Isaiah’s lips thinned and Meredith could see he was grasping for patience. “Why would I do that? I was shot at tonight too.”
“So you say,” Michael sneered. “We only have your word on that. And as to why…” He pointed to the bed. “Maybe so you could come to the rescue and play hero. But we don’t need you. We took care of the hunters who attacked us on our own.”
“Michael,” she began, even as her mind started picking through the facts.
“You can’t dismiss this as coincidence,” her son insisted.
All eyes were on her now. She had a decision to make that was too important to all of them for her to make a mistake. “No, I can’t dismiss it.”
Michael inclined his head and she could see the look of triumph in his eyes. Isaiah just stared at her, his eyes blank.
“Do you truly believe I’d knowingly bring the hunters to your doorstep?” Isaiah asked. He grabbed the towel that Benjamin had held clenched between his teeth and used it to wipe his hands. Hands that were coated with her son’s blood. He’d saved Benjamin’s life. None of them could have removed that bullet, not without possibly causing even more injury. They just weren’t skilled enough.
She owed him respect and honesty, if nothing else. “No. I don’t believe you’d knowingly bring bounty hunters down on us.” He sighed and his head dropped down, his chin almost to his chest. She hated the blow she was going to have to deal him, but she had no choice.
“But what about unknowingly? You said you’re in the city on business, but you never said what kind. Could the hunters have been following you and stumbled on us?”
He raised his head and she read the indecision in his eyes. He wasn’t certain. Oh, God. This had happened because of him.
Everything came tumbling down on her at once. One son was injured, the other one had been forced to kill to protect them. If the hunters knew where they were all their lives were in danger. Their livelihood was threatened. Their home. Where would they go if they had to leave Chicago? It was home.
Fury blasted out of her and she spoke before she could think. “This is all your fault. I wish you’d never stepped foot inside Haven. I wish I’d never laid eyes on you.”
Even as her heart was screaming for her to stop, the bile spewed from her mouth in an unending torrent. She needed someone to blame. Even though she knew it wasn’t intentional. Even though she knew she was to blame for not protecting her pack better.
What had she been thinking to go to a park so close to home, a small park at that, to settle the challenge between her and Michael? It could have waited.
She’d always known it was inevitable for either hunters or other werewolves to find them eventually if they stayed in one spot for any length of time. Still, she couldn’t stop the anger that was boiling over inside her.
She’d fought her entire existence for the peaceful life she’d created here with her family. And now it was gone. Forever.
“Go.” She pointed to the door.
Without a word, Isaiah marched to the door, shoulders stiff, head held high. He didn’t look at her as he walked away. This was an eerie replay of their last parting. Except this time she knew it was for good. He wouldn’t be back. Not this time.
Pain crushed her and she fell to her knees. Michael put his hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away from him. She couldn’t bear for anyone to touch her.
Her skin hurt, her entire body ached. Inside, her wolf howled in pain. She’d just sent away the man she loved to protect her pack. She’d struck out at him instead of getting on her knees and thanking him for saving her son’s life. The responsibility of protecting her six children was crushing her. But she was strong and they were her life.
They needed to see her be a true leader, in command of the situation. Able to put the good of the pack first and make the hard choices that needed to be made.
She pushed herself to her feet, waiting until she was certain her legs would hold her before she spoke. “Let me know if there’s any change in Benjamin.” Her voice sounded as dead as she felt as she trudged out of the room. Hank started to speak, but she held up her hand. “Not now. Not…”
Meredith didn’t remember how she made it across the hall to her apartment, but suddenly she was in her bedroom. The rumpled bedclothes from the night before were still there.
Isaiah’s essence permeated the room. She doubted she’d ever be able to sleep in this room again without remembering the hours she’d spent in his arms. Tumbling down onto the bed, she closed her eyes.
The tears started as a trickle and soon became a torrent. She cried for her sons’ loss of innocence. Until tonight their world had always been secure. Yes, the threat had been there, but it had never hit quite this close to home before.
She cried for her adopted children and the home they might all have to abandon.
But mostly she cried for herself. She’d lost something precious and irreplaceable tonight. Something special and fine. And the worst part of it was she’d do the same thing again. She couldn’t put anything above the safety of her children.
What if she trusted him with their secret? a voice in the back of her mind asked.
It was too late for that. Even if she thought she could trust Isaiah with such a huge thing, the time for that had come and gone.
Isaiah was out of her life for good. As quickly as he’d come, he’d disappeared. She didn’t even know where to find him if she wanted to. North Carolina, he’d said. But that was a large state. Chicago was still their home, until they decided differently.
She’d only known him for a short number of days, but it didn’t matter. In her heart she knew he’d lay his life on the line for her and for all her children. But realization had come too late, smothered by anger and fear.
Meredith had sent him away and he wouldn’t be back.
She cried until she had no more tears left. Her eyes were puffy and swollen when she pushed herself off the covers without having slept a wink. The sun was rising and there was work to be done.
She stripped off her clothing and headed toward the bathroom. A shower and a cup of coffee would help, but she didn’t think she’d ever feel fine again. How could she? She was a woman without a heart. She’d sent hers away with the man she’d publicly scorned.
Chapter Twelve
“What the fuck happened?”
Quinn held the phone away from his ear as Steve Macmillan continued to rant. When he finally ran out of steam, Quinn spoke. “We stumbled across a group of werewolves. Must have been a meeting of some sort. On neutral ground.”
They’d been following one possible werewolf. They hadn’t expected to find more. He glanced down at the rifle lying on the front seat of his truck. He’d started down this road. There was no going back now.
“Jones texted that there were two females in the group.”
Quinn’s gut clenched. “Yeah.”
“Shit.” They all knew that Macmillan was searching for one particular female. Quinn didn’t quite know the details, but he knew it had something to do with the death of the man’s father.
“Jones and Warren took the ones in the park, while Collins followed the big guy. I was on the rooftop, as ordered.” Quinn threw that last bit in. He hadn’t wanted to play sniper, but he was the new guy in this group and did what he was told. He hoped like hell he’d made the right decision by shooting one of the hunters instead of the damn werewolf. His life was getting more complicated by the second.
“Why didn’t you get the sonofabitch?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? And he needed a good answer. “He moved too damn fast. Then he took off for the park again. I didn’t have a good angle and the cops were moving in.”