Queen of Death

Chapter 21

Hunter

I walk further into the room making a beeline for Solana. No matter how many times I hear the truth of that day, no matter how many years have passed since, it guts me anew every time.

She must sense how much I need to hold her right now because she stands just before I reach her and readily fits herself into my arms, allowing me to draw comfort from her warmth and her scent.

We lose sight of our surroundings. She pushes up onto her tiptoes and comforts me with a tender kiss.

Someone clears their throat gently reminding us that we're not the only ones in the room. Ace's expression is neutral, but Griffin and Cole are the embodiment of dumbstruck.

A full ten tense seconds tick away before Griffin stands and reaches his hand out across the table. "I hope you don't expect a kiss from me. A handshake will have to suffice," Griffin forces a weak smile.

Everyone laughs except Cole and we settle back into our seats. "Cole —," I'm eager to begin explaining but he raises a hand gesturing for me to swallow the rest of my sentence.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need a minute to process. Griffin and Sol may be quick to forgive but I've been angry at you for four years only to find out that the truth is both better and far worse than what I've thought all this time."

"That's fair," I nod solemnly.

He scoffs a laugh, and sits back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. "None of this is fucking fair."

Cole looks down at the table, out the window to his left, anywhere but at me and Sol.

"I want to punch you in the fucking throat so badly right now. You left all of us. Me, your pack, my sister," he looks at Sol with glassy eyes and we all watch as his Adam's apple bobs over a thick swallow. "You knew what they did and what she lost, what you both lost, and you still fucking left."

"Don't worry, Sol got enough hits in for the both of you." I smile weakly.

Cole looks at me like he's been struck. "That's all you heard?"

"Cole I'm fucking sorry. I had just found out the love of my life was brutally attacked and that the life I had always envisioned for us was hemorrhaging. And there was nothing I could do to fix it. I couldn't wind back the clock, I couldn't bring back our pup's little heartbeat. I saw red. Ripped them to shreds."

"They got off far too easy," Ace mutters under his breath.

"Then reality hit me. I had just killed any proof of what really happened. I killed extended members of the royal family seemingly without cause. Tate found me, offered me an out and I took it. I couldn't think straight. My heart was bleeding out in Ember's office, the people responsible would never suffer enough, I didn't think anyone would see them for the monsters they were.

"I was afraid. I let that fear tell me that running was the right thing, that she'd be better off. I let it tell me I wasn't worthy. But I have never stopped loving her, Cole. I have never stopped feeling guilty. And if I had to do it all over again, I'd make sure to torture them for a long fucking time before I gave them death.

"Then one day the guys brought Solana home, kicking and screaming —"

"I was not!" She protests, swiftly punching me in the arm eliciting a chuckle from Ace.

"She tortured me for weeks, but we hashed it all out. I'll never leave her side again." I kiss her more passionately this time, sliding my tongue across the seam of her silky lips.

Cole stands so abruptly that his chair tips over backwards. He stalks around the table and pulls Solana out of her chair so she's standing in front of him.