Page 68 of Savage Blood
For someone who wanted me to hate him, he sure was making it difficult.
And I should have shoved him off. I wassupposedto hatehim.
Olivia’s fingers pressed over her mouth, her chest quickly rising and falling as the color drained from her cheeks. “You look like her.”
Camus angled toward Silver Ridge’s alpha and beta. “Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Barric and Tamara are my parents.”
As soon as the confession dropped from my tongue, a thick silence stretched through the room, and the air thickened. I resisted the urge to fan myself. Why was it so freaking hot?
“I-I don’t understand,” Camus sputtered, finally breaking the silence. “I thought Tamara gave birth to a human son who died shortly after. You even confirmed it months ago, Valeria.”
“There was no Anton.” Valeria flicked her silver braid behind her back and lifted her silk shawl to wrap around her shoulders. “And I said Barric didn’t kill the child, which clearly is the case.”
My hand trembled as I gripped my glass and downed the rest of my water. “Tamara and Valeria worked with witches and a few others to hide me. Part of that was making Barric believe I’d been a boy.”
A sad smile curved Wrath’s lips. He had helped with their plan and even dropped baby me off at the hospital. My life would have been completely different if he’d kept me in the Underworld like he wanted.
Gareth motioned his finger toward the tattoo on my neck. “So Fane biting you was just a coincidence? That wasn’t planned?”
A humorless laugh burst out of my mouth. “Nothing in my life has been planned since I was a baby.”
Jasmin, one of the younger council members, tore a cookie apart, ginger locks falling across her pale cheek. “You wereobviously meant to be part of this world, though. You were always destined to be Alpha Saint’s fated mate.”
Tension rippled from Fane’s incorporeal body, and he definitely wanted to smack the smile off Saint’s face.
On shaky legs, I stood and marched toward the refreshments table in the corner to refill my drink. “Yeah, well, destiny and fate are assholes.”
Wrath clapped, startling everyone. “So, clearly, Tatedoeshave some authority here, with her father being the former alpha and all. And she doesn’t want my brother slaughtered.”
“Butwhydo you want him alive?” Gia asked, lines developing across her bronzed brow. “He betrayed you and led to Barric getting the Infernal Sol. You should have more reason than anyone to want him dead.”
Ice clinked against my glass as I poured lemonade into it instead of water, ignoring Fane’s smirk. “I can’t tell you why I need Ruin alive. Just trust that it’s important.”
Camus scoffed. “More secrets? How are we supposed to trust you when you’ve kept us in the dark and are still doing it?”
My nostrils flared, and I choked back a growl as I stalked toward the Mohan alpha on the way back to my seat. “You and I still need to have a private conversation, Camus.”
“About what?”
His lips pursed as he studied me, the pendant lights glinting on the silver hairs around his temples. At first glance, I wasn’t that intimidating, and even with the formidable alpha sitting, I was barely taller than him.
“Teague,” Fane warned. “What are you doing?”
I ignored him and leaned toward Camus, pitching my voice low. “You haven’t apologized for the things you and Everette did to Fane when he was a kid.”
Camus’s mouth parted. “I’m sure Fane knows?—”
“You might be a better alpha now, but I’ve seen the scars.” The glass of lemonade shook in my hand, and I had to work hard to curb the urge to smash it against his skull.
He swallowed hard as some of the color faded from his cheeks. “I thought you and Fane were fighting.”
I snorted. “We’re always fighting. It doesn’t mean you get a pass.”
As I headed back to my seat, Logan stood and wandered to the refreshments table to grab a bag of white cheddar popcorn, earning a grin from Ruin. The former lord of Savannah looked ten times better than he had in the Underworld, but the haunted gleam in his eyes still shone within their electric blue depths.
“You really refuse to reveal why you need Ruin alive?” Ari ran his scarred hand over his cropped black hair.
