Page 64 of Possessive Alpha

His arms tighten around me. “I need to get you out of here.”

“And you will. But after I speak to my sister. Please, Ty, she needs me.”

Even if I need Ty.

He gives me a long look, kisses me hard on the lips, and reluctantly releases my feet to the ground. “Don’t go far.”

I feel him watching me as I cross over to join Clara under the tree.

When I look back, he’s still watching me, completely uncaring of his nudity.

I’m not sure where we are. We must be on the edge of pack territory and the national forest for Jackson to be so concerned about something digging up Seth and Cody’s remains.

When I get within a couple of feet of Clara, she throws herself at me. I stumble back, my eyes tearing up as I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight. “Are you okay?”

She yanks away from me to glare. “Me? You’re the one who just went through hell. Are you okay?”

I give her a reassuring smile and prepare to tell her I’m perfectly fine, when tears clog in my throat and Clara becomes a big, watery blur.

She drags me back into her arms. “I’m sorry I got you kidnapped.”

I choke out a laugh as I squeeze her. “Don’t be stupid. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have been the one they grabbed,” Clara says. “Not you.”

She’s wrong. I don’t waste my time arguing with her. I blame myself for what happened in Minnesota, though Clara says I did nothing wrong. Neither of us is willing to back down.

I pull away to study her, but she immediately looks away.

“Clara?”

She takes a couple of steps into the forest and halts, wrapping her arms around herself.

I follow, peering over my shoulder to find Ty is still watching me. Layla and Quinn have brought Cody’s body out because it’s now on the ground beside Seth’s.

“Ready to head back?” he calls out.

“Not yet,” I mouth, nodding toward Clara.

He frowns. “Don’t go far.”

“Okay,” I say.

Clara takes a couple more steps deeper into the forest and turns to lean against a tree. We’re still within sight of Ty and the others, and the only scents close by don’t warn of any danger. Here we’re safe, so I let myself relax and lean on the tree beside Clara.

“It really was my fault,” she says, staring into the distance.

“No, it wasn’t.”

She blows out a heavy sigh and turns to look at me. “I was running away.”

I stare at her. “You were doing what?”

She nervously plucks her fingers. “I’m not happy here. It just… I don’t know, doesn’t feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.”

I know.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper, dreading a conversation I’ve known was on its way for weeks now.

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