Chapter 0351

“A Lycan might be aware of us now.”

“And you didn’t eliminate him?” Her tone is sharp with disbelief.

“Hannah refused. She believes she can persuade him to stay silent.”

“Then act first. I already know. Athena knows. Alexander likely knows too—Athena tells him everything, or he reads her mind, just like Sebastian reads mine. Neither has spoken up because they’re both mated to someone unexpected. And from what I understand about Hannah, she doesn’t judge what you do. You did kill the man who marked her and held her captive.”

I nod, turning her words over in my mind.

“Did you know back then?” she asks. “When I brought her to the house, did you know she was your mate?”

“Yes.”

“And you waited all this time?”

“Yes.”

“Because she’s a Lycan?”

“Yes. And because it would mean replacing my deceased mate.”

“So you believe that’s it? That you’re never allowed to be loved again?”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“It really isn’t,” she mutters.

“It’s not simple.”

She laughs softly, then curls in as a wave of pain hits. “I told you not to make me laugh!”

“I wasn’t trying to.”

“You think this is complicated?! This is the easiest problem you could have. At least she isn’t human. Can you imagine explaining everything to a human?”

Maybe she was the right person to talk to. Athena would have left me with more questions than answers. Or I would’ve gotten lost watching her soul.

“There’s only so much I can say,” Brianna smiles weakly. “Ultimately, you have to make the decision, not me. But if you can’t handle it, let her go. It isn’t fair—not after everything she’s been through.”

“That’s part of the problem.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“I can’t let her go either.”

“Or maybe you don’t truly want to,” she shrugs.

“Annoyingly, I think you’re right.”

“I usually am.” She gives me a knowing look.

I glance around. The hospital is eerily quiet. No one else is here. “Where is everyone?”

“Sebastian went with Theodore to get supplies.”

“He left you alone.”

She nods, her smile fading. “I told him to. Every time I look at him, I want to cry.”

“He doesn’t blame—”

“I know he doesn’t. It’s like your situation—it’s complicated. I know he feels what I’m feeling, and somehow that makes it worse, when it should help. Does that make sense?”

“If I couldn’t see your soul, I’d say no. But there’s a hole in you where something was once whole. A hole Sebastian doesn’t have. He feels the loss too, just differently. Don’t shut him out. He lost it too.”

“At least you didn’t tell me I’d get over it.”

I frown. “Who would say something like that?”

“When I was human, my father said it to my mother right after he beat her brutally. She lost a baby because of what he did.”

“Then it’s a good thing you killed him.”

She nods, her gaze drifting past me. I catch Sebastian’s scent approaching and prepare to leave.

“Thanks for coming,” she says softly.

“I’ll see you later. I need to find my mate.”

I head back into the forest where I left Hannah. Her jasmine scent still lingers in the air. I follow it to the ruins of Brianna’s burned house.

But strangely, her scent shifts direction, heading south deeper into the woods. Another scent accompanies hers—a Lycan’s. The same arrogant one who was questioning her.

I track the scents and footprints deeper and deeper until they abruptly stop. Her scent vanishes completely.

“HANNAH!”

No answer. One of Alexander’s wolves appears. “Is there a problem?”

“How far south am I?”

“Almost at the border.”

“Has anyone passed through here?”

“I would’ve seen them. Is someone missing?”

“Still determining.”

I crouch, tracing the last set of tracks. My eyes scan the trees above. Nothing. Wolves can’t scent Lycans in Lycan form, but I can. Someone shifted here.

That bastard took Hannah!