Talk About the Direct Approach...

Chapter Forty-Four: I'm happy to die alone if I need to

*Bethany's POV*

There was absolute silence.

I wasn't sure if my hearing had suddenly gone out, because there wasn't even the quiet wisp of someone breathing. That could have been contributed to the fact that everyone seemed to stop, myself included. Especially myself, considering I was in a very dangerous position.

Instead of looking at me like he wanted to rip me limb from limb, Roy was looking cautiously at Joshua. I didn't even want to see Joshua's expression, because whatever it was would cause me to lose it.

He either doesn't believe me, and I can kiss my life goodbye, or he does, and his expression is a mixture of murder and agony. Whichever it is, I can't stand to see it.

Roy's hands were cutting off circulation in my arms, considering how hard he was squeezing. There would be bruises for sure. My cheek still stung from Joshua's hit, but that was the least of my concerns.

"What?"

That was all Joshua said. There was no indication of what he was feeling. I hated others abilities to hide their emotions so easily. I didn't have to look up at least, I knew his expression would be stoic and uninformative, just like his tone.

"I don't know," Roy says. "She's gone insane."

I laugh bitterly. "You're right, I've gone completely insane. I mean, what other reason would I have to tell the truth? I'm in the hands of my sister's killer."

When I finally look up at Joshua, his eyes are focused intensely on Roy. They move over to me, and I cringe a little at the fire in them. It's the most emotion, other than pure sadness, he's shown since Erica's death, and it couldn't have been any more terrifying.

"You're lying," he says to me.

White-hot anger, so powerful and so sudden, courses through me, making my muscles go rigid and my face heat up. "Lying? You think I'm lying? You're either in denial or completely ignorant."

"I will not stand here and be insulted-"

"Well then sit the fuck down," I all but growl. I'm feeling brave, maybe too brave, but it's nothing compared to the fury blossoming inside me. "If you thought about it for even just a second, you would have seen what was so transparently obvious."

"It's time for you to go," Roy says, and I feel him starting to drag me away, but my newfound fury has turned into an incredible strength I didn't know I was capable of. I stay rooted in place.

"You know Roy wasn't even the true Beta. How convenient for him, right? Easy access to power. You didn't even question how your best friend was accused and thrown in prison, did you?"

"No, because there was hard evidence against him," he says.

"Given to you by who?"

He looks uneasily at me, because we both know who gave him that evidence: Roy himself.

"You were blinded by the idea that your best friend had betrayed you and Erica's death. You didn't see what even I could see. Roy played both you and Alan like a fiddle and not once did you see that. You know why I left? I knew the truth. I knew what he did, and I knew he had you so screwed up that you wouldn't believe a damn word I said. And the sad part is, I still don't think you'll believe me."

"Alpha, we need to take care of these intruders before we entertain this girl," Roy says. I flinch from his vice grip.

When I look at Joshua, I can't help but feel a dollop of victory somewhere amongst the rage. He's finally looking at Roy like he really sees him—past all the deceitful words and actions, he sees his true face, the face of a psychotic, power-hungry murderer.