Page 31 of Forsaken Devotion: Part 2
“Why did they call him Alpha?” she mumbled. “What cult are you in, Joey?”
Shit. I needed to get her out of here before she saw anything more that she shouldn’t.
Once on my feet, I grabbed her shoulders.
“If you see or hear something, no, you didn’t.”
“I feel like I stepped in some bad fucking shit,” she muttered wearily.
“You did, so don’t ask questions.”
She nodded so hard her nose ring swayed. Her eyes widened at something over my shoulder. I sighed, knowing she was seeing something that put that expression on her face.
“Josephine? Now there’s a naked guy running toward us.” I turned as Alex jogged closer.
“He found you,” he said, his eyes on me then flicking over to Verity. Immediately, he grew cautious.
He hesitated, sniffing.
“Verity, I’ll call you later, okay?” I turned to her while her eyes remained fastened on Alex. I nudged her arm, and she pulled out of whatever had such a concentrated look on her face.
“Okay,” she replied slowly, inching around Alex to head to her still-running car. He watched her steadily until she peeled out.
“Alex?” I bit out, bursting forward to get in his face. “Did you know?”
He offered me a scowl that reminded me so much of his brother it made my heart throb.
“Know what?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“What you’d done by sending me into the Red Fang Pub?” The accusation seeped into my tone.
He blinked, incomprehension on his face.
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you know you were sending me onto Drake’s private land?”
He gawked.
“No, that’s not possible,” he muttered, shaking his head. He understood the implications.
“So you didn’t know?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Where’s Lucian?” His eyes widened and fixed on the blood staining my borrowed shorts and white shirt before moving them toward the clinic.
“Not again,” he croaked. “What did Drake do to him?”
“Again? What do you mean by that?” I snarled, my temper snapping.
“I . . .” Alex’s panicked eyes kept flicking around. “When he was a kid, barely a teen, Drake’s father took Lucian. They had him locked in a cage, starving for weeks. He never speaks about his time with that pack, but when he returned, there were so many bruises.” Alex’s mouth pinched. “I’d heard things here and there, but on top of starvation, they’d put Gideon Drake and Lucian in multiple fights.” He shook his head. “The only problem was, there was only so much strength Lucian could have while malnourished.”
My heart throbbed. I’d rather he slap me.
What Drake had done to Lucian was all in an attempt to bring back the humiliation Lucian experienced.
“You said you contacted people to tell you where Stools frequented. Who gave you that information?” I asked sharply.
“Duane . . .”
