“What did you do?” she pressed, her voice faltering. Anxiety and dread leaked through her bite.
“Revenge,” Hawk said simply. “Real gruesome shit against a rival wolf gang. That’s what got me locked up. Before that, I was into drugs and guns—Iron Claw shit.”
“Wait.” Her mental shields suddenly snapped back up, and she raised up out of my arms, sitting on the blankets next to me, but a little further away from Hawk. “How did I let myself forget that you’re in that motorcycle gang, too?”
“Not anymore,” Hawk said firmly, sitting up along with her. “I left. That night you met me, I was letting our VP know I wasn’t coming back. Also…”
He looked away, and a spark of embarrassment flared over our maul bond. “I was putting in an application to be a short-order cook at the Bar & Grill.”
“Good idea!” I blurted. “The food was great before Cody went into hibernation, but those Red Twin grizzly brothers of his… They really can’t cook. It’s been a hard winter, depending on them for lunch and dinner.”
Holly and Hawk both turned to me, their expressions united in the same message:Leif. Read the room.
“Sorry,” I muttered, raising my hands. “Just saying, they could use the help.”
Hawk’s attention shifted back to Holly. “Now that I’m out of jail, all I want is to settle down. Find a maul. Here. This is exactlywhere I want to be. It’s the only thing that got me through those ten shitty years.”
“And you think this accidental maul is that dream come true?” Holly asked. I didn’t need her shields to be down to read the skepticism in her tone.
But Hawk didn’t flinch. “I know it is.”
“So do I!” I sat up and rubbed my stomach. “I mean, those waffles were incredible. Takoda was a genius for adding you to our maul.”
Her wariness shifted to a frown as her gaze flicked between us. “Wait,” she said slowly, suspicion creeping into her voice. “Where is Koda? He promised he’d be back to explain all of this to me, and he doesn’t seem like the type to break a promise.”
Hawk’s grimaced, and his gaze flicked to me. And I froze, guilt replacing all my enthusiasm about our new maul inside my chest.
“What did you two do?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes.
Before either of us could respond, a voice boomed from the top of the stairs. “HOLLY!”
Then Koda appeared, his chest heaving with rage, his dark eyes locked onto our mate.
16/
the message
less than an hour earlier
takoda
Black eyes, as it turned out, hurt like a frozen lake smashing against your face in February—no give, no mercy, and sharp as hell.
Up until today, I wouldn’t have known that. But a few hours locked in my own station's holding cell had given me plenty of time to learn. The throbbing ache behind my swollen right eye was worse than any headache I’d ever had. But I gritted my teeth, refusing to bear out.
Today’s events had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could no longer trust the beast inside of me.
I wasn’t sure what was harder to believe: that Hawk and Björn had exchanged maul bites while I was chasing Holly. Or thatwhen I returned to let them out—following tribal protocol, mind you—Hawk attacked me, Björn, my own subordinate, locked me in this damn cell.
“This is what you get for leaving us trapped in here while you had your way with our mate.”
That was all the warning Hawk had given before hitting me with a vicious left that sent me stumbling back into the cage.
And now, while they were with Holly, attending to her in estrus, I was stuck behind bars with a black eye and an even blacker mood.
Mate…my bear whined. His ache for her throbbed along with my swollen eye.
“I don’t want to hear it,” I snapped out loud, leaning my head against the cool metal bars. “You’re the one who chose a criminal and a Vancouver outsider for a maul I didn’t want. Now look at us...”
