I can hear King’s breathing hitch, but before I can bring my eyes up, Rex is slapping my face. “Either you put Steel’s cock in your mouth or you’ll take mine. Stop being fucking difficult.” Rex lashes out so hard and fast my head flings backwards.
“Rex!” King barks, and I whimper, the noise ripping submission from every bone in my body, but Steel covers it by pushing his tip past my lips, making me whimper for a different reason. The tears that fall are real.
“Here we fucking go,” Rex encourages, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he gets caught up in the moment. Steel snatches the phone out of Rex’s hands and fiddles with it before holding it at eye level, so all I can see is either his or King’s eyes.
Neither of them utter a noise. But it doesn’t mean we don’t communicate while Rex catcalls and dances around in his obvious happiness. Through our bond King roars endlessly of his love and devotion while making violent promises about what he’s going to do to the Reapers. King’s influence somehow reaches Steel, and he makes it possible for Steel to keep doing what has to be done.
The both of them stay with me the entire time, ignoring Rex’s delusions and endless threats. Together, Steel and King urge me to sink even further into the bond and go as far away from reality as possible.
But no matter how much they try to buffer me, there’s no escaping Rex’s malicious and malignant presence, for no other reason I’m fucking terrified.
I want to say it’s a beautiful moment when Steel binds us together as pack but the flood of his regret and the whirlpool of guilt as our connection snaps into place threatens to drown me in the deepest ocean. The Steel I knew from the cabin is long gone, and that hurts as much as our choice of packing being taken from us.
I want to say we’ll get past this, but we made a promise not to lie to each other.
Rex picks up on the shift in Steel because he rips us apart before shoving a bottle in his hand in congratulations and picking up the phone.
“Now I’ve fixed about a hundred problems in five minutes.” Rex chuckles. He starts talking to King like they’re friends. “I mean, Steel’s new cunt had no Fallen marking on her so she couldn’t have meant much to you, huh? But see now, Steel alsogets to learn what loyalty is all about. Unless I choose to teach him a fucking lesson using his piece of ass which is on the cards considering he gets so worked up about Rider cunt that’s not his to worry about. Huh?”
“For the tenth fucking time, Rex! I was with you. How could I be in two places at once, huh? No doubt Ma and Harley got help, but not from me.”
“This is clearly not a discussion me and you need to have in front of this prick, is it?” Rex snaps, his eyes looking lethal as he stares at Steel. “Have some fucking respect, Steel, King’s dealing right now, suffering the fact he lost this fine piece of ass but also he’s got rats in his house. And you have your own issues too.”
Rex lunges unnaturally fast and buries a hunting knife in Steel’s side. I scream but that only makes Rex laugh harder and faster.
“What?” Steel staggers backwards, tripping over his feet.
“A reminder, I’m fucking watching you. Now say see you later to your fucking whore. She’s riding out with me.”
“What?”
“You ain’t fit to ride,” Rex snarls, twisting the knife.
Chapter
Forty-Nine
KING
Ineed some fucking air but that will have to wait until I have Tristan.
“Get the fuck out,” I snarl at the team of doctors and interns inspecting Maverick. He’s fine. Nothing but a couple of cracked ribs and a hit to the head. Once I tell him what Rex just did I doubt he will even need the pain meds they’re offering.
Before the door shuts behind them, Maverick’s twisting around and pulling out the IV, making a right fucking bloody mess of the sheets and the gown he’s wearing buthe’s already holding a gauze to it.
“You see my jeans?” he asks, shaking his head.
“You in pain or you fucking…”
He shakes his head again. “Seeing spots. But I’ll live. I need some sugar.”
He rummages through the cart one of the nurses left behind, finding a couple of wipes to clean up the blood while I find his clothes on the other side of the bed.
“Bad?” He asks without looking at me, fixing himself up like this isn’t the first time he’s patched up his own injuries.
“Rex has Tris.”
Maverick looks fucking green when I finish speaking. He leans over and hurls in the bin painting the sides with Jell-O.
