He snatches my arm. “Alex, she’s dying. You’re going to get shot.”
Those glowing green eyes pin me in place, daring me to defy him. Even while he looks like a demon ready to pounce, I see the concern past the facade of power, his fingers clutching me like I’m about to run directly to my death—which very well might be true.
“We have to get her,” I say firmly while yanking my arm away. “You think I want to let her die out there like that? What happened to you accusing me of shooting her?”
“I got confused.”
I scoff. “Well, now you’re fucking confusing me.”
“I got worried, okay? I thought you were going to hurt me, too.”
My eyebrows rise as I stare right into him, seeing the awful anxiety dwelling in his soul. He’s afraid I’m going to hurt him.
When the hell did he start being afraid of that?
I shake my head. “We don’t have time to argue. We can get her if we work together.”
He glances out the window, the gears in his brain turning as his eyes flit across the courtyard. After a second, he nods and turns to me. “Stay behind me. And stay low. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Following his instructions feels like a walk in the fucking park. Though my back aches with the expectation that I’m going to be shot at any given second, I race after Parker, grabbing my mother’s arms while he grabs her legs. We drag her into the foyer, leaving behind a smeared trail of blood that makes me want to throw up.
“Go get towels,” I tell him frantically. “A pad. A tampon. Something. I need to plug this up.”
“Don’t…bother…”
A gasp rattles from my mouth as I pull my mother into my arms. I search the front of her dress for the bullet wound. Since she hit the ground, too much blood has soaked the fabric. I can’t tell what’s what, and I’m freaking out.
I shake my head. “No, Mom. We just have to stop the bleeding.”
“Fuck the bleeding.” She coughs, blood sputtering from her lips. I close my eyes and squeeze out a few tears. When I focus on her, she whispers, “Everything I did was to keep your position secure.”
She wheezes and then sucks in a breath. The way her eyes widen makes me sick.
I look at Parker and hiss, “Towels.”
Mom waves her hand lazily. “Don’t…”
“This isn’t fair,” I claim. “You can’t leave. I can’t be alone.”
“You won’t be alone.” She glances at Parker, who looks utterly stunned. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him frozen. “It’s your turn to take over. I tried too…” She coughs again. “I tried too hard to cling.”
My lower lip quivers as I hug her loosely. “I was hurt because I wanted you to love me. Don’t you know that? I wanted us to be close. I hate how we fought all the time.”
“Alexandra, I do love you. I’ve always loved you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
She raises her hand to my cheek and strokes it lightly. “I’m so…scared…for you.”
When her hand drops, my stomach flips and I shake her, trying to get her to wake back up. Air hisses slowly from her lips and then she slumps in my arms, becoming a dead weight on my legs. A long stretch of silence invades the foyer. Outside, the wind blows, and I can faintly hear the crackle of fire from the vineyard.
Smoke infects my nostrils. I’m suddenly aware of the silence, of how alone I am with Parker. He doesn’t move, and he doesn’t seem to want to move, the two of us stricken by the events that unfolded over the past hour. Fuck, has it even been an hour? I can’t tell at this point. It doesn’t really matter, does it?
What am I supposed to do without my mother? I’m an orphan, left in this world to pick up the scraps that my family left behind. Sure, it’s a fucking fortune, and I can take the crown that’s being tossed in my direction, but what’s the fucking use when I keep losing everything? My father died, then Lev died, and now my mother is gone, too.
Nothing could possibly replace the impact they left on me. With my father’s notebook, my mother’s guile, and everything I have learned from the alpha a-holes, I can rule my kingdom with an iron fucking fist.