Page 113 of Alpha
"It could have been so much worse but the girls insisted they wanted to fight, and then your brother arrived with his pack," he revealed.
"I told you girls could fight," I gloated with a smile. He smiled and shook his head.
"Fine. You were right."
"Say that again?" I teased. He playfully glared back at me.
After a few moments, our playful mood turned serious.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he reached over and caressed my cheek.
"Why are you sorry?" I asked as I studied his features.
"I was supposed to be there to protect you and I failed," he stated. His voice was filled with regret.
"Victor was determined to get me and he would have done anything to do it. Besides, you had no idea Curtis was working for him," I said, trying to ease the guilt he felt. "We were both wrong but I can't say I was happy when you locked me in the cell."
I remembered how angry I'd been. I didn't have that anger anymore. Maybe it was because, despite everything, things had worked out.
"Will slapping me make you feel better?" he asked in a serious tone. I contemplated it for a moment.
"I can't say that hadn't crossed my mind more than a few times while I was in the cell," I admitted. "But I'm over it."
I shrugged and he smiled at me.
"That's the problem. We're both so stubborn and so intent on protecting each other that we end up doing stupid things," I said.
"I know I could have done things differently but I was scared," he explained as he ran an agitated hand through his hair. "When I found out you had overheard us I knew you were going to do something drastic and I couldn't let you do that."
There were several moments of silence.
"The thought of something happening to you…it's like trying to breathe without air," he said, trying to put into words how much I meant to him.
"I get it. I feel the same way about you. But what you did to me was horrible. Don't ever do that to me again," I warned him. "We are probably going to face other problems and we need to learn to deal with them together."
"You're right. We need to learn to work things out together," he echoed.
"Did Victor tell you how Keri and Curtis managed to hide the fact they were werewolves?" he asked.
"He'd been injecting them with wolfsbane," I answered. "It suppressed their werewolf traits. It was how I defeated Victor."
His eyes darkened with anger and he remained silent. I reached for his hand and took it into mine.
"He meant to inject me with the wolfsbane to keep me from mind-linking or being able to shift. But I managed to get the syringe and I injected him with it. He wasn't able to shift but I was. He was able to get the empty syringe and he filled it with air. Then, just before I killed him, he injected it into me."
I gave him the shortened version. He didn't need to know all the painful details.
"That explains why you collapsed. It had something to do with the air in your bloodstream," Cade said.
I was so thankful it hadn't killed me.
"How did you find me?" I asked, still confused as to how he knew where I was.
"I discovered you were missing," he explained. He reached for both my hands and held them in his. "It had to have been Curtis but I wasn't sure why. Luckily Blake had someone watching Keri. He was worried about her and when he found out from the guy watching Keri that she and Curtis had gotten into a car together, I knew you had to be with them."
It was still hard to believe that Curtis had been working for Victor.
"The guy tailed them onto Victor's territory and he also discovered they were both werewolves. He told me where they were and I got some guys and got there as soon as I could."
