Page 64 of Hunted

Guess we were really doing this now. “Yes. I’m sorry, but he did.”

West’s expression grew hard. Shoving a hand through his side-swept bangs, he paced across the room. “Did you tell him?”

I pushed away from the wall. “Yeah, we’re done here. But fuck you for asking.”

“Answer me.”

“You think I’d betray my family?”

“I don’t know. How did he find out about Cal?”

“Cal went to him when he was up in Dallas after he found out he was planning to come after you. And for the record, it was Phoenix Richards who leaked you being an Omega to Guillermo.”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” West’s voice was raw. “Why should I trust you?”

Beside me, Ellie had started to silently cry. I made no move towards her. Better that she see now what my gift did, the way it eventually poisoned everything I touched. My own brother believed the word of Phoenix fucking Richards over me.

“West,” my mother said sharply, but I cut her off.

“It was the night London challenged him to take back the North Austin pack. Phoenix was desperate. He called Guillermo, trying to do anything to get the challenge called off, offered to trade information. And he told him about you.”

“Fuck.” West swept a row of glasses off the bar. Topher backed off, jaw hard. I could tell from his expression he wanted to wolf out and rip the entire Tracer compound to shreds for targeting his mate. It was one of the reasons I liked the guy so much. He was super protective of my brother. “I just need a minute with this, okay? Guillermo was going to… use me?”

“He was going to try,” I said grimly.

“He might have thought he was,” my mother said. “But it never would have happened.”

West swiped at his eyes. “I absolutely hate that Cal is having to go up there, having to train when he doesn’t want to in order to protect me.” He glared at our mother. “So you would protect me and not Cal?”

“It’s not about protecting Calgary,” she said quietly. “Your brother can’t hide from what he is forever. Like it or not, he inherited my terrible magic. Eventually he has to learn to contain his gift or it could become very dangerous for him. Look at Matteo Rossi. We know very little about his early years, but I would guess he didn’t have a projectionist in his pack who knew what to do with his powers.”

“I know you’re angry with Guillermo,” I said. “But ultimately he just wants to keep us safe.” When West glared and Topher held him back, looking like he wanted to throat punch me, I held up a hand. “Rossi is out there, hunting for all of us. That’s not something we can hide from.”

“You chose this.” West shook his head. “You chose to join the Tracers, and that’s fine, but it was your choice. It’s different when it’s something you never wanted, when your powers were forced on you.”

“Yeah. Cause I wouldn’t know anything about having powers forced on me.”

“I only meant—”

“Save it.”

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out, saw that it was Guillermo and swiped to accept the call. “This isn’t really a good time.”

“There’s been a bombing.”

All the blood felt like it drained from my body. “Where?”

“Apparently a Tracer team went in without authorization. They were following up on a lead on Rossi using intel they weren’t authorized to have access to. And I understand it was on your orders.”

Fuck.

“I’ll take your silence as confirmation. You were set up. The advance team somehow didn’t pick up on the accelerant or they masked it with wolfsbane.”

“My team?” I managed.

“Two fatalities, both vampires. Their injuries were too severe. The shifters who were pulled from the building are being airlifted to the army base in San Antonio with severe burns.”

My stomach turned to ice. “Fallon?”