Chapter 316
Chapter 316
My chest tightened painfully. I didn’t want to imagine Avery spending her final moments with water in her lungs. Or her head in the jaws of a hungry mountain lion. “There’s something else,” Tegan said, scratching his head. “We discovered that a significant amount of jewels and money is missing from the treasury. We believe Avery took them before she went after Deirdre p>
I stared at my Beta in shock. “What p>
Tegan closed his notebook. “Given that she never made it past the river, the money is probably lost p>
I turned away from him. Avery had stolen from the pack. Killed Deirdre. And then died trying to escape.
None of it made sense. This wasn’t the Avery I knew. She wouldn’t do something like this.
But then I remembered the way she’d looked at me in Asher’s camp. The coldness in her eyes. The way she’d stood there while he tortured me.
Maybe I didn’t know her as well as I thought
“Continue the investigation,” I said firmly. Search the river. Search the forest. I want confirmation p>
“Yes, Sir p>
Tegan left, and I walked back into the greenhouse and sent the other men away with a snap of my fingers. They scattered like roaches. Once I was alone, I crouched next to Deirdre’s body.
Her face was pale and bruised. The wound on her temple was gruesome, caved in where the rock had struck. Her eyes were closed. I stared at her for a long moment. This was the woman who had betrayed me. Who had worked with the Rogue King.
And now, she had accomplished her final goal.
She had taken the one thing I cared about the most in this world,
“Fuck you,” I whispered,
Suddenly, Deirdre’s eyes shot open. She gasped, arching her back away from the ground. I cursed and stood, stumbling back,
“What the fuck?!” I shouted.
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Chapter 316
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Deirdre and I stared at each other for a long moment. As her consciousness returned, realization seemed to wash over her.
Then, suddenly, she shot to her feet, shifted, and leapt through a shattered window.
“Deirdre!” I shouted. “Get back here p>
I searched for Deirdre for the rest of the night, but she’d vanished. The guards reported seeing her run into the forest, but they couldn’t track her. She’d disappeared into the wilderness.
By dawn, I was back at the river. Standing on the dock. Staring at the water.
I would not rest until I had confirmation that Avery was either alive or dead. Whichever it was, I refused to stop searching until then. Even if I had to dredge Deirdre up out of the pit of hell from which she crawled out of for answers, I would not stop.
But if Avery was truly gone…
I closed my eyes. The thought was unbearable.
I had never told her how I felt. Never told her that I loved her. That she was more than just my mate. More than just the mother of my heir.
She was everything to me. I loved her so much.
And I’d let her slip away before I could man up enough to say it out loud.
“If you’re truly dead,” I said quietly, staring at the ripples on the water, “then I’ll never forgive myself. I’ll never love another. I’ll spend the rest of my life hating myself for not telling you the truth when I had the chance p>
The words went unanswered, of course, but the promise was set in stone the moment the vow left my lips.
I would find her. Even if it took the rest of my life.
And I would never, ever forgive myself for the way I had treated the woman I loved.
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