Amber nodded absently, still regarding him suspiciously. “Please tell me that you’re going to tell the others what happened and that you’re not going to pretend it was nothing or something stupid like that.”
He laughed. “I promise my stupidity has reached its limits for at least a week,” he said, then the smirk faded and he let out a deep breath. “Besides, this is something they need to know about. It… could end badly.”
“How so?”
“The guy got away,” he said. “Whenever that happens, it always causes problems.”
At first, she just nodded. Then she frowned. “What were you going to do with him, then? After you got your answers.”
He didn’t answer at first, considering her. She wondered if he was debating lying. Then she wondered if she might have preferred that.
“What I had to do,” he finally said. “Sometimes I have to do unpleasant things to keep the people I care about safe.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. She glanced away again, unsure if she wanted to see whatever expression was spreading across his face.
“That sounds dark,” she muttered.
She heard Cillian chuckle. “Yeah, well, I have a bit of a dark side. It isn’t always pleasant, but it’s sometimes necessary.”
Tilting her head, her eyes flicked up and down, unsure what to make of him or his declaration. It should have alarmed her, but he had nearly torn himself to ribbons for her, just to keep her safe. A mix of emotions swam through her that she couldn’t begin to parse.
“I see,” she said. A pause. “I’ve got to run. Are you going to be all right?”
He nodded. She was about to brush past him to head to the door when he stopped her, his hand gently laying on her shoulder. She halted, his touch seeming to freeze her. Or maybe it was his intent stare, the way it seemed to pierce her.
“Thank you,” he said. “For helping me.”
A lump swelled in her throat. She felt suddenly small. He was so close that she could count his individual eyelashes. His eyes were a pretty pale green, and she wondered how she hadn’t noticed that earlier. The only other time she had been this closeto him had been late at night, when he’d woken her up from her nightmare.
The remaining space between them seemed to constrict, his face coming into starker view. She knew he must be able to hear her heart pounding. It would take almost no effort on either of their parts to close that gap between them.
“Of course,” she managed to say. “I was happy to help.”
Cillian hesitated, glancing around. He opened his mouth as if he might say something else. Before he could, she ducked around him and hurried away, unsure if she wanted to hear whatever it was.
Chapter 13 - Cillian
For the second time in a handful of weeks, Cillian found himself standing in front of his alpha, explaining exactly what he had done to royally fuck up. Camden listened to Cillian’s story about Chase with growing anger. Cillian watched that rage grow and swell with every syllable. But Camden remained silent throughout the story, waiting to speak until after Cillian’s final words died in the air.
“I’d kick your ass for doing something as stupid as going after the Night Pack on your own,” Camden snarled, rage burning in his eyes. “But it looks like someone’s already done that for you. So I’m going to skip the lecture, considering we don’t really have that luxury at the moment. But know that you are an absolute idiot and I’m furious with you.”
“Heard,” Cillian muttered. He winced as he twisted his torso. Everything still stung, though he knew he’d feel worse if Amber hadn’t been there to help. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do something that stupid again.”
“For a few days, at least,” Franco chimed in.
Cillian gave him a mock, two-fingered salute. “I’d be pissed off if you weren’t right,” he said.
Camden glowered at Cillian. “You could have gotten yourself killed,” he said. “What the hell possessed you to go out on your own? You know better than that.”
Cillian shrugged. He didn’t want to explain that he’d practically lost his mind with anger when Amber had told him what Eric had done to her. He’d lost control. Something about Amber made it nearly impossible for him to think straight. All he cared about was making sure she stayed safe, and he had wanted revenge after hearing exactly what happened to her. He couldn’tget ahold of Eric, so he went to blow off steam by tracking a guy who might be able to lead him to his main target.
All of that ran through his head while Camden continued to glower at him, waiting for some sort of answer. Only, Cillian found that he couldn’t give it. It was too private.
“It won’t happen again,” Cillian said.
“It better not,” Camden said. “We’ve got enough problems without having to drag you to a hospital. I know you’ve got a history with these assholes, but I need you to promise me that you aren’t going to lose your temper again. We need you on your A game. I’ve got Flora and an entire pack to think about, along with a group of shifters targeting some town we haven’t even identified yet. I can’t worry about you going rogue again just because someone pissed you off.”
“Understood,” Cillian said.
