Page 93 of The Enemy to the Living
Sam spots us just as we’re about to leave. “I’ll take you down,” he says.
Drew seems flustered for a moment, and my stomach sinks. It’s all been going too well. I yelled at Drew a few days ago, upset him. Of course his mate is going to be angry.
“We’ll get you a taxi. Come on,” Sam says.
I give Drew one final look before I follow Sam outside. Someone put my phone on charge today, but my fingers fumble over the keys.
“Let me,” Sam says, pulling out his own phone. “His address?”
I rattle off what I remember of Asher’s address—so long as I get close, I can walk the rest of the way. I want to call him, but I don’t know what I’ll do when I hear his voice, and besides…
I need to see him.
“Five minutes,” Sam says. He puts his phone back in his pocket.
We stand there in silence for what feels like an hour. Maybe it’s a minute. My heart starts to race, and I blurt out the words before I can stop myself.
“Are you mad at me? I didn’t mean any of the stuff I said to Drew. He’s my best friend. I’d never—”
“Yes, you did.”
Sam looks up at me, and I flinch, my wolf whining, but he doesn’t look angry. A faint, sad smile plays around his lips.
“What do you mean?”
“I watched my parents die too, Quinn. I killed the man who killed them. And if I—” He sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly. “I think if I ever had the chance to encounter anyone involved in that whole thing again, I’d be a lot crueller to them than you were.”
“I—You did?”
“Yeah. Drew’s fine. He was upset, he was hurt, but you were right—neither of them really thought about anything but getting out.” He holds his hands up when I begin to protest. “I’m not saying they were wrong to do that, either. But there are consequences. Everything we do has a consequence. I’m just glad that consequence isn’t you or Drew losing his best friend.”
I sniff back tears. “I thought you’d hate me. I made Drew cry.”
“No,” he says. He pushes his hands into his pockets. “I think part of me knew it was coming. I mean, I didn’t know about your wolf. I just knew you were avoiding Drew more than the rest of us. Adam, though…”
“He’s mad?”
“He was.” Sam grins. “He’s got a real blind spot where we’re both concerned. But you’re pack. He supports you, too.”
I swallow. Pack. I need to get to know my pack better. After this. After Asher.
A car pulls up and Sam squeezes my shoulder, then the back of my neck. He’s my pack’s second, and his touch has much the same effect on me as Kieran’s—tension leeches out of me and Sam smiles.
“Go get your mate,” he says.
I’m anxious the entire drive, knee bouncing as the taxi driver navigates the dark streets. It’s still relatively early in the night, so I’m not surprised to see a handful of people walking on Asher’s street when we get there. The driver pulls up at the kerb and I climb out, taking a deep breath of the night air.
I don’t remember being brought here, but Drew told me it’s where Asher found me. The twins asked me, didn’t they? Did I want to be abandoned near my pack or my mate?
My stomach twists. Asher’s probably asleep already—I hope he is, for his sake—but I need to set eyes on him. After everything they’ve said all day about how he went after me and fought for me, I need—
“Quinn?”
I turn, and there Asher is, standing just a few feet away. Fuck, hedoeslook tired, his tattoos standing out in stark relief against his pale skin. Grey smudges weigh down his eyes, but they’re wide with surprise—he’s not expecting me here.
Did anyone tell him I was awake?
“Asher,” I say, then push into his arms. He wraps them around me automatically, and I breathe in his scent, almost drowning in it. I thought I could smell him before, but this is a revelation. I shove my face against his throat and for a moment, I just breathe.
