Blood Rule (Book 4, Dirty Blood series) Read Free Page B

with him
either. Maybe that was part of what fed my own anger. Their
irritation pricked whenever they found out this was where I’d been.
I told myself that was the reason I spent so much time with them.
That I did it to avoid their complaining and snarky remarks.
Because the truth was, I felt shaky and on edge when I stayed away
from them for too long. It was a fact I hadn’t admitted to anyone,
in case it wasn’t normal pack-alpha behavior. The last thing I
wanted was one more anomaly due to my weird blood
connections.
    I made my way down the stretch of
hallway hidden behind a non-descript door that led to the Hunter’s
wing. I had the impression the civilian staff thought it was for
government agents, maybe spies. They weren’t wrong.
    Alex’s door swung open easily and I
stepped inside. It looked the same as I’d left it the afternoon
before. Across the room, on the table underneath the window, sat a
large vase stuffed with carnations courtesy of Grandma. There’d
been a smaller vase with lilies from Logan and Victoria, but they’d
already died off and been removed. No one else had sent anything.
No one else ever came.
    Grandma would if she wasn’t tied up in
CHAS business every day of the week. She’d been furious at Alex for
what he’d done but her anger wasn’t like the others. I knew she
cared about Alex despite his betrayal. That and she’d recovered her
Hummer. I suspected things might be different if she hadn’t. No
flowers, for one.
    Grandma hadn’t said much about the
purpose of the meetings yet. She didn’t have to. I knew Gordon
Steppe was getting all he could out of his new prisoner. Not that I
expected Olivia to talk, but Gordon didn’t seem like the type to
give up easily. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should be
concerned. Both Gordon and Olivia would do anything to see me fall.
And in Gordon’s case, that included taking down all members of The
Cause. But between the voices humming inside my head and the
unconscious boy in front of me, I couldn’t bring myself to care
very much about a crooked politician bent on exacting vengeance
from his corner office throne across the city.
    I lowered myself into the chair and
stared at the boy I’d almost killed with my poisonous teeth.
Remembering that day always choked me up. The moment when I
realized it was Alex I’d sank my Werewolf teeth into. Coupled with
the realization he’d betrayed me by coming with a strike team of
Hunters and the intent to kill what was now my pack. I wasn’t sure
which broke my heart more—the fact that he hadn’t trusted me enough
to let me get Olivia on my own or that I’d almost killed him for
it.
    I fought back the tears that burned at
the edges of my lids and dropped my face into my hands.
    “ I’m so sorry, Alex,” I
whispered, remembering how the doctor had encouraged us to talk
because the sound of our voice could be comforting. “I know I did
this. It’s my fault. You can be mad if you want.” I hesitated,
wondering if it was okay to go off on a coma patient. But I’d held
it in all these days and I needed to vent. Even if it was to an
unconscious version of the boy I was angry at. “I’m mad, too. You
always said you trusted me to handle myself and then to go behind
my back … to bring in Kane …” The heat of guilt crept up my neck,
replacing the anger. It was cyclical. One replacing the other.
“Wake up so we can yell at each other and get on with it.
Please?”
    There was no answer. I hadn’t expected
one.
    I used my hand to wipe my eyes and
sat, staring without really seeing at the tubes that connected Alex
to the monitors above his bed. I didn’t really know what all of the
numbers meant but the steady beeping was better than focusing on
the hum inside my head or the ache inside my chest.
    From the doorway, someone cleared
their throat. “I thought I’d find you here.”
    I shifted in the chair, the cheap
cushion protesting my movements. Our eyes met and I attempted