hadn’t cared about the men at the motel. Stone was holding two guns and facing five enemies when she left. And her only concern had been if Stone came out alive. She hadn’t cared how many of Parker’s lackeys he had to kill.
“That’s different,” she finally spoke up, voice weak.
“Because there wasn’t money involved? Grow up,” Kate practically snarled, an edge to every syllable.
Selina’s head was spinning. She knew right from wrong, didn’t she?
Kate stood over her, expression softening a little.
“I know you’ve been thrown into all this and you’re used to seeing the world in terms of black and white. But there are so many shades of grey. Don’t feel bad about opening your eyes to them. This isn’t the time for moral superiority. At the end of the day, it all comes down to survival. You against them.”
Selina had never seen the world as Kate did, but then again their lives were very different. There were too many questions in her head and she sat down, feeling the blood go out of her cheeks.
Maybe it was time to look at things from a different light? Could Stone’s past be justified? How many lives might his actions have indirectly saved?
Considering such things, Selina didn’t even feel like the same person she had been just a couple of days ago. Stone was a good man, but he also killed people. Weren’t those things mutually exclusive?
Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m even considering this, she thought, dropping her head in her hands. Is it even any of my business? Why do I care?
It was the last question that she was both most anxious and most interested to know the answer to.
Kate was right, she needed to confront Stone directly and without such swift judgment this time. He had saved her life more than once, and the second she heard something she didn’t like about him, she flipped.
“I think I’ll leave you alone for now,” Kate said, her voice gentler.
Her high heels clicked across the floor and Selina only spoke up when Kate’s hand was already on the doorknob.
“Where is Stone? I’d like to speak to him,” Selina said, her voice sounding weaker than she would have liked it.
“He went out a while ago. Something about an old friend in trouble,” Kate replied, unconcerned.
Selina’s eyes widened. That sounded like a terrible idea.
“Now? With Parker’s men looking for him? He could be in danger!”
“Knowing him, he probably is. But he’s a grown man and I can’t stop him from being stupid,” Kate sighed.
A pool of anxiety warmed in Selina’s stomach.
If Stone gets himself killed before we get a chance to talk…
Selina didn’t want to finish that thought.
Twelve
Stone
S tone pushed his emotions to the side as he examined what was left of Mike’s apartment. A quick sniff confirmed shifters had been there, but not the ones he would have thought. The scent was distinctively canine.
Wolves.
The bounty Kate had mentioned seemed to have the desired effect. He could try tracking the mutts by scent, but it was most probably a lost cause. With a body with them, they had certainly used a vehicle to get away.
He pushed down the swirl of emotions within him and concentrated on the job. It came far too easily when Selina wasn’t the one involved in the mess.
Stone had to think back. He had only had contact with a handful of wolves when he still lived in Chicago and they all belonged to the Shadow pack. The name was a little mystical for Stone’s tastes, but he had to admit, they could be very stealthy.
But who among them could have known about his connection to Mike? He didn’t go around name-dropping his associates for exactly this reason – so no one could use them to get to him. There was only one person who came to mind, but it couldn’t be.
Freddy.
Freddy had just been a low-level member of the Shadow when he and Stone first met. The pack wanted one of their own gone, but in a way that couldn’t be tied back to them. Freddy got picked as a