The answers weren’t where I expected. They’re at Haven Academy, and the longer I ignore my enemies, the more I risk being stabbed in the back.
I don’t care.
My eyes slide to Xavier. “We’re never going to get this opportunity again. We can’t throw it away.”
Xavier unfurls from his chair, raking his hand through his hair as he stands, and scratches irritably at his thick beard. “It’ll be easier for me to get away from the school than the rest of you, so I can stop by the hospital and check in on her.”
“You hate hospitals.” I eye him curiously. “What did she do to you?”
Levi’s boots thump to the ground, and he pushes himself to his feet with a tired sigh, a muscle in his neck clicking when he rolls it. “She dumped him for a boring lesson. So, of course, hisvain ass is determined to make her fall in love with him.” He levels me a look. “We have to talk about the Council.”
“I know.”
Xavier frowns. “Do you think they’ll try to force you out?”
I shrug. “Probably.”
“And Della?” Levi watches me closely.
He says I saved his life when we were teenagers, but that isn’t true. Aly saved him, just as she saved all of us. “She’s with her family. She won’t thank us for sticking around.”
By silent agreement, we leave the hospital waiting room. I glance toward Della’s room. The door is closed, and Pack Ashe nods and waves as we pass them. She has three alphas watching over her. She’s safe.
“Why’d you think she did it?” Xavier presses the elevator call button at the end of the hallway.
“Did what?”
“Nearly died for that omega,” Levi says.
I’d like to think she’s just a good person, but no one sacrifices that much—practically their life—for a stranger without a good reason.
The question pricks at me as I lead the way out of the hospital and down to the parking lot.
“Mr. Vincent. A word.”
Ms. Arkwright corners me before I can reach my classroom. I got a handful of hours of sleep before I got up, ready to teach. She spins on her heel, marching toward the academic building.
I trail her, sensing I know what’s coming and not as annoyed by it as I thought I would be.
She takes a seat behind an oversized walnut desk. “Close the door behind you.”
I close the door and take the seat opposite.
“Mr. Vincent, you walked out mid-class.” Ms. Arkwright gets right to the point.
“I had a personal matter to attend to,” I tell her calmly.
Della Jackson’s abduction was my fault, and I had to rectify it.
So, I did.
She’s in the hospital now with her family. Safe with Pack Ashe to watch over her. Healing. Alive.
There will no longer be a redheaded menace gluing doors shut or setting fires that could bring the buildings down on top of our heads.
She’s gone, which is what I wanted.
So why, as Ms. Arkwright drones on and on about responsibilities and expectations, do I keep thinking about Della?