The Alpha's Desire 5 by Willow Brooks Read Free Book Online Page A

tornado of my thoughts, which had prevented me from even closing my eyes, attempting sleep, the flight back had been thankfully boring. Very little to no chitchat went on, and no turbulence had been hit. I had tried to pick up on their emotions, to see if they too felt nerves before a fight, but all I could manage was to feel Lex whose death grip on me, whether holding my hand or having his arm around my shoulder, never let up in the hours it took us to get back to the States.
     
    The strain of having so much time alone with my thoughts lifted as soon as I stepped off the plane and rushed into Nira’s outstretched and waiting arms. While I’d only known the woman a few days prior, the way we’d met had bonded, then left us lifelong friends. I felt closer to her than any friend I’d left behind here. Thoughts of my strained relationship with Chloe hit me another second before I wiped it from my mind, giving into the hard press of Nira’s arms around me. The woman was genuinely happy to see me, like she would have been any long lost friend. Not that seven months was that long, but I’d gone through more than a lifetime of changes since I’d last seen the vampire and her crew. (It says Christina only knew the woman a few days prior, and then says it was seven months since they’d seen each other?)
     
    Her face had to be lined with worry, as the vampires didn’t age anymore. Her eyes that had sparkled last time I’d seen her looked dark and tired. I knew it had nothing to do with a need for sleep, and everything to do with the weight on her shoulders to keep people safe once a mad man and his loyal men brutalized their city.
     
    Guilt flooded my system once again. I couldn’t stop the feeling that if I’d just been able to kill Daniel last time that none of this would have happened no matter what anyone said to me. It scratched away at my brain, my emotions, a little bit at a time. I’d talked to myself until I’d been sick of hearing my own thoughts to no avail on the way here. I could think it all I wanted, still my feelings didn’t listen, wouldn’t change just because I told them too. 
     
    I needed to be ready this time, to end him or anyone else that lived to hurt others. While even as a wolf I had no thirst for blood, I needed to defend, to protect, and my canine mouth had been built for such if need be. This time the need did be. This time I would own up to my responsibility no matter what if it were to be laid upon my shoulders again. Selfishly, again, I hoped it wouldn’t.
     
    “I’m so sorry, Nira, that this is happening again,” I said coming out of the long, endearing hug.
     
    “This is not your fault, dear. I knew you would be carrying the guilt of it. You do not control him. He has to answer for his own actions. He could have been grateful you spared his life. He could have used that opportunity to change his ways. But that was not the course he chose. This has nothing to do with you. These are all his issues, the fault all his own, though, unjustly, I’m sure he bears none.  The man is a monster. The things he has done. It is time he is put to a stop,” Nira replied.
     
    I nodded, as everyone seemed to get that but me. It had been repeated enough, even if I didn’t comprehend it yet, I was a lost cause myself in a way. I’d been good all my life of acting one way even though I’d felt another; that way, if you acted fine even if you weren’t, at least everyone stopped asking you how you were as a little motherless girl. That trait alone had saved me then, and would this time too if put in the situation again to end Daniel.
     
    “We all feel the same,” another vampire that I recognized from the last time I’d been with the group said, a kind smile on her face of welcome. “We are grateful to have you and the Royals here to help. So grateful. I can’t explain how it has been and what a relief seeing you come to our aid is.”
     
    “We are happy to be here to help you, to