Masquerade (Heven and Hell #1)(89)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“I’ll be waiting.”

Sam

I could still taste her on my tongue. The metallic tang of blood seemed to fill my mouth and stick between my teeth. I swallowed, forcefully. It made me sick. Ripping China apart had been good, exactly the kind of vengeance I wanted…but now that it was over – it made me sick. How she could destroy people like that and enjoy it was beyond me. A flashback of flinging around her remains made my stomach turn and the truck veered toward the side of the road. I righted the truck and fought back the memory. Sounds of ripping flesh and ragged breathing filled my head.

China had fought for her life…until there was literally nothing left to fight with. I could still see the look in her evil eyes when she realized that she was dead. I shuddered and tried to blink the memory away. But it wasn’t leaving. Her eyes…they had looked almost smug in a sick sort of way. Who acted smug when they knew they were going to die? It was almost as if she knew that she would haunt us even in death. But that was impossible. Wasn’t it?

Even still, that hadn’t been the worst thing about killing China. The worst thing was that Heven had seen it – seen what I was capable of.

How she still looked at me with love in her eyes I didn’t always understand. But I was grateful for it. I wasn’t going to let anyone take her from me. China had to die; she should have died a lot sooner than today. Refusing to give her a single second more of thought, I turned my attention back to the road and glanced in the rear view mirror.

Every mile I drove further away from Heven felt like a knife in my chest. I had wanted nothing more than to stay with her, just to reassure myself that she was fine and that the threat to her was gone.

Even though I knew that there was no longer a threat to Heven I still wasn’t able to relax. I guess I spent too long protecting her for those feelings just to vanish. I glanced at the clock and sighed. I still had two hours left on my shift at the gym. Thankfully, we weren’t busy, so when I told my supervisor I had to go home because a pipe had burst beneath the sink, he let me go. But only after he told me to come back once I shut off the water.

I pulled into the parking lot of Planet Fitness and parked the truck. Two hours I told myself. You can do this. Act normal for two hours. Forget that you just ripped apart your roommate and claimed leader over the group. Forget that they may not have listened to the order you gave them and you would have to take action.

The two hours I dreaded so much turned out to not be as bad as I thought. I thanked the Mindbond that I shared with Heven for that. The sound of her voice purring through my head throughout the remainder of my shift kept me from staring at the clock. When I finally walked through the parking lot toward the truck it was dark. The air wasn’t cold, but without the sun it wasn’t hot either. I knew that Heven was fine and safe at home, so I decided to stop by the apartment to see if my roommates had indeed decided to accept me as the leader…the Alpha.

I would know as soon as I arrived because if they were still in town I would know where we stood. I had enough energy in me tonight for another fight, but I didn’t relish the idea. I didn’t want to make good on my earlier promise and rip them to shreds. But I would if I had to, so I prayed they left. I didn’t enjoy killing, and while I might not like them…they were kind of like family. They were the only ones that I knew like me. Still, I couldn’t have them stay. They were loose cannons, threats to Heven’s safety and really to the entire town.

As I turned onto the main road I thought over the word that I really struggled to even say – Alpha. Being an alpha wasn’t really even something that seemed relevant to me. To me an alpha controlled a pack; he was the strongest, most cunning of the group. He could take on any challenge thrown at him and win. An alpha was the term for a werewolf leader. I was not a werewolf, nor did I think that any of the other characteristics of an alpha applied to me.

Sure, I was strong and had abilities. I was young, which up until this point, I think the others saw as a weakness…they didn’t realize that maybe it was a strength. But most of all, I think I was underestimated. They all thought my attraction to Heven was a phase, was just something that I played with. They hadn’t realized how deep my feelings for her go…perhaps because they themselves are not capable of that kind of affection. I think what gave me the advantage was that I was incredibly driven. Driven to keep what was mine safe.

Did those things make me an alpha? No. But if my roommates wanted to think that it did then I wasn’t going to argue. I could use it to my advantage and run them out of town. I could probably control Casey if they stayed. He was violent and he liked to stir up trouble, but I could probably convince him to lie low. But…Riley…he was a wildcard. I felt like he underplayed his abilities and his strengths. At first I hadn’t noticed, but the more time I spent with the group, the more apparent it became that he allowed China to be leader. Really, if we wanted to get into naming and calling alpha – I would have said Riley had that in the bag. In fact, I found it curious that he let me strong-arm them earlier today, agreeing to leave. That only meant one thing: Riley had an agenda of his own.

I pulled up to the apartment and sat in the dark staring out the window. I was tired. Not so much in body but in mind. The events of the past year had been draining. Worry over Heven’s safety and sanity had been all consuming. Now that the immediacy of the threats against her was removed, I felt as though I might be able to breathe easier.

I looked up at the apartment. A light was on. The tension that I had been allowing to drain away just moments before returned. There would be no relaxing while Casey and Riley were still in town. Maybe I hadn’t been as convincing earlier today as I had originally thought.

When I got to the apartment door I paused. Then without another thought, I put a shoulder to the door and sent it crashing in. It banged against the wall and bounced back to slam behind me. I let out a growl and launched even further into the room, catching Casey off guard. I slammed him up against the wall and held him firm, ignoring whatever he dropped at my feet.

“I told you to leave town.”

“Chill,” Riley said coming out of the bedroom carrying a large black duffel bag. “We were just leaving.”

I looked at Casey. He nodded, so I shoved away from him and looked down. There was a duffel bag at his feet as well.

“I thought you would be long gone by now.”

“We were just getting our stuff together,” Casey said, bending to pick up the bag and swing it behind his shoulder.