Page 64 of Stripped

She stuffed more popcorn in her mouth. “Nope. It doesn't.”

I leaned back against the couch, stuffing chips in my mouth and thinking. “I should talk to Leopold.”

Julie sat up straight and looked at me. “Zane would never let you do that. If Leopold bites you—”

“I know,” I said. “But maybe he won't bite me if I flatter him and pretend I want to be with him. I could get some answers, find out what the vamps are really after.”

“Why would he tell you anything?”

“He'd tell me if he thought I was on his side.”

She shook her head, eyes wide. “He's too strong,” she said. “I can't take him on and I'm a werewolf. He'd kill you as easy as snapping his fingers.”

“You could teach me some tricks, in case I get in a tight situation. I shouldn't need them, though. I'm really good at convincing men I want them, especially when they're egotistical assholes who think the world owes them something.”

She rubbed her belly. “We should just watch a movie and eat, this is a really bad idea.”

“If Alice's with him, maybe I can get her away from him,” I said. “I can save her, too.” I knew the risks. I understood how sick I could get if Leopold bit me, I understood he could kill me if he didn't believe me, and the idea terrified me, but I was the only one who could get the answers the pack needed. I could do this one thing for Zane, for his pack, and then I could leave for Denver with a clear conscious, knowing I'd done everything I could to help him and the pack.

She shook her head. “This is crazy, Abby. If anything happens to you, it will break Zane's heart. If I help you and something happens to you, I'll never forgive myself.”

“It's not your choice. It's mine. Maybe I need to face Leopold, or I'll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life wondering if he's coming for me. If I give in to him, if I pretend to want him, maybe he'll lose interest and let me go.”

“That's a huge, unlikely maybe. The most likely outcome of this crazy idea is that you get killed and Leopold comes after the pack twice as hard. It's not worth the risk.”

“And what's the risk if I don't go?” I asked. “The pack is broke now. How long will it take to start making money and getting the pack strong again? If the pack is starving, Leopold will just waltz in and take over.”

“We're not starving. We've got enough food to last a month or two, enough to get us through until we start implementing your ideas and start bringing in money.”

I sighed. Maybe she was right. There was no point in me risking my life if the pack was going to figure it out anyway. “Maybe you could teach me some moves,” I said. “Just in case I do have to face off against Leopold, or a mugger in Denver.”

She smiled, but she gave me the side-eye like she didn't really trust me. “That's not a terrible idea. I can teach you a few things.”

***

It was noon the next day when Zane finally showed up, with Axel in tow. They both looked exhausted, filthy, and morose. So downtrodden I didn't want to ask what had happened or how it'd gone.

“Oh, no,” Julie said, slapping a hand over her mouth as soon as they walked in. She'd stayed the night, teaching me what she could in her pregnant state and then watching a movie with me. She wrapped her arms around her husband and kissed his cheek. “I'm so sorry, baby.”

My chest tightened and my eyes burned. I knew it was bad as soon as they walked in, now I was having the awful feeling that nothing would ever be okay again. Zane walked over to me, weary and worn, and wrapped his arms tight around me. “We didn't find her, but we found…” He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I'm sorry, baby. We found blood and the scent of Leopold in the same area.”

Tears spilled from my eyes and down my cheeks. No. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. “She could still be alive, though, right?”

“There was…” he swallowed. “There was a lot of blood. If she's still alive, she's being kept that way by Leopold. Which means she'll be even more deeply in his thrall.”

“But there's still a chance we could help her,” I said. “We need to find her. We can't just leave her with him.” I felt sick. Sweet Alice in Leopold's control. “Shouldn't the council do something?”

“They should. Whether he's killed her or just enthralled her, it's a punishable offense. She has family in Aspens Whiten, someone's going to notice.”

“I'll make the call as soon as I get home,” Axel said, sounding beyond exhausted.

He and Julie left. I ran a hand through Zane's hair, pulling out twigs and leaves. “What do you need?” I asked. I wanted to make sure he was okay, but already my mind was working, trying to figure out what I could do for Alice, how I could help her. I knew the council couldn't do much, or wouldn't, and I wouldn't ask the pack to get involved. That could start a full-out vamp werewolf war.

He sighed, leaning heavily against me. “I want to go back to this morning. Hell, I'd like to go back to last night and stop her from walking into those woods.”

“No one could have stopped her.” The words felt empty, hollow, something I had to say because I didn't blame him, but words I didn't honestly believe, because I did blame myself. If I'd noticed Alice wasn't completely free of the compulsion, if I'd stayed at the barn instead of running into the woods with an elderly lady, if I'd thought about someone other than myself, maybe I could have prevented her death, maybe I could have saved her.

Zane stroked my cheek. “You couldn't have stopped her either,” he said, like he could read my thoughts or just knew me well enough to guess what I was thinking.

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