Page 76 of Veil of Shadows

The anger on his face twisted his expression into one I’d only ever seen one other time. And it was the moment he came across his parent’s dead bodies.

No,is all he said,I lost track of their scent. They were moving too quickly.

How far did you get out?I asked.

The mere fact that he hesitated before he spoke told me the answer wasn’t going to be good.Fifty miles.

Fifty miles!?Dom exclaimed.

I reached out to my troops.Troops A and B, expand your search radius?—.

Lieutenant Mac reached out.Expand to something more than 50 miles. You got it, commander.

Report back to me with anything,I said, pinning Voss with a look.

What?he snarled.

You know what she’s capable of,I said.She’s going to be fine.

His nostrils flared.Do you really believe that?

I have to.

Dom sighed.You know we need to stay here and wait this out. Especially if she escapes and tracks her way back.

But Voss simply shook his head.She’s never going to get away from Delilah, and you know it.

I scoffed.Christ, if you can’t see how capable she is after everything we’ve been through together already with her, then you’re never going to see it.

I didn’t think my comment would get under his skin so badly. But when he darted his hand out and wrapped it around my goddamn neck, I snapped.

That’s it,I growled as I tackled him.

His back hit the ground before he rolled me over, and I dodged every punch. But then again, he dodged mine as well. My mind fell blank as I struggled against my Alpha. My own fucking Alpha. Never in my life had Voss and I ever fought, until that moment. Until his fist finally connected with my jaw and my vision went blank. I don’t know what the hell happened after that. I felt his skin against my nails. I heard Voss growling at me to stop. I felt him toss me before I scrambled back to my feet and charged him.

But it was Dom who finally made an appearance and stepped in between the two of us.

“Cut it out!” he exclaimed.

His voice echoed over the silent compound, and him breaking emergency mode was enough to pull both of us out of our heated trances. I panted at him as Voss stood there, crooked, with blood dripping from his nose. I brought the back of my hand to my lip and when I pulled it away, I saw my own blood as I felt the gash in my lip healing. I looked up and saw Voss’s blood pulling back into his nose before he snapped into place. And as he growled, I snickered.

Suits you right for trying to abandon her,I snarled.

Voss threw his hands into the air.I’m not trying to abandon her! I’m trying to protect these packs, like you know she’d want!

That stopped me in my tracks long enough for Dom to join in on the conversation.You know, the two of you may not give a flying fuck about what we’ve built here and what we’re trying to build with Bexley, but I do. I’ve poured my blood, sweat, and fucking tears into this place. Into keeping this pack together. And Bexley is now part of this pack. I’m not leaving this compound without her. I don’t care about the reasoning. If we leave, she’s with us. End of story.

And if we have to leave anyway?Voss asked.

I gnashed my teeth at him as Dom spoke.Then, you’ll do it without me.

That pulled my gaze slowly over to him.What?

Voss scoffed.You’d abandon this pack. After that kind of spiel. Seriously?

Dom was serious when he nodded.I’d do anything for my mate, especially if it meant sacrificing myself for her greater good.

And when Voss didn’t have a rebuttal, I went back to reinforcing the compound. After I finished with the juniper leaves covering the compound’s houses, I started in on the vines that laced together above our heads. I didn’t want to completely block out the sunlight, but I sure as hell wanted to make things hard for vampires to drop down on top of us. The vines grew thicker as I encouraged them to blend together. They weaved a pattern above our heads that I quickly laced once more with juniper. Berries and leaves exploded into numbers above our heads, dangling down from the vines and giving off their scent. I kept an eye on mothers as they came out of their homes, rubbing down their entryways and porches with as much garlic as they could muster. Healers rushed in and out of the bath house with armfuls of supplies. Merida barked orders in groupthink about things they needed to leave the compound to find so that they could stock up.

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