Page 188 of Caged Between the Beta & Alpha
“Did he say anything before he passed?” Zack asked.
“He did say something,” one of the male nurses replied, frowning.
“What was it?” I asked, wondering who would be the one to tell Owen’s parents he was gone. If he came out of this innocent… which we were pretty sure he was… then he had died with his reputation tarnished, even if he was a Grade-A asshole.
“She isn’t done.” My stomach sank, and I turned away, running a hand through my hair.
“Fuck,” Zack growled.
“He probably knew something… maybe that’s why he was targeted,” I muttered.
The killer was still out there, and they seemed to have bought themselves some more time. I left the hospital with my head spinning. Was it the killer who had helped Raven’s dad? We all knew he’d had help.
I sighed heavily, the sun beating down on me as I continued walking, mulling over everything. We needed a plan to lure the killer out; we couldn’t just let them do what they wanted.
The other thing was the graveyard. Although the suggestion to dig up some of the fresher soil and see if we could find anything was put forward, no one really wanted to do that, knowing it would upset the parents of those buried there.
A familiar scent hit my nose, and I glanced up, spotting Robyn sitting under a tree, a notebook and pen in hand. She was dressed for the weather in shorts and a fitted top. Still alone… like always. She looked up as if feeling watched.
“Hi,” she said, looking back at her diary.
“Hey…” Our eyes met, and my heart skipped a beat, throwing me off.
“If you have nothing to say, Nicholson. Move on,” she replied.
“Ouch, you got harsh,” I joked, still not approaching her.
“I’ve always been straightforward, remember? The reason I have no friends,” she said, returning to her diary. She was a good person. People needed to just look past her blunt personality, but even that was a good trait of hers, or so I thought anyway.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
She really had shut me out. She stood up, her eyes softening, and she gave me a small apologetic smile as she walked over to me.
“I’m sorry, Damon, but I can’t do this. Pretend that everything is okay. I’m not you,” she whispered, the pain in her eyes unmasked for a moment.
“I’m not expecting anything. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” She placed a finger to my lips and nodded in understanding.
“I know. It’s just that you’ve been hurt enough, and I don’t want to hurt you anymore,” she said before turning and walking off.
I swallowed hard; I knew what she meant… when she found her mate…
She was right. I needed to stay away from her, and if that meant even a ‘hi or bye’… then that, too.
It was latein the afternoon. I knocked on Liam’s office door before stepping inside. To my surprise, he was alone. I didn’t know why, but I was expecting Raven to be there with him. His aura was stronger than ever, and his eyes still shone magnetic blue. Were they going to stay like that, like Dante’s?
“Nice eyes,” I said with a smirk.
“Thanks, I kind of like them,” he joked back; they just made his scar look even more piercing. The atmosphere seemed to lighten, and he smiled slightly.
My gaze fell to his neck, seeing Raven’s mark on him. I smiled. It was… bittersweet, I guess.
“Did you hear about Owen’s final words?” I asked.
“Yeah, Zack mentioned it; a female, as we thought. I’ve sliced out half the females who were on the suspicion list, going back by their families. The tracker families and the omegas remain since some of them have no known fathers,” Liam said.I’m surprised he was working, considering what happened yesterday…
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I asked quietly. He cocked a brow.
“I’m good as new. We can’t waste any more time. Now that the curse is gone, I can give it my all. Besides, I didn’t get here that long ago,” he said with a small smile.
