Mending the Beast (Awakening Pride #10) - Lacey Thorn Page 0,24

exhaustion. Either way, Quinn let Miriam lead her out of the room. Ariel waited until they were gone before turning back to find Anna watching her with that avid gaze that seemed to read everything without ever asking anything.

“You look better than the last time I saw you,” Anna admitted softly. “Broken and—”

“Don’t,” Ariel interrupted. She knew what she’d looked like that day. She had the reminder every time she closed her eyes. Hell, sometimes, when they were wide open.

Anna nodded. “Thomas wasn’t sure you’d make it. He was bleach white when he carried you in. Terrified you’d die at any moment. I had to work around him because he refused to leave you.”

Ariel was sure her face showed her surprise. Thomas Walker? He’d been terrified? For her? That didn’t sound like the man she’d known.

“I see your doubt. Maybe even resentment, though I’m not sure why you’d feel that way about the man who saved your life.”

“I thought you said you were the one who saved my life,” Ariel countered.

Anna lifted a brow. “Only because Thomas was able to get you here. You were in and out of it. Feverish. I had to slow your natural healing so I could…help first. Thomas stayed the entire time I worked.” She paused, her intense gaze holding Ariel’s prisoner. “Holding your hand. He kept talking to you. Telling you to hold on. To fight. To live.”

Ariel shook her head. It made no sense. “Thomas hated me. I was nothing more than a pain in the ass to him. He couldn’t wait to pawn me off on Gideon and get away from me.”

“Thomas takes the world on his shoulders. He always has. Even as a boy, he thought it was his job to watch over and protect everyone. Especially his younger siblings, Michael and Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was taken, it nearly killed him. Losing his mate the way he did afterward… I was sure we were going to lose him, too. But he kept working. Kept searching for his sister. Kept saving those he could. He and Michael were constantly putting themselves in danger. Gideon too when he joined them. Then he lost Michael. He was never the same after that. But he still cared, and he still saved as many shifters as he could. Thomas’ only fault is that he cares too much. For everyone but himself.”

Ariel shook her head. “No. Sorry, but I don’t believe that. He cared? Seriously? You know what happened to me. You saw me. Want to know what your precious Thomas, who cares so much, said to me when I woke from a nightmare so vicious it was like I was back there in that clearing staked to the ground? He told me we all get what we deserve in the end. That things happen to us because of who we are, what we’ve done. Some of us are victims and that’s all we’ll ever be. That was what your compassionate man said to me.”

“Oh, child.” Anna shook her head sadly. “Did you think he was talking to you?”

“We were the only two people in the room. Who else would he have been talking to?” Ariel demanded.

“Himself,” Anna stated softly. “Thomas blames himself for all of it. Every death. Every disappearance. Every shifter he was unable to reach in time. He heaps it all on his shoulders and struggles to carry the weight. I watched him when he brought you here. I saw him cry when he thought we were losing you and again when we knew you’d survive.”

“No,” Ariel swore, denying that Thomas would have cried over her. Why?

“Yes,” Anna disagreed. “And he would have pushed you away. As he tried to do with everyone. Those close to him disappeared…or died. He worried constantly. He did his best to push away Michael’s daughter, to try not to love her. He was afraid his love would be what got her killed. And in doing so, he showed she meant the world to him. He was still trying to save you, Ariel. I believe that even if you can’t. But then, I knew him from the time he was a young boy. I watched him grow. His mother was one of my closest friends.”

Ariel wasn’t sure what to say. What to think. Anna was painting a far different picture of Thomas. One that didn’t have him starring as the villain. One that had Ariel questioning everything.

“He killed the ones who’d hurt you that day. Said he wouldn’t rest