Page 96 of Never Tamed
“And everything I do is for her,” he insists hotly.
“Then use your damn head.”
The Briar Pack has been under Andras and his control the entire time. Torin played right into their hands.
“It’s time to work together, work smarter, not figure out a different solution. Especially the two of us. We can’t keep going on the way we’ve been.”
“No.” He drums his fingers on his own glass. “No, we can’t.”
“So, we start fresh. We agree to put it all behind us.” I need him to agree.
Ren’s silent resolve fills my head. She is the silken thread connecting us all together.
Unable to keep steady, I grab one of the spare chairs, dragging it in front of the desk and setting it down, throwing myself in the seat backward. I rest my arms across the stout rungs with the glass dangling in my fingers.
“I’m tired, Torin. I’m tired of feeling like I’m dragging all this emotional weight behind me. I’m tired of not knowing how to forgive you for our past. Worse. I don’t know how to forgive myself.”
“I feel the same fucking way, Noble. These endless circles…” he trails off.
I finally let the cup drop, still full of primo liquor. Only the best for Torin. I’ve done a great job for him in whatever capacity he’s needed me over the years. I’m the same as this liquor. Something for him to use when he needs it be, to take off the shelf and dust off, then replace. Neat. Orderly.
Understandable.
But real relationships are messy. We’ve been close, alpha and beta, now sharing a mate. We’re closer still. There can’t be any more awkward edges when we talk to each other. It’s only going to hurt the person we both love.
There can’t be any more hatred for ourselves.
It’s been a struggle for me to come to terms with, but I think I’ve finally stepped into a season where I like who I am. I appreciate my good points and the bad ones. Can Torin say the same? Or is he still catching up?
“I’m going to do better,” he assures me. “Trust me.”
His voice holds firm and beneath each word is the tenor I’m used to, his alpha tone.
“You have to do better. Because we’re barely managed to make it this far in tact. Now we’ve got the biggest threat of our life. Andras, the Blood Moons, and the Briar wolves. All wrapped up in one.”
Torin shakes his head. “I’m not sure it’s that neat.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Andras and his connections spread much further than we thought. I’m not sure this is going to be the end, even after our dazzling rescue.”
I blow out a breath. “Fucking fate. Our enemies are the only ones we can trust.”
“I know. It’s screwed up.” His face screws into a distasteful scowl. “Mathis.”
My stomach clenches when I say, “And Dax.”
“And in the middle of it?”
“Our beautiful girl.”
He lifts his glass to that and I grab mine, tapping them together again. Killing Andras will only be the beginning. The fallout from toppling the king of his empire will surely bring more issues along the road. But one step at a time. Otherwise we all break.
Chapter 24
Ren
Morning falls over the camp with an eerie stillness and a gray sky like a wall blocking us from the sun.
