Page 54 of Revenge of the Blood Pack

He starts to walk away, but Trouble follows him. “Stay,” Braxton says again, looking back at him. Trouble whimpers and Braxton holds up a hand. “Stay.” The word is gentle but firm.

As we walk away, I hear Trouble whimpering, his stump of a tail going crazy, but he obeys, staying exactly where he is. And for some reason, my heart aches seeing him. I’ve never had a dog, never really considered myself a pet person, but Trouble is… something else. He’s an animal I can imagine loving.

“Which way?” I realize Max is talking to me.

I frown, drawing my focus back to the big, black spiderweb of dark magic. There’s no part of the web that feels fragile or weakened, so I just pick one direction and start walking. I circle the web occasionally passing more Enforcers who stand at attention. But when I find a random spot, far from any of the Enforcers, I turn to my men.

My gaze locks with Max’s.

“You need blood,” he says simply.

I nod, then look at Braxton.

He smirks. “That’s what I’m here for, right?”

It’s strange. It feels weird to know I need more blood if I have any hope of being a match for my pack member. Dark magic is there in case I need it, even if I really don’t want to use that magic. Even if I know that I likely will have to.

“Okay, I’m going to feed off of you,” I release a slow breath. “But I want you to know my magic has consequences. Using it makes it harder to keep the darkness at bay.”

Max actually looks mad. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

I shrug.

“No, there’s a reason…”

There is. I just don’t want to tell him.

“Asha,” he swears, “how the hell is this supposed to work if you never trust me?”

My gaze snaps to his. Max is mad. And showing it. Which is… so not Max.

“I just… information is power, and you’re an Enforcer.”

He looks like I slapped him. “Is that all I am?”

The question hangs between us, but I can’t bring myself to answer. I don’t know. There’s just been so much. So much to handle. And I feel like if I say one thing, I might lose him. And if Isay the other, things might change, bringing us to a place I can’t handle.

“Understood,” he says, and his anger fades away, replaced by that cool mask again.

“Max…” Braxton draws out his name, then clears his throat.

His brother nods. “Well, now we know about the consequences of her magic, so we should do our best to ensure she only uses it when necessary.” He doesn’t look at me, just at Braxton.

“I’m sorry,” I say, although I can’t seem to say why.

“No need to be sorry. We have a job to do.” Max turns away from me and heads a little away from the dark magic. He doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere, just away from me.

I look at Braxton, feeling helpless.

He gives me a small smile. “It’s okay. Let’s just take care of this thing.”

But hurting Max feels anything but okay. Actually, it feels pretty terrible, and I don’t know why. Maybe because if he hadn’t fought so hard with the Enforcers to let us work together, I would have spent the last couple of months in a cell. Or because when push comes to shove, he always has my back. Or maybe because he seems to have limitless patience for me, no matter how much I push him.

Either way, I feel crappy.

“Ready?” Max calls to me over his shoulder, no emotion in his voice.

It takes me a minute, but I manage, “Ready.”

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