Redemption by Cara Carnes Read Free Book Online Page A

Redemption, to Adrik. He’d fix things. He always did.
     

Chapter Four
     
    Adrik stared at the door separating him from the woman he’d torn Hell’s Highway apart for, the one person capable of rending his soul. The life he’d once envisioned ended when she’d disappeared.
    Now she’d returned and he was lost.
    After a long heated discussion between his sentinels, Jarvis and the flyers from Command Central—via an antiquated ham radio—a decision had been made. He still wasn’t sure it was the best course of action, but he didn’t have much of a choice at this point. Jarvis and Trent had agreed sending a small group to investigate the potential facility was worth the risk.
    Strengthening The Alliance offered a formidable barrier between the NAH and Paraspecies lands, which ensured the safety of the packs and dens battling on the front lines. If there was a facility in Hell’s Playground, shutting it down could strike a major blow to their enemy.
    A part of him wanted to protect her. Another wanted nothing to do with her. The latter was losing ground quickly, though, as his mind processed her story. Regardless of the outcome, Adrik needed to see this through for closure. Heading into Hell’s Playground was dangerous, but at least it gave him a chance to reconcile his emotions with the events—see for himself if what she said was true. More importantly, he owed it to himself and the pack to figure out if his wolf could move on from the woman he’d intended to mate. Hell, maybe everything she said was true and everyone could move past the two miserable years she’d been gone.
    The flyers had wanted to question Mira immediately, but Jarvis and Adrik had managed to prevent that—thank fuck. His wolf couldn’t handle much more when it came to the female. Questions consumed him. Scenarios unmanned him.
    He took a deep breath and entered the room where he’d had her quartered. On a primal level he’d known the location wasn’t wise, but he didn’t give a damn. Trusting her protection to anyone else was out of the question.
    His gaze slid across the empty bed, past the vacant sofa and settled on the huddled mass of bloody filth in the corner of the room nearest the window. Guilt gnawed his insides. They’d been too harsh on her earlier.
    Treating her like shit, questioning her as though she was a traitorous bitch had been hard, but necessary. The pack didn’t trust her and neither would the flyers. Hell, he was foolish to believe her story, but it was Mira. The woman he’d intended to revolve his world around.
    What choice did he have?
    He closed the door and flicked the lamp on. The lone, rarely used light source cast a pale yellow glow. A halo of dust drifted in the room. Funny how he hadn’t noticed the small details before now. He hadn’t used his bedroom in weeks. Grabbing a few hours of sleep on a cot in the warrior barracks made more sense, kept him closer to the perimeter and his men.
    He walked over and checked the never-used thermostat. Was eighty three degrees too warm for a human? Probably. He adjusted it down a bit, but not too far. Doc had done a rudimentary evaluation of her condition before he’d let them remove her from Medical. She was a mess, but the white dragon healer thought he could heal most of her ailments once she was cleaned up.
    “Why did you bring me here?”
    He looked over at the huddled mass and stared into the cautious hazel eyes regarding him through a mop of muddied hair so ratted and tangled it’d take a decade to brush. His fingers itched to do exactly that. Caring for her, tending her every need, had once been his deepest desire.
    “I didn’t think you’d be comfortable in the barracks, especially tonight. We had a large infusion of people because of some attacks on NAH buses on their way here.”
    She huddled deeper into herself when he took a couple of steps forward and tossed his weapon belt on the end table beside his bed. Fuck. What the hell did he think he