Page 50 of Wolf Hunter

“Carmen was—is—four years younger than me. So it was on me to protect her whenever my parents took off. They pretty much left us alone most days, too busy working and keeping us out of the coven’s watchful eyes to really raise us. We barely saw them outside of our school lessons.” I pick at the sheet draped across my lap.

Since I’d taken him up on his advice about borrowing an outfit, I had quickly revisited Bullet and Darcy’s room after the kitchen incident and was now wearing fresh clothes. Someone else’s clothes while sitting on someone else’s bed… It’s almost as if I am telling a story about another person entirely instead of one about my life. At least it had been mine, once upon a time.

“Sounds peaceful,” Reid says.

“I think the word you’re looking for is lonely,” I correct. “Anyway, both of them died pretty much at the same time. They… got sick, and with little money or insurance to even go to a doctor, let alone a hospital, well, they didn’t stand a chance.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” he comments gently.

What a tender heart.

I hate him more now.

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago. I was sixteen and old enough for no one to really give a shit about what happened. Not like I had any grandparents around to force their claim on us, either. Carmen trusted me to take care of her.”

“How long has she been missing?” Reid asks.

The truth of it hits me hard. “Too long. Long enough for me to probably let her go. To give up hope. But I’m a stubborn bitch, in all aspects.”

“I noticed that about you.” He reaches out for my shoulder. “You said she was taken. Was she one of the…”

Sacrifices.The word hovers in the air between us, neither of us wanting to say it. It only makes the truth of never finding Carmen more real.

All I can do is nod.

“Ah…” His mouth pinches into a tight line. “I’d tell you if there were any witches here still alive, and…” He pauses. “And there aren’t. Besides you.”

“I know,” I say. “But I’m hoping that, like most things, there’s more to it than what we’re seeing.”

“It seems more like you’re obsessing over finding Carmen because you don’t want to admit it to yourself that she’s truly gone.”

Aggravation pokes at me, my temper flaring hot. “And? No one fucking asked you your opinion.”

It doesn’t scare him away, though. He keeps pushing. “You feel like it’s your fault somehow. Which it isn’t. And that guilt is driving you to find something that isn’t there. I get it.”

I clench my teeth, remembering why Carmen had been taken from me and who was responsible for ripping us apart in the first place. It’s the very same wolves responsible for holding me here now.

“Maybe this is what you need to finally be done with this endless chase you’ve been on. To find peace,” he goes on. His voice is calm, and he’s looking at me with such compassion and sympathy, but that only makes me even angrier.

He’s not supposed to be right, dammit! He’s not supposed to care!

The emotions whirling through me are chaotic and all clashing with one another. Finding Carmen has always been my drive. My purpose. If Reid’s right and she really is gone… what am I supposed to do? She was depending on me, and I let her down in the worst possible way. How am I supposed to justmove onfrom that, like he says? It feels impossible.

I don’t know what to think.

“It was my father who took her.”

When I glance over at him again, he seems to be talking more to himself than me, his entire body stuff. “No wonder why you hate us.” “I’ve trained for years, perfected my skills, all so I could become the Wolf Hunter and kill the Redcliff Pack’s alpha.”

He draws in a deep breath before lifting his gaze to meet mine, and the same sense of upheaval hits me. The kind I refuse to acknowledge because it means too much has changed outside of the obvious.

It means something inside me has shifted, and I no longer recognize this man as my enemy. I don’t see him as a friend, either. Not yet. He falls into some kind of blurry middle ground, where I want to trust him. I also want to kiss him again and feel what other muscles he hid beneath his clothing.

Bad ideas all around.

“There’s a lot said about me that isn’t necessarily true,” he murmurs.

I lean closer to him. “And you haven’t done jack all to dissuade the rumors, have you?”

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