Marcus scraped a hand over his stubbly jaw. “Do you think Emmet will stop at the article, or do you think he’ll make another sly move?”
“I don’t know.” Trey twisted his mouth. “That may depend on how damaging the article is for us.”
“If we move fast, we should be able to minimize any damage,” Trick reasoned.
“The extremists will pounce on this, but I don’t think we have to worry too much about the public believing Pierson’s lies,” Tao stated. “Especially when they hear about Rosemary’s history.”
Scrunching the printed article into a ball, Trey tossed it in the wastebasket. “I don’t like that we’ll be airing her dirty laundry, but we need to show that her unstable behavior started long before she ever met Dominic.”
Taryn straightened her shoulders. “Then let’s get it done.”
Sitting at the office desk, Trey, Taryn, and Dominic used the camera on Trey’s computer to record a brief but succinct message addressing Pierson’s article. They weren’t insensitive, didn’t directly call Rosemary a liar or claim she was unstable. They just stated the facts, letting them speak for themselves. Before ending the live recording, Taryn passed on her hope that Rosemary recovered soon.
Trey then turned to Dominic. “I know you’re thinking that your behavior brought this shit to our door. But you’re wrong. Rosemary’s and Emmet’s behavior did that, not yours.”
Dominic pushed to his feet. “I need to let my wolf out. He needs to run.” Run off the rage and feel fresh air on his face.
Outside the caves, Dominic shifted into his wolf form. The beast spent hours padding through the woods, chasing small animals, lapping from streams, and traipsing through the shallow river. Tired and much less angry than before, his wolf retreated.
Dominic pulled his clothes back on, still as restless. He had no one else to blame for the situation that he and his pack were currently in. It lay squarely on him, no matter what Trey said.
Did Dominic feel any responsibility for Rosemary’s attempted suicide? No, although he did feel shitty for being so harsh with her. The main reason he was so pissed at himself was that he quite simply hadn’t seen how unstable she was. She hadn’t raised any red flags. Why? Because he hadn’t looked below the surface. When it came to women, he never did.
Just as Dante had pointed out, Dominic didn’t give people a chance to know him, and he skipped the getting-to-know-the-girl stage. If he hadn’t been so fucking closed off and determined not to risk forming ties, he would have seen how troubled Rosemary truly was. His pack wouldn’t be dealing with this shit-storm, and maybe she wouldn’t be lying on a hospital bed staring at walls.
Fucked. The whole thing was fucked.
Mila was in the middle of unloading the dishwasher when she heard a knock on the front door. Wiping her hands on a small dish towel, she tossed it on the counter and headed into the small hallway. A look through the peephole made her brows lift in surprise and caused her half-asleep cat to snap fully awake.
Opening the door, Mila gave Dominic what she knew was a guarded look. “How did you get in?” Nobody entered the building unless they had the code or were admitted by one of the residents.
Not waiting for an invitation, he stalked into the apartment. “I was about to press the intercom buzzer when Evander came strolling out. He let me in.” Dominic tilted his head. “You look surprised to see me.”
“I doubted I’d see you again unless we were just crossing paths.” She shut the door. “You got what you wanted from me.”
“I didn’t get anywhere near enough of it.” He caught her nape and pulled her close, raw need glittering in his blue eyes. But there was something else there—a barely leashed fury.
Something was wrong, she thought. Very, very wrong. Her cat’s hackles rose. “What happened?”
“Nothing. All is good, Mila.”
She planted a hand on his chest when he would have moved in for a kiss. “Tell me.”
His mouth tightened. “I came here to get away from it, not to talk about it.”
Mila narrowed her eyes. “You don’t get to turn up at my apartment hoping to work out your issues in my bed unless you tell me what’s going on.”
Releasing her, he cursed under his breath. “Like I said, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Tough,” she bit out, folding her arms across her chest. “I told you that Joel is my true mate. Most of my pride don’t