Page 117 of Wolf Blood

I grimaced.

The conversation felt familiar.

"I knew enough about turned vampires to know I shouldn't have gone looking for Bloom in a public place."

"You had justdied,Harper. You came back as a vampire, but you still died. Velour was the one who should've gotten you somewhere safe and contacted whoever you wanted to contact. You were the victim."

My eyes stung. "I was also the monster. I still am. Even right now, while I'm emotional and you're telling me about difficult shit from your past, I still want blood."

"Thanks to breeding season, my instincts are screaming at me to fuck you while we're talking about the same difficult shit. If you're a monster, I am too."

The stinging became a burning. "How am I supposed to accept it?"

"Change the way you think about yourself." He paused. "I'm also partially to blame. If I'd known how Neve treated you, I would've made an effort to be... nicer."

"I don't think you have that setting, Rhone."

"I do. Somewhere."

"Deep down."

"Really deep," he agreed, absentmindedly lifting a finger to wipe away my tear. "I'll dig it up."

"For me? You shouldn't."

"I should."

"Your parents are the reason you never wanted a mate bond?" I asked.

"Yeah. Seemed like if the people who created me couldn't make it work, I'd be better off alone."

"Considering you're stuck withme, that's probably true."

"No. It's not. They couldn't make it work, but we can. Wewill."

"Will we?"

"Yes."

"How did your hatred for Maverick change during the war?"

"Our charm didn't get us far with murderous vampires or experienced werewolf warriors. We had to learn how to kill. His parents died, too. When neither of us had anyone left, we slowly warmed up to each other. It felt like we silently agreed that we'd become family."

"And your Alpha-ness?"

"I checked out after losing everything. Became a mindless killing machine. Had to stay detached to survive it, mentally. Maverick kept his head when I couldn't. He put the plan together to take over the Alpha Pack and end the war. I just followed it. Even when the fighting ended and I sort of came back, I couldn't eraseeverything. Who I'd been before was gone. This is what I had left."

"You said you had to choose to live for the people you loved and lost."

He nodded. "I just lived for Maverick, at first. He was going to get himself killed if I didn't. Eventually, I had to remind myself that I was living for Isa, because she never had the chance."

"What about you?" I asked."Who's going to live for you?"

He grunted. "Never thought about it. Maybe we can figure it out how to live for ourselves together, Trouble."

There was a flicker in my chest. Like the one I'd had in the hall with Oren, but stronger. So much stronger.

Hope.