Page 78 of Hunter

My brain stalled, the world seemed to stop, and everything just … froze.

I looked at the stone man behind the desk. “I must have misheard you. It sounded like you saidyouwrote this.”

This couldn’t be happening. I must be wrong. Wolf wouldn’t have done this.

“I know you don’t like this—”

“Don’t like this!” I burst out, throwing myself from the seat so fast the chair flew backward. “I’m fucking furious, Wolf!” I looked at him with disgust. “How could you pull shit like this?”

“You think I wanted to fucking lie to you about all this shit?” Wolf snapped back, slamming his hands against the desk.

I shook my head. I was looking at the man who had long since been my ally, had been there when I needed him, had dragged me out of my darkest moments, despite how little I deserved it. And now … Now, I didn’t even recognize him.

“Then why’d you do it, Wolf? Why lie?” I yelled.

“Because I couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t do something stupid to mess this operation up!” Wolf rose from his chair with all the fire and anger he couldn’t contain.

“Says who?”

“Says me!” Wolf growled. “I was the one who dragged your sorry ass back home after you derailed yourself. You were drunk every night, into every drug and any woman you could find. Jesus, Hunter, those girls were riddled with STDs. Not to mention, driving in any reckless way you could. I expected to find your body in a ditch. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Do you know how many times me and the brothers were forced to stop you from storming the Hell’s Runners’ compound, guns blazing on your own?”

“That was only after Noble died.”

“It was almost two years, Hunter. Until you found out about that girl, you were close to suicide or prison,” Wolf countered. “I didn’t tell you about what I was doing, because I thought you couldn’t handle it. Most clubs don’t give two shits about anything other than drugs, guns, and girls, and don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. But the brothers, me—we give a shit, Hunter. I’ve lost too many people in my life to lose any more. Certainly not one of my brothers. Not you.”

I only knew about Wolf’s past from what I could interpret, meaning this was the first time he had ever shown an opening. I also knew of my own past—how bad it had been, and how many times I had come close to an accident or overdose, and how many times it had been Wolf standing between me and the bottom of my final bottle. I was grateful for it. I forever would be. But that didn’t make him justified.

“And what about Mallory?” I asked. “You drove her out of town, and then what? Did you even know about Adair, or did you not care?”

“Don’t act like you don’t fucking know me, Hunter. If I’d known she was pregnant with Noble’s kid, I would have brought her kicking and screaming into this club,” Wolf answered, sinking back into his chair. “I kept tabs on her, had brothers from other chapters keep an eye on her, and made sure she was okay. None of them ever said anything about a kid. I only found out when you did.”

“My contact,” I said, everything beginning to make sense. “The one who told me where Mallory was. He was yours. You knew the second I brought Adair through those doors. You knew he wasn’t mine. You knew exactly who Mallory was.”

“It was your choice not to tell me or the brothers,” Wolf said. “I couldn’t interfere with that.”

“Not without giving your lie away.”

“Look, Hunter, I’ve been honest with you. You can be pissed all you like, but don’t leave this room thinking I did it for my own selfish benefit. I did it to help you and protect that girl. The photo is proof that the Hell’s Runners had their eyes on her, and getting her away from town was the best thing for her.”

“Doesn’t make it right, Wolf.”

“No. It doesn’t.”

Wolf said nothing more. He didn’t apologize or ask for forgiveness. He simply sat in his chair and watched as I walked out the door.

* * *

“Adair Michael Ward!” Mallory snapped. “Don’t you dare eat that!”

Mallory stormed across the playground, armed with a baby wipe and a mom face that froze Adair in his tracks. He looked down at the piece of candy in his hands, and then at his mother, a panicked debate flashing through his eyes.

He chose the candy and threw it in his mouth before Mallory could catch him.

“Adair!” she screeched, grabbing him by the cheeks and prying open his jaws to fish the candy out. She then threw it halfway across the park and went on to explain to a three-year-old how eating candy off the floor could result in disease and illness.

It was overcast but warm, and despite the fact I wanted to go somewhere else, somewhere more exciting, Mallory would only say yes to the park a few blocks from the club. She had looked misplaced when they had arrived, having ended up unconscious last time she had been there.

It was the place where she had deluded herself into thinking she had seen Noble.

---