He put his hands on my legs, pressing them into the bed so I couldn’t move. “Wait. Slow down.”
“Wait? I can’t wait. Adrian said the sooner the better. We have to go now. I don’t know how much longer he has, and I need to go.” He didn’t understand. I’d given Luciana the power to hurt my brother and do all kinds of evil. Everything I did was bad. And wrong. When I’d tried to make it right, I’d only made everything that much worse for everyone around me. Now I finally had a chance to fix that. My chest heaved as I spoke. “I have to do this. I have to save my brother. And I have to save the pack. If one more person gets hurt because of me… I don’t think I could survive that.” Tears welled and fell. He couldn’t give me hope and then snatch it away. “I’ll rest later. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad? You were unconscious. For hours.” His eyes glowed and I could almost see the wolf fighting to break free. “I didn’t say we weren’t going to go, but it’s already dark and we’re going to have to trek through the forest again. I’d do fine as a wolf, but it’s too dangerous when you don’t have another form.”
I took a breath to calm myself and realized by the ache that the pain pills were still percolating. I’d be useless if we left now. “I see your point.” And I’d made an idiot of myself. Again.
Lucas gently cupped my face in his hand, lifting my chin until my gaze met his. “I can’t pretend to understand what you’ve been through, but I know you’ve had to make hard choices and sacrifices. No one should ever blame you for trying to protect your family. You were just a child when it all started.”
I swallowed. It was true. I had been a child. But I’d made so many mistakes. And yet, if I could go back in time, I wasn’t sure how I could change things.
His thumb brushed against my jawline, and goose bumps broke out over my skin. “You’ve done a good job,” he said the words plainly, like he knew they were the truth.
I’d tried so hard to do good, but it always felt like I was wrong. Hearing him say I was doing a good job… It was the first time anyone had ever said that to me.
I couldn’t help the embarrassing sob that broke through. I covered my face. God. I hadn’t cried about any of this in so long. I couldn’t start now.
“You’ve done a good job, Claudia.” He pulled my hands from my face, and brushed the tears away. “But this isn’t your fault. What Luciana has done isn’t your fault.”