Page 8 of Wolf Tamer

“After you said I’m a piss-poor alpha?”

Julius shrugs. “Maybe I’m curious to see how things will turn out. Maybe I prefer to be a bystander so that I can see the bigger picture where you’re focused on the small details. You miss way too much.”

“It pays to be sneaky, then.” And I’ve always considered Julius to fit that description.

“It pays to be observant,” he corrects me. “Just as I’ve seen the way you look at your latest sacrifice. Are you going to tell me the truth, or will you keep up with this ridiculous charade of yours?”

The thought of Tasha lands a stone heavily in my stomach that sinks down to the bottom of my feet. “She’s gone,” I say. It’s simple.

And Julius isn’t accepting any of it.

He stares at me before releasing a gruff groan. “Fine. Don’t tell me what’s really going on.”

“I thought you see everything.”

“I do,” he counters with a sniff. “I’m simply giving you the opportunity to be honest with me. Something you seem to fail at apparently.”

I want to toss back that I could say the same thing about him, but I smartly keep my lips shut. This rare bonding opportunity is more than I ever asked for and more than I expected considering the current environment.

I always thought Julius would stop at nothing to undermine me and take the mantle for himself.

Yet, here we are.

I’m not about to jeopardize whatever newfound camaraderie we’ve managed to carve out for ourselves.

I drop back on the pillows amidst a wave of exhaustion while my body heals itself. “Thank you,” I tell Julius haltingly. “For taking care of things. For disposing of the body.”

“What other choice do I have?”

“You can do what you normally do and sequester yourself in your mess of a room,” I toss back.

He chuckles, but this time the bitterness isn’t thick enough to choke me. “I’ll make a note to have one of the others come in and do some cleaning.”

I want to make a joke about his drinking and open my mouth to do exactly that, when awareness ripples down my spine alongside a sense of dread that chills me to the bone.

Julius notices, of course, and stops his frenetic pacing. “What’s the matter?” he asks. “I’m not helping your ass into the bathroom, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Automatically, I want to blow it off as nothing, but the sensation persists. Something is going on. Something…

Tasha?

The moment I think her name, I know I’ve got to go—wherever she is. She needs me. Adrenaline courses through me in an instant, mingling and warring with the sense of immediate danger.

My mate needs me.

Tasha is in danger, and I’m here in bed like a weak little pup.

“I’ve got to go,” I tell Julius, struggling with the covers. Urgency has me feeling light on my feet and rushing to get out the door whether I’m dressed or not.

“No way.” He moves to intercept me. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve got to stay in this bed and let me and Bullet handle things.”

There is absolutely no way I’m going to do any of that.

My body moves on its own accord, my knees clicking together as I stand. He’s got me in a clean pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. It’s good enough. I push Julius away, panic riding me hard. His words fade into the distance, disappearing under the frantic pulse of my heart. But not all of the fear belongs to me.

Some of it is Tasha’s.

Pushing everything aside and ripping the bandage off my head, I’m out the door before Julius can grab me, heading god knows where into god knows what because I have no choice.

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