Mending the Beast (Awakening Pride #10) - Lacey Thorn Page 0,25

until he knew they’d never hurt another woman the way they’d hurt you. He said you deserved no less than their blood.”

“He…” Ariel paused, almost choking on the sob that wanted to escape. “What?”

“He said if his child had lived, he’d have done no less for her. Then he loaded you back in his truck and took you home. I wasn’t sure if you’d make it or not.”

“You said he cried when you knew I’d live,” Ariel reiterated.

“I said you’d survive, physically. That didn’t mean you’d live. You’d been through hell. Physically as well as mentally and emotionally. I had no idea how you’d be when your body finally healed. I knew it would take time as I’d given you something to slow down the healing process. I needed to do that in order to do some repairs and assure you healed without the scar tissue that would have developed from the faster healing of your animal genetics. But it takes more than surviving to live. All I had to do was look at Thomas to understand that. He was always the survivor, but he became afraid of living. Without thought, he’d jump in to save someone else, but he never once tried to save himself.” She reached for Ariel, and Ariel couldn’t stop herself from flinching away from the touch. “Maybe, you’re more like him than you realize.”

The words hit hard, like a punch to the gut that left her gasping for oxygen. Just like Thomas? Surviving but afraid to live? Anna had it all wrong. Ariel was nothing like Thomas. And if he’d shed tears while she’d been here, then they hadn’t been for her.

“You’re wrong. Thomas went on living just fine. As for saving people… Well, I’m sure he had his reasons, and none of them were out of the goodness of his heart. He went right on manipulating and using those around him with no thought to how his choices affected others. Thomas is a selfish bastard.”

“Thomas is a lot of things to a lot of people,” Anna admitted quietly. “But he’s the least selfish person I’ve ever met. No!” She continued when Ariel opened her mouth to argue. “I won’t hear anything else about him. Not from the ungrateful child you’ve most definitely become. He saved your life. And for what? What have you done? Have you passed it forward? Saved others? Or have you wallowed in self-pity and let the bitterness grow until it’s all you have?”

“Bitterness? Self-pity?” Ariel fumed as she faced the other woman, hands clenched tightly at her sides. “You of all people know what was done to me.” She couldn’t breathe. Rage choked her, robbing her of much needed air.

“Yes, I do. And I was wrong. You’re right. Thomas didn’t save you that day. You never survived. Thomas only managed to salvage the shell of the woman you were. Everything else was left in that clearing where it bled out and soaked into the ground the hunters staked you to. You didn’t survive. You didn’t live. You’re merely a ghost, passing time until your body follows your soul. He should have left you there to die.”

Anna turned her back to Ariel as if disgusted with her. Ariel spun and stumbled her way through the house, going back the way they’d entered. She’d come back and check on Quinn, or maybe, it would be better if she didn’t and she left Quinn for Gideon and Vic. All Ariel knew was she couldn’t breathe. Might never be able to breathe again. And Anna’s words vibrated with every gasping breath Ariel took.

He should have left you there to die.

She moved from the house and headed straight to the woods, not steady enough to risk driving. She needed something more. To feel alive. To feel…alive. She stripped to the skin just inside the tree line and let her tiger take the reins. Then she ran. With no destination. Just the wind in her face as she raced under the trees, paws rustling the foliage beneath her feet. Everything was sharper, brighter, clearer from her tiger’s perspective. She simply moved in perfect harmony with nature around her, content in the fur of her animal.

Still, no matter how hard or far she ran, she couldn’t get Anna’s words out of her head. There was a truth in them Ariel couldn’t deny. A big part of her had been left behind in the clearing where Thomas had found her. Her innocence. Her ability to trust. Her willingness