Page 115 of Awakened
“Absolutely not!”
“Seth, it’s been two days. She’s nearly healed and wants to go.”
“I don’t doubt she’s well enough. Even at fifty percent, she’s a fierce fighter. I’m more worried about her motives. The way Whitney’s injuries affected her, it’s like Les has a personal vendetta against Gamma Perkins. I even heard her tell the others to leave him for her. If she kills him, she won’t be able to come back from that.”
Standing in the hallway, eavesdropping, I thought about Whitney on that bed. She was so frail, so broken, just like my dad and Grace were after their run-ins with the gamma. Something in me snapped at that moment, and I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until Perkins was dead.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, but she’s a trained fighter, a beta, and she wants to go.” Aiden sighed. “Frankly, we need her. Zach is still too hurt to go. That silver nearly killed him.”
Seth scoffed. “It’s so fucking easy for you, isn’t it?”
“What the hell does thatmean?”
“You know what it means. You sacrifice Les like it means nothing.”
“Oh, get off it. It’s been two fucking years. She’s not mad at me anymore, so I don’t know why you’re bringing this up.”
“Because we almost lost her a few days ago, and you’re ready to send her out the door to face those fucking extremists!”
“Seth, calm down.”
“No! You had her! You had her, and you let her go! Now you’re willing to let her destroy herself! Did you ever care about her?”
I’d heard enough. Pushing open the door, I calmly entered. “Cool it, Seth. It’s my choice. If I want to kill the fucker, I will. Now gear up. We’re heading out in five.”
Seth’s entire face fell. Coming closer to me, he reached out for my hands, but I stepped away. I couldn’t let him in right now. He always knew the right thing to say to calm me down, but I needed to stay mad. I was lucky Zach was bedridden because I was able to dodge his worried looks. Unfortunately, Seth had been following me around for two days, trying to get me to see reason. There was no reason, only my need to stop a monster.
Defeated, Seth left the room. Aiden looked at me, measuring his words.
“Les, shit is and will probably always be awkward between us, but I want you to know I’m here.”
“Aiden, I?—”
He raised his hand to stop me. “Let me finish. I know you better than most people, so I know there is more to this mission than Whitney’s injuries. Only life or death could cause you to go this far off the edge. I won’t question you—it’s not my place—but I will be right next to you the whole time. I’ll finish Perkins if you can’t.”
Closing the small distance between us, I hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”
He lightly patted my back. “Just be careful. Seth will murderme if anything happens to you. Then kill himself so he can torment me for eternity.”
Shaking my head at the reality of his joke, I left him alone in the office.
In front of the cabin, the last of the non-fighters prepared to leave. Seth’s dad had found an abandoned path out of the territory, sending us enough reinforcements to safely evacuate the injured. Whitney had been taken the night before, but Zach was going with the last group.
I quickly found him sitting on a stump. When he saw me, he tried to smile.
“Well, that has to be the saddest smile I’ve ever seen.”
“Sorry, Sunshine. I’m having trouble leaving you behind.”
Playing with his flattened curls, I tried to reassure him. “Zach, I’m going to be okay. We’ll get all the girls out and be right behind you.”
He nodded, his jaw clenching. Pushing his fingers into my hair, he brought my mouth down to his. His lips were soft and nowhere near as sure as they usually were. There had been a shift, and our kiss left no room to hide it. Pulling away, I gave him a small smile and motioned for two guys to come help. I watched as the small group rode away on four-wheelers, praying they made it out okay.
“Beta Spencer, are you ready?” Seth stood rigidly next to me.
“Don’t be an ass. Drop the beta shit.”
He smirked and walked away, leaving me to wonder how the hell things would shake out.
