Page 88 of The Hunt of Night

Calm and collected. Calm and collected. Calm and collected.

“I left to protect you,” she insists, and I huff, refusing to believe any of the bullshit she’s saying.

“How’s that going for you?”

The pain in her eyes burns into my memory and I nod to myself, happy to keep it there as a reminder. She did this. She did this to us. She did this to herself.

She has no idea of the emotions she’s stirring in me, and I worry the longer I stick around, the closer she may get to finding out. “We’re done here.”

“Please, Adrianna?—”

“You don’t want to feel the wrath of the emotions coiling through my body right now,” I warn, my jaw drawn tight with tension.

“Emotions?”

“Not the good kind,” I repeat, and she nods.

Just put one foot in front of the other, Addi, and get the fuck out of here.

I take a backward step, eyes still fixed on her as she swipes her tongue over her bottom lip.

“Has your wolf…”

Her words trail off once again as my blood runs cold.

“My wolf,” I repeat, my voice void of emotion as darkness creeps up my spine.

She clears her throat and nods. “Have you shifted?”

Is this some kind of sick and twisted game for her? “No,” I admit, hating myself the moment I let her know the truth, especially when she offers me a sad smile as some kind of condolence. Fuck. “I’m going to assume I have you to thank for that,” I add, satisfying the dark urge inside me to destroy her. To my surprise, she nods, her smile growing tighter as she bites back emotions I don’t care to identify. “I think I’ll withhold my appreciation for that,” I snap as she stuffs her hand into the back pocket of her jeans.

“This is for you,” she mutters with a sniff, revealing an envelope.

I look down at it with a frown as she waits for me to take it. “I don’t want it.”

“You might change your mind,” she pushes, her grip tightening on it as she pushes it in my direction.

“Younever did,” I bite, my gaze rushing back to hers. Guilt swarms in her eyes as frustration takes root in my bones. Not at her; at myself. I’m literally fucking annoying myself in her presence, and it needs to stop. Now.

“Please take it, just in case,” she encourages, her plea desperate.

“And you’ll leave?”

Her face scrunches with pain before she nods. “If you take it, I’ll leave.”

Right now, I will do just about anything to put some much-needed space between us. Her being here doesn’t make sense. None of it does.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I grab the envelope, but she doesn’t release her hold. Instead, she tugs it closer, bringing me along with it.

“Be safe, Adrianna,” she whispers, the pain in her voice matching the swirl of terror in her eyes. “He’s coming, and try as I might, there’s nothing I can seem to do about it,” she adds, tears tracking down her face.

I rear back with a frown. “Who?” The second I say it, I know, but she confirms it for me anyway.

“Kenner.”

“Does he know you’re here?” I bite, eyes wide with rage when a thick, dark voice cuts through the air.

“He didn’t.” My body stills as my mother balks with panic. I blink over her shoulder to find the man in question stepping out of the bushes she appeared from a few moments ago. A sneer spreads across his lips, making him look even more sinister than usual as adrenaline burns through my body. “And I can’t say I’m all that pleased now that I do.”

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