Mending the Beast (Awakening Pride #10) - Lacey Thorn Page 0,5

her most?

The door opened, and he recognized his brother in the footsteps. Gabriel had been by his side almost every moment of the day. When he wasn’t, Laura, the woman he and Gabriel had basically adopted as a little sister, was. Gabriel had pleaded with Daniel to open his eyes. At first, he’d ordered Daniel, which was just like Gabriel. Then he’d pleaded. He’d told Daniel to stop running and wake the hell up. Daniel wished like hell he could. Laura cried. She held his hand and promised him they’d figure out how to get through to his mate. But if his current condition didn’t bring his mate to him, he wasn’t sure what would. His death maybe? Would she love him then? Or would she see his death as a punishment for not being enough for him?

He hated that. Hated the way she judged herself as unworthy of him, of love, of what they could and should share. God, he’d wished a thousand times to go back to their first meeting. To cup her face and say anything other than the two words he’d murmured. Two words that had destroyed any chance at happiness he’d had. Two words he’d never utter again in his life.

I’m sorry.

Yeah, he was fucking sorry. Sorry he’d ever let those two words pass his lips. But it was too late. There was no time machine to take him back, no wishing for a do-over. No removing the horror on his mate’s face as he gave her the words she’d heard repeated over and over again during one of the most traumatic times of her life. And Daniel couldn’t spill enough of their enemies’ blood to make amends to her. Instead, his need to set things right had him running into one dangerous situation after another, dragging Murphy Dockery with him.

He hadn’t heard Murphy’s voice since he’d woken up in Riverton. Murphy was one hell of a man, and over the months they’d spent traveling together, he’d become one of Daniel’s closest friends. Murphy had Daniel’s back. Even when Daniel rushed into things blindly. Murphy protected him. Christ, Daniel would never recover if anything had happened to Murphy because of him.

“The others arrived today,” Gabriel said, reaching out and gripping Daniel’s hand with his and giving it a squeeze.

Last time, it had been Daniel who’d called Gabriel and said those words. When Tah Pearce and his group of shifters had arrived in Riverton, Oklahoma and made it home. Tah was a lion shifter, like Daniel. But Tah was the alpha. A shifter had only to be in Tah’s presence to see it, to feel it. He also had exactly what Daniel craved. Family. Not just Tah’s wife, Abby, or their daughter, Regan. He had a pride of shifters and humans with him and considered all of them family.

There was his second in command, Reno, who’d crazily enough married the daughter of Marcus Blane. Blane was the head of the largest and best trained group of hunters, a group whose sole purpose was to exterminate shifters as a whole. Old, young. Male, female. It didn’t matter to hunters. They killed with no remorse, believing they were doing the world a favor with every shifter they slayed. Reno’s mate, Amia, might have been Marcus’ daughter, but she hadn’t shared his beliefs. Instead, she’d sacrificed herself countless times to save as many captured shifters as she could. She was a woman Daniel respected. One he’d willingly go to battle for.

He had. He and Murphy both. Another of Tah’s pride, Zane, had called and let them know they were needed in Illinois. Daniel and Murphy had wrapped up where they were and headed out. Shit was already hitting the fan by the time they’d arrived. The woods had been swarming with Blane and his men. Daniel had little doubt the other man had been there to get his hands on Amia. Hell, he’d thought they’d captured Reno when he’d seen the white tiger they’d bagged. Nope. Apparently, the whole reason Reno and his mate had been in Illinois was because Reno had a sister. Daniel hadn’t known any of that then. He’d learned about it since he’d been back in Riverton, stuck in his own body, incapable of doing anything but listening.

“Reno’s sister and her mate arrived today. You’ll like them. Aleksy’s a black liger. Funny, huh?” Gabriel offered with a laugh. Possibly because Gabriel was the only liger they’d known of. A black liger? That would be fantastic