3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

15 | match

1 5

m a t c h

"DIEGO."

My heart sank with cold dread as I realised what had happened to him. I took a step forward, only to be stopped by Spike. I took a deep breath and picked my next words carefully. "Diego, what happened to you?"

"What do you think happened to me?" He deadpanned, and shifted his head to brush a trickle of blood away with his shoulder. "I let the princess and the bitch escape from the fucking castle, you really thought I was going to get away with it?"

"You were the one who kidnapped our Luna, you shit," Adrian snarled, shifting closer to us in an almost protective manner. Every bit of his easy-going nature was gone, and in its place was the protective Beta who didn't take threats, any threat, lightly. "Twice."

My mind reeled from the revelation. All along, I had worried about how Bianca and I coped with the aftermath of our capture. I'd asked Jed to keep a lookout for Diego, of course, if only so I could thank him. But I hadn't imagined that Diego would be the one having to clean up the mess we'd left behind.

And pay for it, too.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, stricken by his words. "I didn't realise – "

"Luna, what're are you doing?" Brutus demanded. "That bastard tried to kill you and Alpha!"

There were murmurs if agreement at this, and I faltered. The atmosphere was thick with hostility and suspicion. But when I shot a glance at Jed, he didn't look surprised at all. He must've guessed that it was Diego all along.

If he really thought that Diego was a threat, wouldn't he have killed him by now? I suddenly recalled the time Jed had killed the three rogues that broke into our house. He was cold, cruel and callous. They didn't stand a sliver of a chance against him. But here was Diego, badly bruised but alive, and Jed didn't seem like he was going to tear his throat out.

I met Jed's gaze evenly, waiting for him to give me something, anything, that would help me to make a decision. But he didn't nod or shake his head; instead, all the signal I got from him was a tilt of one corner of his lips in a faint hint of an encouraging smile.

It was still a good enough indication, and I returned his gesture with a smile of my own, before turning to Adrian. "Let me talk to him."

There were immediate protests at this. "Luna," Giles said, "you can't be serious – "

"I'm not saying we let him go. I just want to talk to him, and I want to do this with as few people around as possible."

Adrian glanced at Jed, then sighed in resignation. "Fine. We're staying," He said, gesturing to Spike and Lance. "The rest of you clear out."

Amidst dissatisfied grumblings and disappointed looks, the crowd obediently cleared out. Giles, Brutus, Katya and several of the others stood a good distance away, immediately launching into a heated but hushed discussion that I had no doubt Jed could hear from here; while Lorraine headed back into the diner with several of her friends. In the midst of the lull that followed, I took the opportunity to backtrack a couple of steps until I was standing next to Jed again. He brushed the back of his hand gently against mine and when I met his gaze, it was impossible to miss the glimmer of pride in his eyes as he stared at me.

When everyone else had cleared out, I turned back around. "Diego." His head snapped up and he met my gaze squarely. I tried to put on a brave front, but the fact that he had caused the accident was frightening. "Why?" I asked bluntly. "I just...I can't understand this. Why would you risk your life to save me, only to try to kill me, and Jed, later on?"