Page 58 of Fastlander Fighter

Okay, so Silver was asking for her address? Why? Was she going to talk to her like Hallie did? Tell her to forget about him? Or did she want to explain? Did she want to hang out? She should text Silver. But wait, if she did, what if Silver backed off because Sloane was too eager?

The phone lit up with a text from Captain. I don’t like how it feels when I talk to you. Don’t want to do it anymore. I gave Silver your information. Leave me out of your friendship with her.

Sloane read the last word and closed her eyes at the stabbing pain that pierced her chest. More rejection.

I really liked the way I felt when I talked to you. Send. Can you please try to remember? Send. She pulled up the last picture they’d taken together. She’d been sitting in his lap on the couch, and he was kissing her on the cheek as she smiled at the camera. Send.

Those last three texts wouldn’t go through. The little sending bubbles stayed white, and she pursed her lips and nodded her head as she realized what had happened. She had blocked Ryan, and then Captain had blocked her.

Everything had gotten so messed up. Captain really was lost to her now.

****

“What are you doing?” Captain growled at Silver as he advanced on her. She was running, so he had to chase after her. The instincts said he had to.

Owen’s mate turned around in the middle of the trailer park. She lifted her hand up and said, “Stay right where you are. You aren’t going to stop me.”

“Stop you from doing what?” he barked out, angry for reasons he didn’t understand.

“Look at you, Captain.”

Confused, he looked down at himself. He wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing, and his hip was streaming red from a gash. What the hell? He closed his eyes and shook his head hard, trying to remember how he’d gotten that. Had he blacked out? He remembered texting the woman Silver had asked him about and then…and then…nothing.

“You’ve aimed at everyone here!” Silver screamed at him, her lioness eyes blazing bright molten gold. “For days we’ve taken it, and I’m done. You nearly killed him!”

“Killed him?” he repeated, feeling empty.

Silver jammed her finger at her trailer. Owen was sitting on the steps there, no clothes, bleeding from so many slash marks across his body.

“Wait…” Captain frowned. What the hell was happening to him? He didn’t remember fighting Owen. “I fought you?” he asked.

Owen lifted his bright-blue eyes to Captain, and they were full of exhaustion.

“What’s going on?” someone asked from tree line. Gunner was walking this way with long strides, and he looked pissed. “I was Changed! I could hear you fighting from two miles away!” he barked out. “Again? Seriously?”

“This is your fault!” Silver roared, rounding on the Alpha. “You did this. You carved out the good in him!”

“No I didn’t. That’s just Captain. He’s an asshole—”

Silver shoved Gunner hard in the chest, and a snarl rippled from him.

With a grunt, Owen pushed up off the stairs and swayed slightly. “Gunner, don’t touch her.”

It was Silver who advanced as Gunner backed up, though. “That’s not the Captain I know,” she said. “You’re living in the past, clearly! The Captain I know doesn’t fight unless he has a reason. The Captain I know stepped in between all of the females in this Crew, and Wreck. The Captain I know was fucking happy a week ago! He brought you his mate out of respect, and you took her away from him. You carved out the good in him when you did your stupid Alpha order, and you know it.”

“It’s for his own good.”

“No it’s not. That’s BS and you know it. We are imploding, and Captain is the one dragging us down because of your order. You’re justifying what you did by telling yourself it’s best for him, but look at your brother, Gunner! Look at him!”

Gunner’s bi-colored silver-and-blue eyes lifted to Captain, but he had no idea what his brother was looking for.

“Ask him if he feels his injuries,” Corey asked from behind him.

Captain twisted around to see she had come out onto Hallie’s front porch.

She twitched her head toward Captain. “Go on, Gunner. Ask him. Ask him if when he just turned around like that and his gash opened up, did he feel it? Ask him if he feels anything at all.”

“I didn’t know it would work that way!” Gunner yelled.

---