Page 8 of Renegade Queen

“He’s just worried about you telling other people they’re all shifters. People tend to start hunting them once it all comes out,” I told him calmly, my eyes still fixed on the door for any lingering problems.

“Shifters? Like werewolves and shit?” Maddox asked, cocking his head to the side. He opened his mouth in what I knew would be a laugh, but it turned into a squeak when Tank’s bear erupted out of him, and all twelve feet of him stood up on his back legs with a deafening roar.

“Tank, you know the rules. Into the gym and calm down,” I told him, keeping my eyes on the three humans in front of me rather than turning my attention to the angry bear next to me.

I sat back down in my seat and picked my burger back up. It really was amazing, and I wasn’t wasting this one. There was something about burgers which just made them the perfect meal.

Tank’s bear grunted in annoyance at me, and then I heard the click of his claws against the concrete floor as he wandered off to the gym.

“Do any of you want a beer?” I asked, standing and walking to the fridge to try and distract myself from my growing annoyance at Finn.

All three of them were just sitting there, looking toward the gym, where Tank was headed. Instead of waiting around for the shock to wear off, I shrugged and sat back down with my beer to finish my burger.

“He just turned into a bear,” Ryder told me after a moment longer.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him do it before. Bit overly dramatic if you ask me.” I groaned in delight as I took another bite of my burger, leaving them to their existential crisis.

Chapter 3

Maddox

Maddox

When the General had pulled us off base last night, I’d known something was going on that wasn’t entirely legitimate, but he’d dangled the hope of getting Damon back in front of me, and I couldn’t resist.

When we’d cleared out the bar, leaving just the blonde woman sitting at the counter drinking tequila, I was really fucking confused. Then he’d started talking to her like she was the only one that could solve our problems, and I’d thought he was out of his mind.

As she turned around, it was like the floor dropped out from under me. It made sense that she wasn’t human, she was just far too fucking beautiful to be something as ordinary as that.

Her long blonde hair was more gold than blonde, and it fell nearly to her butt in soft waves. She’d looked at me with deep brown eyes that were so dark they almost seemed black. She was perfectly proportioned, and had the kind of body that made men want to drop to their knees in worship.

Once we’d got the General back to the base, he was pissed. He’d thought she’d just go along with his plan. It was pretty funny when she stabbed him instead. It seemed like he’d got off lightly, though, from what she’d briefly told us.

We stayed up all night talking about what we were going to do. Taking a leave of absence was the only way for us to get the freedom to go after Damon ourselves. I wasn’t stupid, it had been too easy. They shouldn’t have agreed to let all three of us go at the same time. The General probably had something up his sleeve, but I couldn’t care about that right now. I couldn’t give up hope that Damon was still alive. He was my brother, and I wouldn’t abandon him there. Maybe we’d been naïve, thinking if we came to her, she’d agree to take us.

“So when are we moving out? We need time to get equipment together but should only need a few hours notice,” Dean asked, pulling out his phone, no doubt getting ready to call in the favours we’d need.

“I’m not taking you to the Fae realm,” Alyssa calmly told us, wiping her hands on a paper napkin, and standing up from the table.

“What? But you just said…” I started.

“I think you’re misunderstanding the situation,” Alyssa said, fixing me with her stare. “What just happened here was me saving your life when you stupidly followed me into a situation you had absolutely no way of negotiating your way out of. I meant what I said before, the minute you step into that place, you’ll be discovered, and what awaits you there is worse than you could ever imagine. I’m sorry about your brother, I really truly am. But I’m not going to help you kill yourself going after him, even if I was able to travel back to that fucking place.”

I could see more than rage simmering in her eyes; there was pain as well. A fuck tonne of pain. Whatever she’d been through before she came here, it had hurt her more than I think she was capable of dealing with.

“I need to go and calm down a bear,” she told me quietly. “Stay here, Finn isn’t to be trusted and I have a feeling walking out that door is only going to end one way for you guys tonight.”

I nodded quietly. My mind raced, trying to come up with a solution, and I had no words to say.

What was I supposed to do?

Persuade her to take us?

I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was never going back to that place, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the person that made her do it. But I couldn’t give up hope that Damon was alive. I didn’t know how to explain it, but I could feel it deep down inside me. My brother was alive and he needed me.

I had to find a way.

Alyssa quietly walked into the back of the garage and disappeared through the same door the bear had slipped through earlier. Now that was something I never thought I’d ever see. His angry roar rattled the beer bottles on the table in front of us. How she’d walked so calmly in there, closing the door behind her, was plain madness. But I suppose it wasn’t exactly a bear; it was a man, a man she seemed to know well. For some reason, that didn’t sit well with me. Jealousy ran through me like a hot flash, even though I had no right to it. She lived here, possibly with him. I’d only met her last night when I held her at gunpoint. Thinking about it, I had no idea why she was even helping us the small amount that she had.

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