Page 68 of Fastlander Fighter

Those last five words hung in the air as Clara turned to leave. Sloane had always hoped that saying would apply to her life someday.

There was a commotion down the hallway, and Clara muttered a curse as she disappeared out the door and down the hallway.

Sloane set down the bag of toiletries Clara had given her and stuck her head out the door, listening to the masculine voices that were ramping up in volume.

Ope. That was Captain’s angry voice. “That one is mine,” she said apologetically as she jogged past Clara. She didn’t know why she’d said that. He wasn’t hers, clearly. He hadn’t even remembered sleeping with her.

Everything was on fire.

The yelling got louder as she picked up her jog to a run, her sneakers squeaking against the white marble floors, and now she could make out some of the words.

“You couldn’t wait, could you, brother?”

“That’s not what this is about!”

“I know what you did!”

Sloane rounded the corner of the big room just as Hallie started yelling for the Walker brothers to stop.

She skidded to a stop at the sight of Captain. He looked different. It looked like he’d never smiled in all his life now. His eyes were hollow and blazing silver, and the veins in his neck were popping out as he yelled at his brother. Owen was trying to keep them separate, and the girls were pulling on the Walker brothers’ arms, trying to yank them apart, but those two titans acted as if the Crew wasn’t even there.

Sloane bolted forward as a growl rippled through the room. A man with dark hair gone silver at the temples sat at the head of the long dining table with Lucia. Damon? He looked on at the fight without moving or blinking.

She skidded to a stop beside Captain.

“Hey!” she yelled, but he didn’t seem to hear her.

A snarl ripped from him as well, and oh no. This was bad! They could bring this entire room down with the brawl she knew they were both capable of.

“Stop him!” Silver yelled at her, and she hesitated. Stop him? How could she, a human, stop these monsters from doing what monsters did?

She clenched her teeth and looked up at Captain. As Silver and Corey pulled on him, Owen pushed, and she had just enough room to slide in between him and Gunner and wrap her arms around Captain’s neck.

She clung to him, wrapping her legs around him.

“Stop!” Captain barked, holding his hands out like he didn’t want to touch her. He staggered backward with her clinging to him. “Lady, stop! Something’s happening.” His words sounded strangled, and in a panic, she let go, afraid she was hurting him somehow.

Captain fell to his knees, wrapped his arms around his middle, and folded over like he couldn’t breathe.

“Take it back,” Hallie demanded.

“Take what back?” Sloane asked, panicking. “What did I do?”

“Not you!” Hallie yelled. “Gunner, take it back, or so heaven help me, I will make you sleep in the woods for the next month.”

“It’s for his own—”

“Fuck off,” Sloane yelled, rounding on him. “You took me away from him. Fix it!”

“To protect your son.”

“I will protect my son! Captain can protect my son. You had no right to rip him from me!” Her scream surprised her, and so did the thickening of her throat and the tears that burned her eyes. She advanced on Gunner and pushed him in the chest. “You had no right. Fix it.”

Captain was trying to drag in breath, still curled in on himself.

“You’re poisoning him,” Gunner murmured.

“You’re poisoning him!” she screamed in his face. “I love him. Can you say the same thing? You’re his brother. This is not an act of love. It is an act of hate. Undo it, or I swear to God when I Turn into a lion, my first act will be to kill you.”

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