I hadn’t protected him. I’d acted in a way that went against my very nature.
It was something I’d carry with me forever.
Just as Reid appeared to carry it with him. My failure weighed heavy on us both.
The intensity of his reaction…I had to assume things hadn’t got better after my departure.
Oh god. What if they’d got worse?
I shifted and immediately vomited into a bush beside the clan house. The heaving only stopping when my stomach was completely empty.
What the fuck have I done?
I paused on the clan house steps just long enough to grab a pair of joggers. We kept a small stash of clothes there for times such as these.
Hauling them on, I raced through the house. I was too het up to think about knocking, instead just bursting into Finn’s office.
He jumped up at my entrance. “Evan? What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t answer him. My wolf was still pushing against my skin, begging me to go to the Clarkson lands. I dropped into one of the chairs, yanking at my hair in frustration. “Fuck!”
I felt rather than saw Finn come around the desk. He perched on the arm of the chair beside me. “Talk to me. Are ye in danger? Is anyone we know in danger?”
I shook my head roughly. No. But Reidhadbeen in danger. Someone had been hurting him.
And I’d fuckingleft.
