Page 174 of Sweetheart: Part Two

I noticed how the camera panned closer, lingering on her tears and agony.

Finally, he let her go, and she collapsed to the floor of the limo. She curled up, clutching herself.

“I’ll let you off the hook. There’s enough here for me to make do with after all.”

The camera cut off and my phone screen went blank. I was left with a dull ringing in my ears.

I knew.

I knew who he was.

From his voice, and from what he’d asked for.

Drake.

He wanted her to tell him about Drake.

The full truth settled onto me like a cold blanket, each piece of the puzzle falling into place, revealing a picture before my very eyes. There were so many packs it could have been, all with their own twisted vendetta, but somehow, this was the worst.

I knew who they were, but more than that…

Shit…

I was reacting in an instant.

I was on my phone, texting Leighton. She needed all of this information right now. We could get ahead of this. I fired off texts to others too, to anyone that could help until there were no more to send.

Until the truth came crashing in.

I sat back, head pressed against the seat as the phone dropped to my side.

Because I knew what Zeus Rogan would ask for.

It was over.

I don’t know how long I sat like that, cycling through every possibility, always landing back where I started: to the impossible choice.

The one I could never make.

I needed more options. A part of me wanted to get on a plane and fly her a million miles away…

And then deal with the trigger commands, her agony and suffering…? Suffering like I’d just seen on that video.

It wasn’t possible.

I might be able to survive in a world knowing I’d condemned anyone else to that. But not them. Not my pack.

Not my mate.

* * *

I returned to Vex’s room first, whole body numb.

Love would have to be told that I’d discovered, and…fuck. I would have to tell Drake, but I couldn’t let the Lightning pack find out we knew, so first I had to go to her. I had to find a way to forward what he’d sent without breaking her.

I froze at the doorway to find her waiting for me like a siren.

She sat on the bed, a silken nightgown hanging open to reveal her beautiful pale skin. She was wearing black lace panties, but her breasts were bare, just covered by the edges of the gown. I crossed toward her, looking down, into her eyes that shone in the pale light of the lamps.

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