Page 8 of Blood of Vengeance

“We find the fucker who did this, and I’ll make sure no blowback hits the crew.”

“Good.”

Zed took control of the conversation next, focusing on my mate. “What’s your story?”

I didn’t turn to look at her, didn’t dare lose focus on the four men all staring her way. Three, actually, because when I checked in on Cutter, that man had his gaze locked right on me instead.

“What’s her name, Flinch?” Cutter asked. He knew… How and when he picked up on the fact that the woman sitting behind me had been fated to be mine, I had no idea, but the bastard knew. His deferring to me instead of speaking directly to her told me so.

But fuck if I could answer him. “Don’t know.”

One eyebrow flew up. Just one. Fucker had a skill. “You planning on asking her?”

“It’s Locklyn,” the girl said, her voice strong and clear and seemingly unafraid. “My name is Locklyn.”

Cutter glanced my way once more before focusing on her. “And you’re Chiggy’s daughter. Whom none of us knew about.”

“Banger knows me. He’d vouch for me.”

“Banger ain’t here,” Zed said. “What else you got?”

The girl—Locklyn—went silent for a minute. I noticed her look toward Mule, who sat with his mouth closed and his eyes on her. I had a feeling the old man knew something, but he wasn’t telling anyone shit. Typical. I could feel her anxiety, though—sense her stress. My wolf whined inside my head, wanting to jump in front of her. To protect her. And what my wolf wanted, he got.

“She’s got Chiggy’s eyes,” I said.

Zed huffed. “Not enough.”

He wasn’t wrong, but his attitude still made me want to show my teeth. Instead, I pulled my phone from my pocket and tapped through to Banger’s number, setting it on the table and putting it on speakerphone. My eyes locked on Zed’s as the device sounded a ringing tone before a familiar voice answered.

“I’m busy. Make it quick.”

I could do that. “Chiggy got a daughter?”

“What the fuck?” He mumbled a few other words, the sound of a hand pressing against the microphone causing something like static on the call before he came back. “Try me again with that one.”

“Chiggy. Got. A. Daughter. Ain’t that hard, old man.”

“Don’t you think you should be asking Chiggy that?”

Cutter jumped in, adding his VP weight. “We believe Chiggy’s dead, and there’s a girl here claiming she’s his kin. So, what say you—did the man have a kid or what?”

“Fuck me.” Banger sighed, his voice growing harder as he said, “I’ll be there in five. Don’t fucking touch that girl until I say so.”

No wolf liked being told what to do—especially mine—but the man laying down the law like that soothed something in me. I’d fight every brother to keep Locklyn safe, and it sounded like Banger might be willing to as well. Always good to have backup, even when you didn’t need it.

We sat in silence for what ended up being about three minutes and thirty seconds. Where Banger had been holed up, I had no idea, but my guess was in a rig in the yard and with a woman, because he smelled like weed and sex when he came storming in.

“Where is she?”

Locklyn rose to her feet, which meant I did, too. Banger shot me a glare before focusing on the woman behind me, his face falling into something like sadness and fear and rage all at once.

“Motherfucker, you are here. So then it’s true—Chiggy’s dead?”

Locklyn stepped around me. I moved to block her, but she locked eyes with me, something in her pretty green ones calming my wolf enough to let her pass. I followed her, though. Kept real close to that ass as she crept over to Banger.

“The nightmares wouldn’t let up, so I knew I had to come. Mule said he was gone too?—”

“I meant missing, girl. Not dead.” Mule moved as if to rise but froze when I growled low and rough. I had no doubt every man in the room understood the warning that sound represented, though the human wouldn’t have even heard it. Make that shouldn’t have, because her body stiffened just like the shifters’, the threat definitely received.

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