Forsaken (Book 3 of the Zara's Wolf Trilogy) BWWM - ON HOLD

21. Made a Fool

Evan's POV

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It takes a few moments for me to recover.

She's alive.

And she has a family. Family she never knew existed. That had to be good, right?

When she leaves, I lie down on my side and stare at the door, hoping that nothing bad happens to her. Her father wouldn't try to beat answers out of her, would he? I don't know anything about the man, but I hope that he has at least some decency to not hurt his daughter.

True, he is probably grieving over the death of his son, but Zara had no control over that. He has to understand that.

I try to relax, but my muscles keep clenching up tight.

The minutes trickle by and soon I'm up on my feet and pacing around the room.

What's taking so long?

The door unlocks and swings open.

I stop pacing and watch her step in before I envelop her in my arms.

Fuck, she smells amazing. I relax as the door closes and locks again.

She's not trembling, so things must have been okay.

I pull back to give her body a once-over for any new injuries.

"I'm fine," she says.

"Did you see Ryan?"

She nods. "He's in bad shape. I don't know what Kairo's going to do to him, but it doesn't look good."

I pull her back into my arms, needing to feel the comfort of holding her in an effort to block out the nightmare around us.

He's my brother... Fuck, this is so hard.

On one hand, I want to help him get through all this, but on the other... He killed his mate. He left us without letting us know where he was or if he was alright. Then he comes back from nowhere and demands his land and position when he abandoned it for five years?

Sure, he had some shit he had to work out, but who was he really? How does one go from being a good guy to killing his mate in a fit of rage?

He's my brother... But that doesn't excuse him for what he has done.

"Are you okay?" she asks me, her dark eyes examining my neck.

There must be bruises from Ryan trying to strangle me to death.

My own brother tried to kill me...

I pull her back against me. "Yeah. Just peachy."

She sighs and tries to pull back, but I maintain a firm hold. She gives in with a huff. "Seriously, talk to me, Evan. Ryan tried to kill you. He's your brother. I'm no psychologist, but that's messed up."

"I'm dealing with it."

We settle down on the floor, my back pressed against the concrete wall and her back pressed against my chest and my nose in her neck. She takes comfort in my arms, while I take comfort in her.

Memories flicker through my mind of all the good times and bad times with Ryan growing up. Random puzzle pieces I never noticed before were beginning to connect. All the little things he said and did were starting to create the bigger picture of the wild-eyed man who tried to end my life only moments ago. It was hard to believe that underneath it all, he was seriously messed up and no one did anything to try and help him or prevent him from turning into this.