Page 7 of Shackled to the World
“Your cell?” he asked tentatively.
She shook off her stray thoughts, the tightness in her chest easing until her breath no longer caught every few seconds. “Yup, my uncle decided I could be of use to him, so he trapped me in an underground prison for ten years.” She shrugged at the horror darkening the kid’s face. “I survived, but I don’t think your brother will without you.”
His face shut down again, and she stifled the urge to smack him silly. “You know what happens to lone wolves. Without a pack, they eventually go completely wolf. Is that what you want for him? To have him be hunted down and slaughtered? Are you honestly that selfish?” She leaned forward, yanking the blanket off the bed, completely fed up with him, the wave of sweaty warm air nearly making her eyes water. “Get your head out of your ass and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You did this to yourself. Pretend to give a fuck. If not for yourself, at least for him.”
Kevin sat up in bed, his face turning a mottled red, his body so emaciated, she shuddered at seeing him move like a freaking skeleton wearing skin.
“You don’t think I know what he sacrificed for me?” he snarled. “I’m a liability to him. I always have been. I thought with the drug…” Kevin laughed bitterly. “Without my wolf, I’m nothing.”
Her anger deflated.
She could understand doing anything to help the guys, even sacrificing herself to save them. “You—”
“Just tell me if I’ll ever get my wolf back.” He stared up at her in defiance, a shard of hope lurking in his eyes.
But she couldn’t give him what he wanted.
“You might not have your wolf, but you’re not human. You may eventually gain your extra senses and strength back. You can live a full life, which is more than what you had the day before.”
His eyes dropped in defeat, the hope burned to ash, and the last bit of life drained out of him. “I’d be useless, prey to every other supernatural.”
“Not useless. You can—”
“Sit behind some desk?” he asked in revulsion, grabbing the blanket to cover himself again.
She lifted her brows at him, fed up with his poor-me attitude. “Grow up. You’re not a kid anymore. You forfeited the rest of your childhood when you took the drugs that destroyed your beast. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Don’t you think I don’t know that?!” His hoarse shout was anguished.
A strange idea began to form. If he didn’t want to live to help himself or his brother, she would give him what worked for her—vengeance. “What I’m saying is that you can still be part of the team. You’re not useless…or at least you don’t have to be. You know a lot about Director Erickson, his weaknesses and strengths. We need to go after him, which means we’ll need someone to guide us in the outside world, do research…someone behind a desk who can lead us to the fucking bastard. Wolves are supposed to be cunning. Use that cunning to help your brother survive.”
He stared at her mutely, as if too scared to speak…or hope.
“Erickson needs to be stopped.”
“He needs to pay.” Kevin nodded slowly. “And you’d trust me to have your back?”
“I trust that you want him to pay. I trust that you’d do whatever it takes to protect your brother.” She sat at the edge of his bed, then leaned forward to rest her arms across her knees, suddenly tired. “Erickson has murdered hundreds of shifters during his reign of terror. He’s insane, believing any sacrifice is worth it in his quest for power. His drug destroyed your life, and he’ll keep doing it to others.”
“He never forced any of us to take the drug.” Kevin’s brown eyes lowered in shame. “I did that on my own.”
“And you’re paying the price.” She placed her hand on his blanket-covered ankle. “Who’s going to makehimpay?”
A heartbeat, then two, passed, until she shrugged and stood. “Think about it. Maybe if you decide to live, your beast might be able to heal. You might not ever be able to shift again, but maybe you’ll be able to keep your extra senses, keep the extra strength. You could make it be enough.”
As she turned to go, Kevin spoke, “You’re going to get yourself and your pack killed going after him.”
She halted, her mouth snapping shut against the urge to protest, everything inside her shutting down as she turned to face him.
“You’re too nice.” Kevin stared her down without flinching. “You help people who are weak, stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong. People will notice, and they’ll see your kindness as weakness. It’s a vulnerability they’ll exploit.”
She couldn’t say he was wrong. Her uncle used that vulnerability against her often enough in the past, but she didn’t want to be like her uncle or Erickson. She didn’t want to harden her heart, because she was terrified she’d become an even bigger monster than the rest of them put together. Thankfully, the guys grounded her. They’d never let her go off the deep end. “That might be true, but you forgot to take something into account.”
She strode toward the door, more than ready to leave, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to glance over her shoulder at him. “I’m more than willing to do whatever it takes to protect my pack. If I have to tear down the world to do it—I won’t hesitate. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, even if I have to stick them into someone’s chest and rip out their heart to do it. Get out of bed, eat, train, and for god’s sake take a shower. We can talk to Director Greenwood when you’re in better shape.”
His face turned beet red. He dipped his head and smelled himself, then winced and jerked back.
She took it as a good sign. As she headed up the stairs, she forced herself not to charge up them like a lunatic, refusing to let her fears control her.
