Page 53 of Crossed Fates

“You are,” he countered, his lips curling slightly. Then he sighed, his expression falling once more. “Savannah was with my mom and hugged me. She’s… struggling.”

“It’s only been a day,” I pointed out. “Wounds like death don’t heal overnight.”

“True. But not all of us have the ability to just grieve.” His sapphire irises flared. “I can’t… I don’t know how to embrace them, Makayla. All I know how to do is avenge him. But the pack needsmore.” He lifted off his elbows to grip the marble counter, his forearms flexing as he tightened his hold. “Hardt was outside hugging them all. Giving them the affection they apparently need. And that’s just not me.”

“That doesn’t make you a bad alpha,” I pointed out softly. “There’s a time for emotional bonding, and there’s a time for protection. Your pack might be hurting right now, Alaric, but what they need more than anything at the moment is to feel safe. And you’re doing that by finding Tyler’s killer.”

Some of his tension ebbed as he looked at me. “I don’t feel like I’m doing enough. I mean, hell, I took a nap instead of hunting the bastard down.”

“Yousleptbecause you’ll be worthless if you don’t take time to rest,” I countered. “What was the first thing you did this morning?”

“Called Jude about the surveillance.”

“Exactly.”

He arched a brow. “Exactly what?”

“You didn’t think about doing that last night because you were hungry and exhausted and hurting. But you slept and woke up with a clear mind and immediately knew what to do.” I pointed at the files on the table. “I’m guessing you knew these would be useless before your father even handed them over.”

I had no idea what Hawk thought would hurt Alaric in here. Except for maybe the images of the vacant chair next to Tyler at lunch—he’d clearly saved it for someone, and I could only assume that someone was Alaric.

“I wouldn’t say ‘useless,’?” Alaric muttered. “Just… not as thorough as E.V.I.E.” He opened the closest file, his gaze skimming the image of his brother at the table. His lips thinned, but he said nothing, moving through each item with a shake of his head. “Autopsies are against pack practice. So I’m not surprised that all these notes are superficial. I could tell by looking at Tyler yesterday that he’d ingested or inhaled the silver.”

He shut the folder and went back to squeezing the marble, his head falling once more.

“I was supposed to meet my brother the other day, but the hybrid jacked up my plans with the whole Blood Thirteen incident.” A growl rattled his chest, the agonized sound coming from the depths of his heart, but he swallowed it and stood up. “I don’t know if I could have stopped it, and there’s nothing I can do about that now except find out who did this.”

That was how I’d felt after the incident in high school with the whole trafficking issue. I could either beat myself up over it or find a way to make it right.

We couldn’t bring Tyler back.

But we could bring his killer to justice.

“I need to shower,” he said. “Then I want to eat.”

“Do you want me to make something?” I suggested, pushing away from the counter. He’d given me coffee. It only seemed fair to return the favor with food. “Maybe breakfast?”

“Breakfast for dinner,” he mused. “All right.” He started toward his room, then turned, his gaze locking with mine. “Thank you for being here, Makayla.”

I smiled and nodded, not sure what to say.

It felt right.

So I stayed and made scrambled eggs.

Alaric showered and came back in another pair of jeans, his hair towel-dried and dripping water down his defined torso. I pretended not to notice and focused on the food instead. But his knowing gaze told me he’d caught my interest.

Could he blame me? The man was gorgeous and alpha and justwolfish.

I didn’t try to talk while we ate, choosing companionable silence instead. Afterward, he cleaned up while I showered, and by the time I returned, Alaric’s E.V.I.E. tablet had arrived. There were actually two, so he handed me one and led me to the living area, where we reviewed surveillance footage and other documents all night.

By morning, we had all our victims printed and lined up on the wall in chronological order. It was a mix of women and alpha shifters, all with no correlation.

I squinted at them, unable to make heads or tails of their links. “I mean, Valaria was a wolf. Same with Gloria. But these other girls were all human.”

Alaric grunted in agreement. “And Gloria is still missing.”

“Because the hybrid is dead?” I suggested.