I try to separate myself from him a little. "I'm alright. She was there. She protected me, Cross."
"She?"
I jerk my head back. He can't be serious. He walked right past her. No way he didn't see her. "Genie."
"What did she do?" His eyes narrow, clearly not comprehending what I've said.
I shake my head. "No, Cross. She didn't let them touch me. She was amazing. She kept me safe. But she's hurt. We need to get her to the infirmary." I crane my neck to look around him.
She's not there.
I spin my head back and forth trying to catch sight of her. She's hurt. She was just there. "Where did she go?"
"I'll check on her later. I'm so glad you're okay. I thought it was going to be like before."
Is this how we really are? She risked her life for mine, and he doesn't care? This can't be who we are. "It wasn't because she was there. If Genie hadn't been there, it would have gone differently. She's hurt, Drew. Don't you care about that?"
"All I care about right now is you."
The truth of the situation that we have created hits me all at once despite how many strides in the right direction we made last night and I retch. This is my fault. "You really don't care that she risked her life for me? That she's seriously hurt? At all?"
"You're alright. That's all that matters to me right now. We can check on her later."
I gag again. This is wrong. "She's your mate, Cross. She put herself on the line to protect me. Because you chose me. Oh Goddess. I'm going to puke. She was ready to die to save something important to you and you don't give a fuck. You really don't. And it's my fault.”
He holds me out and away from him, studying my face. “I do give a fuck. You know I do. I'm trying to fix things. But I was so scared, Parker. I thought something had happened to you and I was scared.”
“That's no excuse. You just destroyed every drop of progress you made last night.” I almost can't speak around the knot in my throat. “Fuck you, Cross. I've never been so mad at you in my life.”
He shakes his head hard and grips my arm. “Come on.”
We run towards Genie's room as fast as we can, both actively ignoring the scent of her blood from the trail of droplets on the floor. The trail suddenly turns right to the main door when she should have gone down the hall to the left.
“You go to her room,” Cross barks. “Get her some clothes. Meet me back at the suite. They'll let us use it again.”
“Where are you going?”
“To find her.”
Chapter Thirty-four
Cross
I just keep making mistakes. One after another, I fuck up and fuck up and fuck up. I can't afford any more fuck ups. Especially with Genie. I didn't mean to fuck up this time. Up until now, my mistakes have all been fairly willful, but this time it was a genuine mistake. All I could see when Parker walked out of the forest was him from ten years ago. The situation was different, but still enough the same that it scared me. She'll understand when I explain it. She has to. I just have to catch her. And, ofcourse, my wolf isn't coming to my rescue. Why would he? He's as sick of my mistakes as the rest of us are.
“Genie!” I yell, but she doesn't slow down. I can see her running in the distance. Her gate is off balance and adds to how awful this specific situation is. She's hurt. She got hurt watching over Parker. Then I ignored her in favor of Parker and I'm so stupid. He was fine, I was the one reacting poorly to what I was seeing. He even tried to stop me, but I didn't listen. I never listen.
She's limping. Guilt pulls at me but I ignore it for now. If she's limping, she's slow and I can catch her. She's about a hundred feet ahead. I can close that distance. Forcing my legs to move faster, pump harder, I pick up speed until the distance between us starts to shrink. It closes slowly at first, but after I work into momentum I eat up the ground in a blur until I'm suddenly only a few feet away.
She turns on me, snarling. She was just about to slip into a thicket when I caught up to her. Her sides heave with each panting breath she takes.
“Easy, baby,” I croon, holding up my hands, palms out. “Easy.”
She backs up against the dense foliage, unwilling to look away from me.
“Let's just breathe, okay?” I say softly. “We can do that, can't we?”
I take a step closer and she growls, eyes glowing in the dim light. I have to get close to her. Just close enough to touch. Then it will be alright.
