Page 100 of Hunting the Alpha

Harrison and Kyran came to see what was going on, and the five of us trailed to the town hall, no one speaking until we got there.

I remained standing when we entered the meeting room and the others took seats, aside from Victor. The chatter of those gathering in the neighboring hall echoed through the walls. Glaring at Victor, I snapped, “Savannah said you have something to tell me, and that I had to hear you out.”

“I didn’t ask to be heard out,” Victor retorted.

“Maybe not. But she wants me to know something, so let’s hear it. Why did you make sure she had a weapon tonight?”

“She already had the weapon. All I did was pretend I hadn’t felt it during the search.” He crossed his bulked arms, and his leather jacket creaked with the effort. “I just told her to be ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To stop Gideon if he tried to use the gun against you. Which he did.”

“Why the need for Savannah to fire the bullet? Why couldn’t you?”

“In case it all went wrong,” he bit back, riding the same wave of pain and rage as me for some damn reason. “I needed to stay in Gideon’s favor if it all went wrong. But it didn’t. She hit home with the first bullet. Made sure with the second and third. I didn’t expect her to put a bullet in his brain though. I’ll always admire her that.”

“And you thought it okay for her to live with such a burden?”

“She made that final choice. I didn’t force her to pull the trigger.”

“Yeah. Shift the blame,” I scoffed. “Why not stop Gideon from taking her uncle if you’re the good guy all of a sudden?”

“I’m not one of his lackeys. I’m not there all of the time. I do the odd job, stay in the shadows, and keep my ear to the ground. I’ve gained some element of trust, and I had to let it play out.”

“Why?”

He shifted, uncomfortable. “To keep him away from you. I never thought for one moment that Savannah would find you—even when I’d heard through the grapevine that he’d hired her.”

“And why do you think you have to fucking protect me?”

“I always have, brother.”

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. “We are no longer brothers.”

“Yeah,” he scowled. “You made that clear when you left the last time.”

“And what is this? Your penance?”

He shrugged. “Some might say it’s what I deserve. But I did what I had to do.”

“And that was?”

“You didn’t love Belinda.”

“Bullshit!”

“You didn’t. You just wanted to belong to a pack so badly, believing in Gideon’s shine, that you ignored the fact she wasn’t for you. If you’d opened your eyes, you would have realized she was in love with someone else.”

“With you?” I sneered.

“No. With the human who got her pregnant.”

It took a moment to register what he’d said. “What?”

“That's why she came to you that night. She was scared Gideon would find out. She planned to marry you and pass off the child as yours for as long as she could, claiming the babe was a dormant wolf. I ran into her the night she fled from you after you’d refused to marry her. She confessed all, crying, panicking, suggesting that maybe she could tell you the truth, and you’d help her out against the wrath of her father regardless.”

I leaned against a table and grabbed it until my knuckles hurt. “The baby wasn’t yours?”

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