Page 87 of Victoria's Discovery

That beneath his imposing, enigmatic exterior hid an animal lover, a protector, and a deeply caring soul and it was really no wonder she’d fallen for him.

Victoria sighed enviously, feeling her heart melt when he turned to the alpha, smiling and praising her as he stroked a strong hand over her forehead before moving among the pack, giving each beast a pat or a bit of praise.

She wondered if he knew they followed his movements with eager eyes, their devotion and deference obvious.

Recalling what Thorn said, that Vi’kail didn’t think he was good enough, and Vi’kail calling himself a bad man, she scoffed under her breath.

Animals weren’t won over by pretense. They couldn’t be fooled by a pretty face or flowery words. They saw to a person’s soul and judged their worth, their honor, on actions alone.

Those fierce beasts out there gazed upon him with trust and respect, and that alone would’ve told her he was a good man, even if she knew nothing else about him.

The problem was making him see himself the way she did.

Feeling Snitch shift impatiently on her shoulder, and knowing he was going to give her away any second, she drew in a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.

* * *

Vi’kail had retreated to the lupkas’territory hours ago, needing somewhere comfortable, familiar, and most importantly, private to think about the world-shattering things Rellik said.

He’d done as Thegan bid and searched out the horned male then waited until he was alone to approach. It had taken a lot of working up to it, but he’d finally shared some of his past.

More particularly, his time as a soldier for the Federation.

Rellik’s gaze had sharpened not five pesh in. He’d picked up on something in Vi’kail’s recount and began asking pointed questions. Things like how did your mind feel, do you have any gaps in your memory, do things ever feel as though they have a haze about them when you try to recall certain events, can you tell me how you felt during this battle or that raid, can you recall making the decision to commit this atrocity or that horror.

His answers brought something to light. Something he, perhaps foolishly, never considered.

Despite the confusion after a battle, despite having thought himself utterly incapable of such brutality and savagery, despite being sickened by the memory of his actions, he’d never thought, never entertained the possibility. But, as shocking as they were and as difficult as they were to fathom, there was no arguing the facts.

He’d been Veiled.

Vi’kail was still trying to bend his mind around the shock of it. Even after hours and hours, he knew he’d not fully comprehended all the repercussions. This knowledge changed… everything.

It meant he wasn’t the monster he thought himself.

He’d spent years hating himself only to find out in the span of an hour that he’d been wrong, that he was not a soulless fiend capable of slaughtering innocents by the hundreds.

As desperately as he wanted to believe, it would take longer than a night to truly accept and, yet, had his mind not instantly turned to Vee?

What did it say about him that he was ready to search her out the moment he left Rellik? Before he’d taken the time needed to consider this revelation, before he could determine if it was, indeed, truth, before his self-perception could implode and reform around this knowledge, he was ready to find her, to announce his intentions, to make her his.

Perhaps he was not quite as honorable as he wished.

And so, he’d come here, to the enclosure, to lock himself away from her.

A sound from the trees had him jerking his head up.

Apparently locking himself away did no good. She’d found him instead.

Chapter 43

Victoria ignored her pounding heart and continued forward, out of the shadows and toward Vi’kail, but she wasn’t quite brave enough to hold his sharp, predatory stare.

Glancing away, she gazed at the pack, but they weren’t a hell of a lot less intimidating. They’d all gone still and were watching her with alert curiosity, ready to either greet or attack at a moment’s notice depending on what she did.

“They’re beautiful. What are they?”

“Lupka.” His voice came out low and growly.

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