Page 73 of Blood of Vengeance

I avoided the darted look Rush threw my way, the surprise at being asked that question by the prez one I shared. Not that I was going to show it.

“Yeah,” Rush said. “Locklyn and Zella are all good. We’ve got Tex and Gator on their security detail for now.”

“Good. That’s good.” Cutter stared at the table for a long, awkward moment, the energy around him agitated. Finally, he asked, “And Zella’s good?”

Rush cocked his head, giving away his surprise again. “Definitely. Caffeinated and fed. I made sure of it.”

Cutter nodded once, keeping his gaze on the map. “Good. So let’s get ready to fuck up some vamps and bring Chiggy’s truck home. Zed…load ’em up.”

Zed stalked out of the room and turned toward the prez’s office, likely heading for the armory. As the warlord, his job was to make sure we had what we needed should anything like this come up. And anything we needed came down to weaponry. Rifles, handguns, tactical gear, ammunition. All of it fell to Zed. Thank fuck the man had a solid hold on the industry and knew what was quality and what was crap. As a club, we were also lucky Mule understood the cost of quality munitions. There was no cutting corners at the Desert Hellions clubhouse.

I headed out with the rest of the brothers who would be moving into monitoring positions. Cutter stood off to the side staring at his phone, looking far more worried than I would have liked.

“You good, old man?” I settled in beside him, both of us leaning against a truck we didn’t own.

He grunted and typed a quick message before returning his phone to his pocket. “Solid. Ready for this?”

“Always.” I sighed and kicked my legs out, crossing my ankles and forcing myself to relax into the hard metal at my back. “So…Zella, huh?”

Cutter whipped his head in my direction, a low growl rumbling through his chest. “What about her?”

“Mated or just interested?”

He stood staring straight ahead for a long moment, the silence weighing heavy between us. Telling all his secrets without saying a word.

Finally, I nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

His sigh was one I understood, one I likely had given as well. The stealing of breath that came with the realization that the fates had just thrown a mate in your path. A perfect female solely for you. The sigh of a man whose life would never be the same.

“Got any advice?” he asked, voice quiet but rough.

“Fuck no,” I said with a laugh. “I think I’m messing everything up.”

“You smell like Locklyn, though. Can’t be doing everything wrong.”

The mood shifted, the anger I felt at myself growing hot under my skin. My shame growing.

“I bit her.” I kept staring ahead as he turned my way once more. Unable to look a man I respected in the eye for the first time in my life. “I haven’t told her about the mating, but I bit her.”

He didn’t yell, didn’t remind me of how important a mating bite was. How sacred that moment should have been or how a nonconsensual bite could destroy a mating. He simply kept his voice quiet and low as he asked, “So, you feel her emotions now?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “She didn’t bite me back so it’s not really strong, but I can feel a shadow of them.”

He sighed again, his gaze dropping to his shoes. “Women deserve more control of their lives. She’s going to be pissed.”

“Probably.”

“And you deserve all that ire.”

“Definitely.”

“What are you going to do?”

I pushed off the truck as Zed approached with two duffels in his hands. “I’m going to fuck up some vampires, avenge her father’s death, then come back and explain. Once I do that, I’ll probably grovel for a few days.”

Cutter huffed a laugh. “I’d give it a solid week. What’s up, Zed?”

“Supplies.” He handed Cutter one bag and me the second. “Specialized.”

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