The sky was too big, the horizon too wide. Everything stretched out forever out here. The farther I drove, the farther it seemed like I had to go. I lived about five miles inside pack territory. I’d dropped Savannah by Bronc’s and then headed home for a shower and clean clothes. When the pack buildings finally came into view, I felt like I’d put on armor. The air was charged with a storm I couldn’t see, but I could sure as hell feel.
Parking outside the clubhouse, I cut the engine and sat there longer than I should have, mind spinning circles. I thought about Savannah and how far she’d gotten with her story to Juliet. I sent her all the good thoughts I could.
Almost texted her. My hand hovered over my phone, but I stopped. Stuffed it in my pocket. If I kept checking on her, I’d never do what I needed to do here. I slammed the truck door and stalked up to the house. This was it. The bomb was about to drop.
The compound was quiet when I arrived, but it felt like the calm before a storm. I went straight to the meeting room where the others were already waiting. Bronc looked up, a shadow of suspicion in his eyes. “The look on your face tells me I’m not gonna like this.” He was seated at the table, hands folded in front of him like he was expecting a bad hand to be dealt.
“Well then, I must be doing a real fuckin’ piss-poor job at facial expressions,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Because you’re gonna fuckin’hatethis. Seems our Sawyer,mySawyer, mymate, and yes, I said mate, is actually SavannahCalloway.” I let her full name hang there, waited for them to catch up. It didn’t take long.
Bronc’s mouth tightened as the weight of it sunk in. Then, after a heavy sigh, “I just wish that one goddamn time, somebody around here could drop some kind of good news on me. Declan fucking Calloway,” he muttered. “That son of a bitch is dangerous.”
Arsenal leaned back in his chair, eyes flicking from me to Bronc, processing. He crossed his arms, the tattoos on his forearms shifting with the motion. Tension ratcheted up and crackled between us like static. “She'd better have a golden pussy.” Was his fucking smartass reply. I took a step towards him. Bronc’s massive hand on my chest the only thing that stopped me from causing serious bodily harm.
Bronc’s glare could bring a man to his knees. “Now is not the time for your disrespectful comments about your brother’smate, jackass.” It was like Bronc had backhanded Arsenal across the face.
“Apologies, man. This is all new. Women around here being more than pussy that is. I got your back, you know that. And hers.”
The room felt too small, like there wasn’t enough air to go around. I stayed at the head of the table, the pressure of their attention pinning me in place. Bronc’s jaw was set, the tendons in his neck standing out as he absorbed what I’d just dropped. He leaned forward, fingers interlocked. “How the hell did you get into this mess, Menace?”
“I knew she was hiding something,” I said, knowing how weak that sounded. “Had no way of knowing it’d be a bombshell like this. Figured she was unhappy with her pack at home and had an opportunity not to go back so she took it. I fucking introduced her to Karen at the elementary school. She said she had a degreein music and education. Should have heard it when she sat at the piano.” My mind went to that classroom. “I don’t know how she thought she’d get away with it when I ran her credentials. Guess that’s why she fessed up. That and she’s scared to death her father’s men are going to hurt us.”
“King of the Eastern Packs is a well-known tyrant,” Big Papa chimed in, his voice low but steady. His heir isn’t any better.
“Yeah.” I nodded, remembering Savannah’s confession and the fear in her eyes. “She’s been running from Declan for almost a year. Went off-grid, hiding out wherever she could, until by some fluke, Harrison’s men found her in the Ozarks.”
The room was quiet for a moment before Arsenal asked the $64,000 question. “Why is she running, Menace?”
“Yeah, it gets worse.” I looked down at my scarred hands that were flat on the table. Then I looked back up at my brothers whose lives were all going to soon be in danger.
“She ran, because her father promised her to the new King Dominic Madison of the Midwestern Packs.”
Bronc shook his head. “Jesus Christ. You brought a fucking Calloway into the compound. And possibly induced the wrath of the Midwest king as well?”
“She’s mymate,” I shot back, the words coming out sharper than I intended. “And I just rescued a woman. There was no way for me to know any of this. What was she supposed to do? It’s only been a few weeks. But once Lucia came by your cabin, she knew her time was up. Lucia recognized her.”
Bronc ran his hand down his face. “Shit, what a mess. I’ll have Juliet call Lucia. Get her to keep quiet.”
I finally took my seat at the table. “Savannah is telling Juliet everything right now. I told her she was going to need a friend, and there is not a better person I know than Juliet.”
Bronc’s eyes shifted to me, like he was surprised.
I shrugged. “I mean it. Every word.”
Bronc looked as old as I’d ever seen him. I was glad he had Juliet in his life. She gave him some balance to the burdens he always carried.
The words hung there, pressing down on us all. I could see the calculations spinning in Bronc’s mind, the tactical angles he was working through. Finally, he exhaled and leaned back, fingers steepled. “What’s our play?”
“We need allies,” I said. “Someone with enough force to stand up to Declan.”
“Rafe Mayfield,” Doc suggested, speaking the name we were all thinking.
Bronc considered it, his expression hard and unreadable. “Reaching out to another king is a big move. Declan gets wind of it, he’ll retaliate.”
“He’s coming no matter what,” I argued. “Once he knows Savannah is here, he’ll make a play for her. He won’t care if we’re in the crossfire.”
Bronc’s gaze met mine, searching. “Can you trust her not to run again?”
“Yeah.” I thought of the look on her face when she said she wouldn’t leave me. I felt it like a weight in my chest. “She wanted to, just because she’s scared shitless that we can’t handle her father and his men. I convinced her that we can take whatever he throws at us. Sure hope I’m right. But she’s not going anywhere.”
