“Where am I headed, now?”
We’d reached the edge of town, so I gave him the full address instead of the town now that I trusted him just a little bit more. Or at least my alpha did.
“It’s a bit of a drive. Let me call some contacts.”
I just shrugged. I wasn’t about to question whatever he wanted to do. I just wanted to make sure that my loose ends were tied up before I agreed to anything.
“Yeah, boss,” someone answered on the second ring.
I raised my eyebrows at Ronan, but he didn’t say anything.
“I need a cleanup crew,” he said carefully, giving him the same address that I had. “However, you will need to give us alittle time first. I’ll send the signal when I’m ready. Just head that way.”
“Understood.”
The phone call ended just as abruptly as it started.
“Showtime,” he said with a grin before picking up speed and heading through town. His eyes were focused ahead now, his body almost relaxed, as if this drive was leading us on some fun adventure.
He didn’t bother to speak again as we drove out of the city to the smaller town down the road. I hadn’t faced this portion of my life in four years. I didn’t even come back to talk to the police. I called them these days.
“Share with the class, what’s going on over there?” he questioned.
I shot him a look that had Ronan cracking up.
“No Kumbaya by the fire then, brother?”
“Hardly,” I finally admitted. That was the best he was getting out of me.
The GPS navigated us right back to the trailer park that held too many memories. The alpha gazed out at the run-down trailers and shitty roads but gave no reaction. He simply pulled over just inside the entryway before parking among the trees. He cut the headlights. Between the dark of night and shitty streetlights, we were practically invisible here.
“Lead the way, brother,” he said as he climbed out, going around to the trunk.
He waited until I joined him to lift it. I raised an eyebrow at the empty trunk until he pulled open the spot where the spare tire should be. It was loaded down with various weapons and enough ammo to last a full battle. More than enough for what I needed.
Plus, a gun would have this over a bit too quickly. I was more of a knife guy, myself.
He gestured for me to take my pick. I took my time looking over the options. A gun would just draw attention, and I frankly didn’t want her to go that easily. Instead, I snagged a short blade that had a hook on one end and then a pick.
Both of those would do just fine.
She was probably high as a kite, meaning she would probably only feel half of the rage I’d had pent up for four years. Either way I couldn't wait to give her a fraction of the pain she had given Aries growing up. I'd savor every last fucking minute.
I pulled my hood over my head and tucked the blades into the waistband of my pants. Ronan pulled on a black hoodie of his own, tugging the hood over to cover his face as well.
He let me take the lead. I walked carefully towards the trailers, noting how run-down they were now. The last four years hadn’t done this hell-hole any favors. They should have been condemned years ago.
Finally, we reached the broken-down trailer I grew up in. Aries’s was next to it, the same beater in the drive.
The flicker of the TV shined through the threadbare curtains, but that was the only light on.
The border of the trailer had all but been torn away, tools littered around it like someone started fixing it up, then realized it was useless. She had someone else here, or had at one point.
My gaze shifted to the house behind me, my face twisting in disgust as I thought about the life I’d had there. The one full of hunger and angry words. If I had been smaller, anything but an alpha, I’d have had a life similar to Aries.
Ronan glanced that way, then back at me.
“I take it that’s ‘home sweet home,’ or at least it was at one point?”
