Page 49 of Venomous as a Snake

I’m the picture of calm and composed when I stand from my chair. My heart burns, openly flowing as if the volcano inside me has picked this moment to erupt. The lava is words I hope I don’t regret saying aloud.

“While they were threatening you with my death, I was getting the same lecture. Be a good girl, or they’ll kill you. Give them an heir, or they’ll kill you. I went against my nature and fought for what I wanted. First, that was freedom. Then my mates. I achieved those goals. Now, the new dream I have involves the death of one insane bird and white feathers raining down around me.”

I shake my head, shrugging sadly. “I’m still fighting for what I want, Walker. And you’re still running from that swan like he holds your balls in his hand. That is your choice. I don’t have to like it to accept it. Just like you don’t have to like the decisions I’m making to stay the fuck out of my way.”

“Kody,” he growls, following me from the dining room.

“I wouldn’t,” Drew warns him.

And I know my honey badger won’t let him come after me tonight. We both know Walker needs time to remember what our shared goals have been for the last six years.

I don’t hear the rest of what’s said as I shut the front door between us. The conversation was over the moment he told me what the fuck I should be doing. Ali and Drew know it too.

This was similar to the last argument Walker and I had… Right before Clay caught us in the bedroom, slipping our shoes back on.

He didn’t like my plan to escape then, but it would have worked.

It did work.

It just took me another year to build my plan around his absence and my hidden status with Drew.

Freedom is nice.

I won’t give it up again.

Clay will have to kill me…

And while he’s delusional enough to try, he’s not smart enough to succeed.

I’m armed and venomous.

One day, these men will remember that.

Kody’s statement still rings loudly in my ears after two days of complete silence between us. I’ve made many decisions. Some that I regret, some that I don’t… But today, the choice rides me hard.

I can no longer take the separation.

Guilt swallows me, knowing I’m risking her life, though so is she. And she’s doing it willingly.

Because she wants to have her freedom.

That means something more to her than we understand. There’s more that she isn’t telling us. I know she’s hiding this truth from Drew, too. His eyes flare with the slightest anger when she says it, but why?

What hasn’t she told him?

She’s told Drew and me everything since we were kids. I understand why she wouldn’t tell me, but Ali doesn’t know either. So, there’s a reason.

And I’m determined to get to the center of all this bullshit today.

I hop the fence and stride across the yard, following the scent of my mate. I’m not sure what I’ll say, but at the very least, I owe her an apology for being an ass.

Backing her into a corner and ending up with my feelings hurt wasn’t my finest moment during dinner. I know she hates being trapped. Pushing her isn’t worth getting answers to questions that aren’t even important in the grand scheme of things.

Kody’s back door is unlocked, and her music is too loud. She won’t hear me, which means she won’t hear anyone else either.

She’s got to start locking her doors.

As I venture farther into her house, I see two cameras. Knowing Kody, she let Drew set them up, because arguing with a honey badger is pointless… And knowing Drew, those two exposed cameras are decoys.