Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
LUPE
T urner, of all people, bombarded me as soon as I was away from the others. He followed me back to the tent I shared with my brothers and mate, that perpetual scowl of his firmly in place.
I whirled around to face him, trying not to lose myself to the wrath slithering beneath my skin like angry vipers.
“You shouldn't be here,” I growled.
This damn tent would never be our home, but it was close enough for the time being. My mate and brothers slept here. It was supposed to be our sanctuary.
This asshole didn't have the right to intrude.
I still hadn’t entirely wrapped my head around the fact that Z was back. Alive. Unharmed. Seeing her was like being given a bucket of fresh water after months of traveling through a desert. I felt like I could finally suck in a breath that didn’t scorch my throat when she was near.
Shit had hit the proverbial fan when she was away, but some of the changes had been for the better. We had the majority of the mages on our side, willing to fight with and for us. Despite Z and Bash’s beliefs, I didn’t think the mages had any ulterior motives. I saw firsthand the reverence on their faces when they swore loyalty to Bash and Z.
I didn’t know how to explain the change, at least not with words. No, it wasn’t as if their personalities drastically changed in the span of days. But it was almost as if they began to see humans as…living beings, instead of playthings and toys. Maybe the mages had always been sympathetic to the humans but were too afraid to speak out. That was definitely a possibility.
Not all nightmares were innately evil or had malicious aspirations. Some were just…scared and confused. They saw the way the world worked and didn’t know how to change it.
Until Z came along.
The humans and nightmares of the resistance had been working together in relative harmony. At least, most of us had been.
Not Turner.
The man’s shrewd glare never left my face as he stepped farther into the tent.
“What do you want, Turner?” I snapped.
I wanted to get back to my mate and Dair, even knowing that they needed the time to talk.
“How long do you think I’ll allow you to pull my chain?” His scowl tugged at the scar bisecting his cheek.
“What the fuck are you ranting about?” I demanded.
“It’s been over a week,” Turner bit out from between clenched teeth. “Do you ever plan on helping us free the humans from your family’s camps?”
A muscle in my jaw thrummed.
Tanner had brought this up at every available opportunity. It was for that reason alone that he had been removed from the meetings. We had tried to explain time and time again that the camps were controlled by men and women loyal to my father. They wouldn’t bat an eye before they put me down. It was why we were collecting an army from the other kingdoms first and foremost. It was the only way we would stand a chance.
But he wouldn’t listen, no matter what I said.
Turner’s body began to tremble, and his eyes glistened. Something occurred to me then, and I stared at Tanner in a new light.
“Who do you know that’s in the camps?” I asked softly.
Shock registered on his face for a fraction of a second before he smoothed out his expression.
Even still, his voice shook when he rasped out, “My wife and daughter.”
And everything clicked into place.
I still hated the man, but I understood him. If Z had been trapped in one of those camps, I would stop at nothing to get her back. And if I were to have a daughter…
Turner must’ve seen something in my face, maybe a shift in my stance or a softening of my scowl, because his own features hardened, his eyes turning flinty. “I don’t need your damn pity.”
“It’s not pity.” I removed my glasses and rubbed at my forehead. “It’s empathy, you dumbass.”
His brows twitched. “Empathy?”
“I would do the exact same thing if I were in your shoes.” I carefully set my glasses back on my nose. “And I promise you, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure?—”
“Your promises mean shit without action to back them up,” Turner snapped, red blotches erupting on his cheeks.
A growl worked its way up my chest. My bear was becoming restless and angry. It was very rare that the beast within me gave in to my volatile nature, but when it happened, as it inevitably did thanks to my sin, it was usually explosive.
I forced myself to take a calming breath, to remind myself that Turner wasn’t the enemy even though he was a humongous asshole.
“What do you suppose we do? Raid the camps, knowing that we’ll get slaughtered?”
Turner sneered. “Don’t act like you give a shit about any of us. Despite what the others may believe, I have two working eyes.” He took a step closer, anger etched into every line of his face. “You guys are your fathers’ sons, after all.”
A burst of rage blossomed inside of me. “We are not like those bastards.”
“Then why are the camps still up?” Turner exploded. “You are supposed to be in charge?—”
“If we had any power, do you really think we would allow our mate to risk her life doing these stupid trials?” I demanded, that anger festering like a snowball rolling down a hill. I bared my teeth at the idiotic human. “We are doing everything in our power?—”
“That’s not good enough.” Turner reached into his pocket and grabbed out what appeared to be…a gun. An actual fucking gun.
He leveled it at my chest.
“What are you doing, Turner?” I demanded, holding my arms in the air.
I knew he wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually kill me—at least, I hoped he wouldn’t—but I didn’t understand what he got from threatening me. I supposed he was desperate, and desperate men would do desperate things.
“This is a tranq gun,” Turner said in a deceptively soft voice. “Enough to take out a three-hundred-pound cow. Or a bear.”
A cold grin curled up one corner of his lips.
“Is that your plan?” I demanded, wondering if I should be incredulous or amused. “Drug me? And then what? Bring me to one of those damn camps and wait for me to wake up? You certainly aren’t stupid enough to think you could trade my life for the ones in the camp. Even if someone agreed, you’ll have to be an idiot to believe they’ll follow through with it. So what’s the plan, Turner? Tell me.”
I was genuinely curious, even as my heart thumped a little faster in my chest, some of that dormant rage giving way to fear.
Because Turner could give me to one of the shifters in my father’s territory. He wouldn’t get his wife and child released, but I’d be dead.
And if I were dead, I wouldn’t be able to protect Z.
Turner’s hand trembled around the gun. Indecision sparked in his eyes, bursting to life like flickering embers. Then, with a curse, he dropped the gun back to his side.
“FUCK!” He threw his head back and screamed at the early morning sky through the tent, almost as if he expected it to respond.
Without a word, he pushed back the tent flap and stormed away.
I remained where I was, watching him go with an uneasy feeling trilling through my veins.
Turner’s desperation was making him crazy—crazier than usual, that was. How long until he snapped completely and did something he couldn’t take back? I needed to talk to the others and decide how we wanted to proceed. Someone needed to keep an eye on Turner and make sure he didn’t do something that fucked up all of our plans.
But even as I thought that, that wary feeling exploded outwards like a bomb, debris and shrapnel shooting in every direction.
Turner had already left the resistance base. I knew that in the depths of my soul. He wasn’t the type of man to just sit around when the people he loved were in danger.
Now we just needed to figure out what, exactly, he planned to do.