Page 13 of Blood of Vengeance

“I don’t fucking know—take care of her, find Chiggy’s body, avenge his murder, prove I’m a quality mate for her. That’s all I’ve got so far.”

He froze, staring at me for a long moment, before settling onto a chair beside the pool. He even kicked his boots up on a side table near it. “Seems like a good start.”

“Yeah.” I lay back in my hammock and looked up at the sky, spotting a few constellations I recognized but mostly seeing a bunch of fucking stars that littered the darkness above. “How long you staying?”

“Not sure. At least until you put the fucking groceries I bought for you away and maybe offer me a drink.”

I rolled off the hammock, shaking my head. “Asshole.”

“Asshole who brought your mate snacks.”

No lies detected there, though he was still an asshole for the way he had reminded me about them. I snuck inside, creeping like a thief in the dark in my own damn house so I didn’t wake up Locklyn or scare her. I took a quick inventory of what I had known to be on the shelves so I could determine what she’d eaten, which wasn’t much. Seemed like she’d taken an apple and some crackers to my room. No protein, no healthy fats to keep her feeling full. Not even one of the little peanut butter packs I kept around. Damn it.

I quickly put away the groceries Cutter had brought—snacks, for sure, but also eggs, avocados, tomatoes, and other good things that would make breakfast more substantial for my girl. That was all I could think about—making sure she had a solid meal in the morning since she definitely hadn’t tonight. I’d make her a feast.

Once finished, I grabbed two sparkling waters and headed back outside to find Cutter sprawled out in my hammock.

“Comfy, old man?”

“Sure am,” he said, not even bothering to turn his head my way. “This is quite the oasis.”

I set his water on the little table tucked under the head of the hammock. “Thought you didn’t like the lights.”

“Oh, I like them. They just don’t seem like something you’d care about.”

He wasn’t wrong. “The previous owner installed them.”

“You could have taken them down.”

I sighed and looked across my backyard, letting my gaze wander to the desert that stretched out behind my property. This place—this little house with almost no neighbors—had originally been a hotel room. A place to sleep in between visits to the clubhouse. It had become more over the years. The pool, the patio, the hammock—those had become a spot of respite for me and my old wolf. The inside might have been bare bones, but out here, I kept it comfy.

“I like how the light reflects off the water,” I admitted, keeping the rest to myself. That my wolf loved the way the hammock swayed and how nice it was to dive into the pool—with its salty water instead of nasty chlorine crap—after a long, hot day on my bike. How I slept out here most nights just to feel the breeze roll through. That I really hoped Locklyn enjoyed swimming because we would be spending a lot of time out there. Hopefully with her in a bikini…or nothing at all. The no-neighbors thing was a huge plus in that regard.

“You’ve got a right peaceful place.” He rose from the hammock and stretched, looking out into the desert just as I had done. “But that openness is a weak spot. We’ll need to get you some cameras or motion detectors for that property line.”

I nodded, thinking the same thing. “I don’t want anyone sneaking up on Locklyn when she’s out here, especially if I’m not home.”

“Exactly.” He grabbed his water then offered his fist for a bump before heading for the driveway, leaving my little oasis just as he’d arrived. “Keep your ass outside tonight and feed that girl in the morning. I don’t like the idea of a brother’s daughter starving when we can easily take care of that.”

“I got this.”

He stopped before disappearing around the corner of the house, giving me a strong glare. Letting his wolf come through. My own bristled, not liking another beast trying to intimidate him, but this was Cutter. My VP. I knew how to take orders from the man.

And an order was exactly what the man laid down. “Take care of her. For Chiggy.”

Six

Locklyn

Wind blowing across a desert landscape.

Wolf howls.

My name on my dad’s lips.

A single gunshot.

I awoke with a start, sitting straight up in bed. It took me a full ten seconds to calm my heart enough to recognize I had been dreaming, that no gun had gone off in the house. That I wasn’t in immediate danger. My stomach churned and my mouth watered from the need to be sick, but I held it back. I didn’t want to lose the apple and crackers I’d eaten before I’d crawled into Flinch’s bed.

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