Kyra
At first, she was afraid that Derek knew something. But then she dismissed it as paranoia. The only emotion she could get from him was distress and heartbreak, not anger or distrust.
After she told him goodbye, she only pretended to go into her apartment. Then she went straight to the coven.
No one was there. She called Victor. He answered on the first ring. "Where are you?" she asked.
“I have been dealing with a few coven members who went to Canada, and now I am trying to clean up Ian's mess."
Her heart plummeted. Had her coven been responsible for Jesse's death? "What happened in Canada? What are you talking about?"
"We had an unfortunate incident.”
Now she felt like her heart was going to stop. Surely it could not be. “We spent years working on this plan. I risked my life infiltrating a pack. And you guys couldn't keep it together for another few weeks. What the hell is wrong with you?” she yelled.
"Kyra, I do not think I need to remind you once again not to speak to me in that fashion. This wolf shifter was unfortunately poking around in matters that were not his business."
So Derek had been right. He'd been afraid that his friend had gotten involved in something elicit and had been eliminated as a result. “What do you mean, he was poking into matters that weren’t his business?”
“I mean that somehow he had stumbled onto our plan. This Jess had been in Iceland and someone talked. They told him about how we were trying to create the perfect hybrid, and he started asking questions. He was going to call his pack and tell his Alpha everything. So, I sent Ian to deal with him, which was clearly a mistake. I should have done it myself.”
Her hands were shaking so badly she could hardly hold the phone. "I don't even know what to say. I spent months working on this project for you guys to go and rent it at the last second.”
I've fallen in love with our target. You don't even care.
She had to see Derek. She drove straight to the pack land, and Derek met her at the gate. He brushed a kiss over her cheek. “Hey, is something wrong?” he asked.
Now her knees were shaking as well.
He stared at her. "Kyra. Is something wrong? What happened?"
"Nothing.” Was her voice trembling? She couldn’t be sure. “I was just checking on you. I know you wanted to be alone, but I needed a break from studying,” she said.
Dammit. This had been a really stupid idea.
She had to get away from him before she confessed to the whole damned plot.
Spontaneously, she threw her arms around him. She had the worst feeling that she might never see him again.
I love you, she thought.
What?She heard back, in an echo that sounded like Derek’s voice.
There was no way that he’d heard her. It wasn’t possible. They didn't have a bond like that. Supposedly, clear bonds like that were rare, even among mated couples.
“Why don’t we go out?” he asked. “I’ll take you to dinner.”
“No,” she said. “You said you needed to be alone. I just needed to see you. Hearing that your friend was dead really got to me. Now that I’ve seen you, I’m fine.”
“Okay,” he said, studying her face.
He probably thought she was insane.
But that was better than suspecting her of the truth – that she was a traitor who had been prepared to betray him.