Page 61 of Dark Wolf Soul
I’m so fucked.
“She’s not what I expected,” Mia comments, and I whip my gaze back to hers, searching for some clue about what she means. Or what I’ve given away from my silent brooding.
“She’s not like us,” I tell her.
“You hate her for it.”
I start to argue and stop. Hate is good. Hate is safe. I need to hate her more—for both our sakes. But Mia isn’t letting it go.
“She doesn’t deserve it, you know.”
“What?”
“Your hate. She didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Neither did we.”
“No, but we’re here, playing the game. Willingly.” She looks at me. “Most of us,” she adds wryly.
“Don’t start.”
“I’m not mad at you for leaving,” she says, and I arch my brow so she knows I see through her bullshit. “Fine. Not anymore,” she amends. “Your time away seems to have settled you.”
“It did,” I agree.
Made me more capable of violence too. I don’t tell her that part, though.
“We need that calmness now.”
“You’re calm.”
“Nah, I’m like the eye of a tornado. Besides, Lexi would have never fallen for me like she did for your pretty face. It had to be you.”
“You’re saying I’m only in charge because of my face?”
“Absolutely not. You also have that whole brooding, sad vibe that makes girls want to save you.”
“I knew I never should have come back here,” I grumble.
“You had to repay that favor you owed,” she reminds me, all teasing gone. And even though we both already know it’s true, it helps to hear her say it—that I did the right thing by coming back when he called me.
“We’re even now,” I tell her quietly.
She nods. “You owe him nothing,” she agrees, quoting me from earlier. “But what do you oweher?”
I glare at her. “I hate when you use logic against me.”
She smiles. “I know.”
I stare at Lexi again, knowing full well what Mia is talking about. She deserves better, but more than anything, she deserves a choice.
It’s the right thing to do. But it’s also terrifying because, if she doesn’t choose me, I’ll lose her forever. I’ll gladly fight a war against Franco and my father, but I don’t think I can take it if she doesn’t choose me.
If I were her, I wouldn’t choose me.
Not after everything I’ve done to her.
But if I meant my own words before, then I have to start putting the needs of the people above my own. Starting now, apparently.
