Bloody Claws (Camren) Book 3

Chapter 17

It wasn't until I emerged from the basement and into the main hall that branched off of it that I realized I didn't know exactly where Dinah's room was. I knew it was upstairs, but aside from that, I'd never even seen her room. I strode barefoot past the life-size statues that lined the wall, rounding the corner and ascending the stairs that led to the upper level. Even if I specifically didn't know where her room was, I should've been able to find it by smell. I stopped to consider which way to go, left or right? I went down the hall to the right. I was sure I'd seen or heard Dinah coming from that direction before.

As it was, Evan stood outside the second doorway on the right. He too, was barefoot, wearing a pair of light jeans. The white shirt he wore was dirty, probably the same one he'd been wearing last night.

"I see you haven't had a chance to shower, either," I said.

He shook his head. "Ally's in there trying to comfort her. We've been taking turns keeping guard outside the door."

I wondered why they were keeping guard. Lauren's house should have been safe territory. Surely, Taylor wasn't crazy enough to try anything on Lauren's property.

"She's still shaken?" I asked, keeping my voice soft even though Dinah and Ally could hear us on the other side of the door.

Evan visibly relaxed in front of me, leaning against the wall, his shoulders dropping. "This is the worst I've seen her," he said. "She usually takes it better than the rest of us. As beta, she has to."

I understood what he meant, although I was anything but happy about it.

"After everything she's endured," I whispered, "the last thing she deserved was Taylor Swift."

"The last thing any of us wolves deserve is Taylor as alpha," he said.

I gave him a considering look. "Why?" I asked. "Why'd you help me yet again, Evan? I was an ass to you."

He smiled, but there was something sad in it. "I'm not strong enough to overthrow her," he said. "None of us are. I recognized your mark the moment you walked into my trailer with the police. I was angry about a stray walking onto my turf, accusing me of murder. How would you have felt? I realized when you visited the pack, that if we ever had any hope of getting rid of Taylor, you're it. Funny, huh?"

"I don't know that I'm you're hope, Evan."

He pinned me with a very serious expression. "You have to be, Camila. You stood up to Taylor last night. You're the only wolf I've ever seen stand up to her. Many of us have wanted to, but we didn't, we don't. If she doesn't punish us, she'll punish someone else within the pack that we care about. She finds a weak spot and drives her claws into it."

"I felt her strength, Evan. She's strong, stronger than even I anticipated."

"She is strong," he said, "but she's not powerful. Physical strength doesn't equal power, not always. You touched a wolf in the clearing and she fell to her knees in the face of your power."

"She was like, eighteen."

"She was the epsilon, the fifth strongest wolf in the pack and you dominated her with nothing more than a touch. Why do you think the wolves finally parted? You showed them power, the true power of an alpha."

I hadn't remembered Evan being behind me when I'd returned to the pack to confront Taylor. He must've followed me, but I didn't like it that I hadn't known that at the time.

"Why is it everyone's throwing this alpha thing in my face?" I grumbled, more to myself than to Evan.

"Why is it you're fighting it?" he asked, and because I'd already had that little conversation with Lauren, I gave him an unhappy look.