Shameful by May Dawson
41
Legacy
The next morning,we were summoned back to the main island. Killian projected unhappiness.
“Cheer up,” Rhett told him. “We’re already exiled. How much worse can itget?”
Killian shook his head. “You’d think the past few years would’ve destroyed your senseless optimism.”
“Someone has to balance outWest.”
West just grunted. He still wasn’t talking to me, but I felt as if he’d barely left my side—and certainly not my sight—since the incident with the vampire. He’d woken up once I left the bed, and he’d haunted the edges of last night’s training session with Killian, ignoring us both but staying close.
When we got off the boat and walked across the main island, I was abruptly hit with a wave of sensation. Lucas’s scent. His presence. I could feel him as much as I could smell him and I stopped dead abruptly.
Killian wheeled to face me. “What’s wrong? Vamp?”
“Lucas,” I whispered.
West had looked worried, but his face shuttered at thename.
“Let the asshole go,” Rhett said. “He doesn’t matter anymore.”
“He still matters to her,” West muttered.
“No, he doesn’t. I just don’t want to see him. It’s still—”
“You need to see him,” Rhett said. “Tell him to fuck off. I bet you’ll feel better.”
“I’m not taking advice on how to cope with my feelings from you,” I told him in exasperation.
Killian stared at me, then said, “You can do this, Legacy. You’re smart. You’re strong. You’re better thanhim.”
“You really think so?” I asked.
Killian nodded. “And most of all, you’re out of options.”
He grabbed my arm and towed me toward the building. I yanked back away, but Killian was bigger and stronger than I was. I could probably bring him down if I really wanted to, but what was important was that we presented a united front before Cyrus and Lucas. So I let him grip my arm and matched my pace tohis.
“You can let go of me,” I whispered hotly into hisear.
“You promise not torun?”
“I didn’t run from that fucking vampire. Not when he attacked me in Crosby, and not when I was protectingyou.”
Killian stared at me in surprise. Nice girls don’t point out to the alpha males when they’ve saved their ass. Maybe I should’ve felt badly, but my chin lifted and I stared into hisface.
He gave me a quick, decisive nod. “Yeah well, facing vampires is a lot less scary than facingexes.”
The four of us soon found ourselves facing Cyrus and a few other members of the council. I was surprised that Cyrus had come to see me, especially when he must have driven through the night to reach the islands.
Despite his bleak face, and the way Lucas stood by his side without meeting my gaze, their presence made me feel hopeful. Lucas might hate me now, which didn’t even make sense, but at least they had come to hear the truth. Tobias Bentley was still out there, and that meant our pack was in danger.
“The girl says she was attacked by a vampire again.” Gibsonsaid.
“I don’t need to hear from her,” Cyrus said, dismissive. As though I was nothing. “But I’ll hear from Killian. I came at his request.”
Killian explained what had happened. I chewed my lower lip as he ran through the story. Lucas kept his head down and his arms crossed, not reacting when Killian described how Tobias had attackedus.
Cyrus said, “So you claim the vampire shot both you and Legacy.”
“Yes.”
“But there’s no sign of an injury.”
“We both shifted. We healed.”
“You’ve got no proof.”
“I wasn’t aware I should leave a bullet embedded in my shoulder because my word wasn’t enough,” Killiansaid.
Rhett smiled faintly to himself. No one ever stood up to Cyrus.
“I’ve heard enough,” Cyrus said. “Lucas is still bonded to the wench. He can feel her committing deviant acts with these males she’s not mated to. She’s brought them into her thrall.”
I gasped. Had he really just accused me of having a magic, manipulative vagina?
It would be awesome if Idid.
“Lucas,” I called. He still didn’t look at me, his gaze stubbornly averted.
“They’re lying to please her now,” Cyrus said. He looked at Kilian, shook his head sadly. “I thought you were better thanthis.”
Killian stared back at him, his jaw tense. “I’m not lying. And neither is Legacy. She is being stalked by a vamp, and I want to know why that’s being coveredup.”
I broke between the guys to reach Lucas. All around me, chairs scraped over the floor and clothes rustled as the shifters around me prepared for some insane, rejected-mate response.
“All I want is for him to look at me,” I snapped at no one in particular.
I’d wanted to grab his face and wrench his gaze to mine, but I didn’t dare touch him, given how everyone had angled for a fight.
Instead, I stopped right in front of Lucas. He was still staring at the ground in front of him, his jaw tight with anger.
“You can’t look at me? Too cowed to meet my eyes?” I demanded, knowing what an insult that wouldbe.
He finally dragged his gaze to mine. His eyes gleamed with hatred that I had never expected tosee.
He wasn’t allowed to hate me. I had every reason to hatehim.
“You’ve been hurting me,” I said. “But you know that, don’t you? You’re hurting me on purpose. You’re the one who broke the bond between us. And you’re the one who’s lyingnow.”
He scoffed. “You got over me in a hurry. Which one of these are you fucking?” He tilted his chin, indicating the three men behind me. “Or is it all of them? You’re controlling them. Slut. Youslut.”
He spat the word the second time he said it, his eyes narrowing in fury. The word hit me like aslap.
“I’m not fucking any of them,” I said. “But any of them would be a better mate than you. I’m glad you rejected me. I deserve better than you, and I rejecty—"
He hitme.
The crack of the slap reverberated in the room, stunning me as my head jerked to one side. For a second, the world spun. Blurrily, I saw his hateful gaze, his sneer. How the hell had I ever thought he was handsome?
Killian and West launched themselves at him. Other shifters moved to interceptthem.
I didn’t need them to come to my rescue oh so gallantly.
I wasn’t going to slap Lucas back. I wasn’t the kind of girl to slap anyone.
I punched him across the nose, blood spurting, bone crunching under my knuckles, and the asshole flew across the room and landed on hisback.
I was the kind of girl to throw a punch.
Someone grabbed me from behind then. I almost swung my elbow, but Rhett’s voice was low and soothing in my ear. “Relax, Legacy. Things are about to get ugly inhere.”
In fact, Guard rolled in breaking up the fight—and Rhett twisted to protect me with his body as they swung their batons. Their actions looked indiscriminate, but they avoided Cyrus and Lucas—so it was my men who paid in bruises.
They dragged us all out to a cell and threw us in there.
I gripped the bars, staring out at the corridor as the guards retreated. West collapsed onto the bench. Killian held the bridge of his nose, nursing his bruises, and groaned.
“Well, that went well,” Rhett said cheerfully.