Bloodbound to the Lycan King Chapter 64 64

Echo keeps pulling out her phone and frowning. At first, I thought it was her way of avoiding more conversation about my parents and my identity.

Turns out I was wrong. Echo's shaless enough to refuse to answer questions outright, without excuses. Rembering her past frustration over not being able to give clear answers, I'm starting to wonder if maybe…

I don't know. It's weird.

Maybe she really can't tell so things. She's said as much, so it isn't too far-fetched of an idea, but it seems like there's sothing keeping her from spilling everything she knows.

Echo's phone gives another annoying ding. She scoffs, glaring at the screen before shoving it into her pocket with more force than necessary.

"Sothing wrong?"

She waves a dismissive hand through the air. "Your boyfriend's headed out to greet the local alpha."

"He's not my—" The denial sticks in my throat again, because… well. Then my mind catches up with the rest of her sentence. "Wait, what?"

"Your Lycan King has deigned to socialize with the local pack. Progress, I suppose."

My stomach drops. The image of Asher splattered with blood and surrounded by bodies flashes through my mind. "Is he going to kill everyone here too?"

The mont the words leave my mouth, I realize how blunt—and ridiculous—they sound. But Echo doesn't seem offended. Instead, her catlike eyes narrow and she tilts her head back, looking at as if I'm so strange specin on display at a museum.

"What makes you think he's going to kill anyone?"

"I an…" Sure, Asher hasn't exactly been super murderous around since then. Especially when things got steamy between us. But the mory of that night is going to be branded in my brain forever. The snarls. The screams. The wet, aty sounds of violence I tried so hard not to hear.

My body yearns for him, and he might be my fated mate for so strange reason, but ultimately, he's still… who he is. I'm still wrapping my head around the idea a killer can genuinely care for soone.

"He started massacred my pack." Wait. Now it sounds like he killed everyone. "So of them."

"Hmm." Echo stretches, yawning widely. Her slightly sharp teeth glint in the light. "Tell , what kind of person do you think the current king is?"

"Mass murderer." My answer cos without hesitation or thought. No consideration, no mont of reflection. It's hard to shake first impressions, I guess.

She snorts, then coughs, patting at her chest as she clears her throat. "Okay. And what does that make you? The girl who let a murderer into her pants?"

Prickling heat suffuses my cheeks. My shoulders slump as I groan, "Shaless. I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell."

Echo's peals of belly laughter fill the room. "If there is a hell, we're all headed there for one reason or another." She taps a finger against her lips as she snickers, de-escalating her amusent. "Though I have to wonder—if you believe he's a cold-blooded killer, why did you sleep with him?"

I open my mouth to respond, then close it. The simple, terrible truth is that there's no good answer for to give.

"I didn't... think about it." My voice is tiny as I admit it. "When he touches , I can't think at all."

"Hmm." Echo chuckles. "My sympathy for the wolf is rising once again."

"What do you an?"

She shakes her head. "He has a lot of work ahead of him, that's all. And he doesn't seem emotionally intelligent enough to navigate the maze in your head."

I rub at the tip of my nose awkwardly, still overwheld by feelings of embarrassnt. Once I accepted her premise—Asher and I being fated—so of her earlier comnts made a lot of sense, too. The ones about my intelligence level. Like when she asked about my grades in school.

At the ti, I was oblivious. Maybe on purpose, refusing to see what was in front of my face. Now, I know exactly what she ant when she asked that question. It's enough to make a girl feel… you know. Stupid.

"Tell sothing, Violet. Why did the Lycan King kill your pack?"

"I don't know."

Echo's slitted eyes narrow as she leans forward. "Really? Do you really not know? Or are you just not wanting to think about it?"

My fingers twist in the thin hospital blanket.

"I—"

mories I've tried to sidestep keep rushing forward. Asher's face. His hand on my neck. The weight of his dominance crushing the room. Fenris, appearing out of nowhere. The way Asher was furious every ti Alpha… no, Brax, scread at .

I close my eyes, forcing myself to rember the conversation that preceded the slaughter. The words. The tone. The subtle shifts in body language I'd noticed but hadn't understood.

Asher must have already known then what I only learned today.

My eyes open, and I stare at Echo with crushing lancholy. "He did it because of ," I whisper, the realization unfurling like a poisonous flower in my chest. My lungs constrict.

"What?"

"He killed my entire pack because Brax hurt ."

A hot tear escapes, trailing down my cheek. Then another. And another. The weight of it crushes —all those lives.

All dead.

Because of .

Echo jumps up from her chair, panic flashing across her face. "Hey, are you okay?"

My chest heaves with suppressed sobs. "He killed Alpha because of ! And everyone else, too! They're all dead because of !"

My voice rises to a near-wail. The heart monitor beside beeps frantically as my pulse races.

Echo's hand lands awkwardly on my back, patting in a rhythm that's more confused than comforting. Her other hand scrambles for the remote the nurses set on my bed, and she presses the red call button.

I hiccup, then sob harder.

"Breathe," she says, patting a little firr. "Calm down. It's not your fault. None of it is your fault. I wasn't trying to make you think it was."

"But if it wasn't for—" hic "—, they'd all…"

"They were bad people, weren't they? So does it even matter? It isn't worth being upset when trash takes itself out."

I burst into full-on tears.

"Shit," she mutters. "That backfired."