Chapter 73 I miss you
I studied how Xariana and one of her fellow hunters sprayed luminol around the apartment in which we stood. The apartment was a series of small rooms with tables inside of each. I'd seen the setup before, knew it intimately. It was the perfect place to create snuff films that could stream their content out into the dark web, made to accrue revenue from the pain others endured.
My phone went off, and I peered down at the screen, watching the image of Braelyn flipping Phenrys off as she moved around her room back at the compound. It made my stomach churn. Pushing the phone back into my pocket, I watched as Eryx walked the alphas into the apartment.
I didn't bother to ease their fear since I planned to watch and study their reaction to what they were about to see. The TV screens mounted on the wall were all showing static. But in the next few minutes, the alphas would learn the truth of what was happening on their pack's land.
Xavier nodded, indicating the feeds would be up momentarily. My chest tightened with worry for Braelyn. In a matter of moments, I'd be condemning her in the eyes of her peers. I'd come back here to end this shit, and while it created hell for my mate, it had affected others in worse ways.
Xariana pushed her warrior braids away from her heart-shaped face, and Carleigh walked toward me, brushing against my side. I'd known Carleigh for ten years, working beside her in the hunt to end the trafficking ring that had exploited both of us to make money.
Carleigh had been a light at the end of a dark tunnel. She understood the pain I'd endured and hadn't judged me because of it. We'd fucked, but there had never been emotions involved, at least on my part. Not like Brae, not like what had just gone down inside her bedroom. With Carleigh, it was just mind- less sex to ease the ache and unleash my anger. But with Brae, shit was twisted as emotions unfurled and unleashed from within us.
"I miss you in my bed," Carleigh whispered, her fingers rubbing circles on my palm.
"Do you now?" I didn't get the rush of heat or need to slip away with her that usually happened when Carleigh was close at hand.
"Is your mate everything you hoped she would be?" she asked, causing my stornach to tighten at her words.
Was Braelyn everything I hoped she would be? More. Braelyn had floored me inside her room, fucking me hard, unleashing her pent up anger. But that wasn't something I wanted to admit to out loud, and not to someone I'd fucked merely for release.
"She's Braelyn," I announced, turning as the alphas began sitting on the far side of the room, where they'd have a front-row seat to the multitude of moni- tors Zayne had set up. "She was untouched," I admitted, and Carleigh's green eyes slid toward mine.
"But she isn't now?" she asked, and I smirked. "You took her to your bed even after suspecting she is involved in her father's operation?" Carleigh's lips jerked into a smirk as her fingers slipped through mine, tightening around my hand. "You deserve better, and you know it, asshole. She's not worthy of you."
"And you are?" I countered, wondering why my body wasn't reacting to her touch.
"I didn't say I wanted you, now did I? I simply stated the truth. Braelyn threw you away, and we both know you deserve better than that. I'm available later, in case you were wondering. I could use some mindless orgasms."
"I bet you could," I teased, nodding to Xari, who moved toward the light switch. "I won't be available, though. I have a mate to punish for her wicked ways. I quite enjoy my role as her mate and tormentor at the moment." "You intend to keep her?" Carleigh asked, her eyes sliding over Ezekiel and Enzo before briefly returning to mine. "She's poison, Saint. You told me that yourself. Plus, if Braelyn is part of her father's endeavors, she's dead. Can you knowingly fuck her and slit her throat if she is guilty? Because that is the cost for selling people, Saint. We've all agreed, and the compact only works if we all keep the promise we made to punish those who've profited from the trafficking. If she's at fault, I will be the first in line to call for Braelyn's blood, just so you're aware."
"If Braelyn is guilty, I will end her life myself. I am aware of the agreement since I was the first to stipulate the rules with Xavier. Don't mistake me wanting to fuck my mate for feelings of love. She lost that from me when she refused to stand up against her father. Braelyn is mine to put down if she's guilty," "You called me here for a reason. What would that reason be?" Carleigh countered, her tone sharp and filled with pain. Smiling, I grabbed her hand, bringing it to my lips to brush them over her knuckles. "You're one of a kind, Car, you are. You were there for me when I was lost and couldn't find my way out of the dark hole they'd put me in.
You will always have a part of me that no one else will. I can't change that Braelyn's my mate, though, and you know it as well as I do. Braelyn broke my trust and de- stroyed me. We both know that even if she isn't part of this operation, and that's a big if, it will never be the same between Braelyn and me. I don't know if I can ever forgive her for her part in what happened to me and the others, but she's mine either way. Either to put down or to see if I can salvage what little there is between us. You, you're the best fucking tracker I know. I brought you here, Carleigh, because there are children someplace on this mountain, and we have to find them before winter sinks its claws into this place. They won't survive until spring thaw comes, and you're here to help us find them."
"Can you honestly say you'll be able to rip out Braelyn's heart if she willingly sold you and the others into slavery?" she asked, watching me closely.
My cheek pulsed with the reality that I wouldn't be able to do it. However, Eryx would put her down in a humane way, and I could live with that. I hated the idea of Braelyn knowing what had happened to my crew and me. But the chances of her not being involved in her father's business were slim at best. My heart clenched with the reality that I'd returned to find her untouched and everything I'd ever wanted, only to end up murdering the woman custom made for me by the wolf god, Fenrir.