Anything to get away from there.
To not have to speak to Clint. Or acknowledge what he was. To not see the life he’d just taken.
It was too much.
It was all too much.
Boyd led me outside, and I avoided looking anywhere but right in front of my feet. I threw up again behind Boyd’s truck.
As I sat in the passenger seat, Clint came running up—naked, covered in blood. When he saw my face, he stopped. His eyes were wide and wild, but he looked… savage, and that scared the hell out of me.
He was the man I’d said I loved. He was the man whose child I was carrying.
“Drive away,” I snapped at Boyd, my chin quivering.
“I’m sorry,” Clint said through the glass. From the expression on his face, I believed him. He looked positively haunted. Of course, that could be the blood that coated his lips and chin. “I wanted to tell you.”
I forced myself to look away.
I couldn’t. How had I done this to myself again?
The pain in my chest just kept getting sharper with every passing breath.
I needed to get away from him.
To think.
I needed this to be over.
“Go!” I shouted, and Boyd finally put his foot on the gas, and we took off, wheels spinning.
22
CLINT
I dropped to my knees in the snow as Boyd’s truck departed with my mate and pup.
I would’ve called out to her, but I had no air left in my lungs. She’d taken it all with her.
The look on her face.
Fuck.
Tipping my chin back, I looked up at the black night and bellowed. I might have ripped the throat out of Donald, but my mate had ripped my heart from my chest.
I would never forget that look as long as I lived.
Pale. Sickened. Unbelievably hurt.
I couldn’t have fucked this up worse. I’d just killed a man in front of her. No, I’d killed a wolf. The first time she saw my wolf, and it was in a fight to the death.
I’d always known my job as council executioner would end my life early. I just hadn’t known it would be from heartbreak.
Losing a mate I’d never believed I could have.
Before I ever really had her. And a family.
“Come on, buddy, let’s get you in the cabin.” Two guys hauled me up by my arms—Rob and Rand. Rob spoke with a low, authoritative growl, but I barely heard it. Barely registered.
“Mate,” I murmured through numb lips.
“Boyd will take care of your mate,” Rand promised. “I still don’t understand why that shifter was here. And what did he have to do with Becky?”
I could barely move my legs to get into the cabin. They all but shoved me into the shower, and Rob turned on the spray. It was cold, but I didn’t feel it. I went through the quick motions of getting the blood and mud off me then stepped out to dry off. I found clothes on the vanity, and I put them on then went out and dropped on the couch. Rob, Rand, Colton and a shifter I’d never met were waiting. I smelled coffee. Someone must have started a pot.
“You gonna fill us in now?” Rand demanded, tossing a sweatshirt at me. I let it lay where it landed in my lap.
I glanced at Rob, who nodded.
“I’m a council enforcer,” I said. “Well, I was.”
The room went still. “You knew this?” Colton demanded of Rob then muttered, “Of course, you did.”
“Fuck, brother. For how long?” Rand asked. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs.
“Years.”
“Do Mom and Pop know?”
I shook my head. “Only Rob, until now.”
“Jesus, no wonder you’re so fucking… chill when you’re home.”
“Thanks,” I said, not feeling it.
“That guy was someone you’d been tracking?” Rand asked, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his thighs.
I shook my head then dropped it into my hands, elbows propped on my knees.
Rob took over explaining. “Clint carried out a council execution last week—shifter who’d been murdering convenience store workers in Wyoming.”
“I heard about that,” Colton said.
Rob nodded then leaned against the counter, as if settling in with his tale. “This was his cousin, Donald, who was after Becky to make Clint suffer, but Donald ran into her ex at her place first and killed him.”
“Fuck, I heard about that, too,” Colton added, taking off his hat and rubbing his head.
“Then Donald somehow found Clint up here.” Rob came over, dropped a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, bro. I don’t know how he found you. No vehicles came up the road past the ranch.”
“I’ve been tracking him by scent,” the stranger in the room said.
Everyone looked at him. It wasn’t like I’d been ignoring the guy, but I knew he was an enforcer, and I wasn’t going to out him. I also wasn’t going to ask his name. The less I knew, the safer it was for him.