Even now, I’m tempted to go after her. I don’t know what the hell came over me but seeing her like that, covered in blood and dripping sweat, I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life. My girl was in danger. My girl.
Fuck all the bullshit with her and Josué. Fuck the fact that she ghosted me. She’s mine. She ran off tonight but as soon as I get Des settled, she and I are going to have words.
It’s just the four of us now. Des, me, my pops, and the Pack’s healer. We’re sitting in Desmond’s Escalade but I’m in the driver’s seat. No way am I letting him drive himself home tonight. Des gave my dad a recount of what happened, and one thing for sure is heads are going to roll Monday when my dad gets a hold of the vamp’s leader. He assures Desmond that there will be consequences. That this won’t happen again.
Again.
This wasn’t the first fucking time.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to the compound?” my dad asks.
Des shakes his head. He lost a good amount of blood, but his wounds have already sealed themselves. Ricardo’s given him the all clear and the last thing he’d ever do is lay up in bed. He’ll be restless after this. He needs to eat and then go on a run.
“I’ll drive Des home and crash at his place,” I tell my dad before turning to Des. “How the hell did you wind up here anyway?”
He shakes his head with a weary expression. “Isa called me. She was freaked out. I guess there was some dude outside and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving the diner by herself.”
A stab of pain hits me in the gut when I realize she was afraid and she called him. Not me. But before I say anything, my pops curses.
I flick my gaze toward him, and he asks, “Are you two close with her?”
We both shake our heads. “Used to be. We don’t talk anymore,” I tell him.
He frowns but I have no idea why. What does he care whether or not I talk to Isa? I was told to give our lone wolf a wide berth. Remember?
“What’s that mean exactly?” he asks.
I shrug, not wanting to get into it with him. Isa and I were on the outs but after tonight, I plan to rectify that. “Nothing. It’s whatever.”
His frown deepens and his eyes flicker with disappointment. “That girl’s been through hell,” he says.
Anger rises up inside me. “How would you know?”
He scrubs a hand over his face, and I know he’s going to give me some non-answer. Hell, no. Not this time. If he knows something about my girl, I should know it, too. “Pops, how do you know Isa?”
His mouth tightens. He’s quiet for a minute so I press again. “If something’s going on, I should know. You have to tell me.”
“The night of your game. The one your mother and I came to watch you play in...” He hesitates.
“Yeah? What about it?” I remember that he’d stepped out to make a phone call and then left shortly after. Mom said a case came up or some shit.
“She was attacked in the parking lot.”
Wait. What?
My chest seizes and my mouth drops open. “What do you mean, attacked?” Was that why she wasn’t at my game? She’d been hurt? Fuck. She’d been hurt and I’d been a complete asshole. No wonder she didn’t message me back.
His face hardens. “Vampires attacked her. I found her face down in the parking lot. Her shoulder was broken. Her arm snapped and torn out of socket. They stabbed her seven times in the back and then poured powdered silver in the wounds.” He scrubs his hands over his face. “I’m surprised she survived. Ricardo wasn’t sure she would.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
My dad looks taken aback by my outburst, his eyes glowing in the darkened car. “Watch your—”
“How could you not tell me?” Dread settles deep in my stomach. She could have died. And I never would have known about it. How did I not know about this?
My wolf riots inside me and I fucking explode. Jumping out of the driver’s seat, I start to pace in front of the car, unable to remain still.
My dad and Des both get out after me.
“Fuck.” I pull at my hair. “She should be in the Pack. This never should have happened to her.”
“That isn’t up to you or me. She’s a minor. Her father—”
“Is fucking useless. She’s a wolf. She needs a Pack. If she’d been brought into the fold this never would have happened.”
My dad lifts his shoulders and releases a weary exhale. “We don’t know that, but regardless, it’s out of my hands. I can’t very well kidnap the girl.”
“Why the hell not?”
He glares at me and okay, yeah. I know why, but still.
“I was going to speak with her after the attack, but her guardian arrived before I had the chance. Not that it would have done much good even if they hadn’t been there.” He sighs. “She was in shock. She shut down. I can’t say I blame her.” He turns to Des. “Did you two get them all?”
Desmond grinds his teeth. “One got away.”
Fuck.
37 Isabella
It’s Saturday morning. Against my initial hesitations, I decide to go on a run to clear my head. I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept replaying what happened at the diner again and again, visualizing all the ways that things could have gone. It was bad enough, what happened. But it could have been a thousand times worse with the odds stacked against us as they were. Deep down, I know that, and it’s left me shaken.
I wonder how Desmond is doing? Speaking of… I spot a familiar black Escalade as I round the corner of my street, my sneakered feet smacking against the pavement.
I
