Page 73 of Wolf

“No,” I snapped, shoving my palm out at him, stopping his approach. “You tell me why the fuck you didn’t say no. I want to know what the fuck theyofferedyou.”

Wolf’s dark eyes narrowed under his lowered brows, shadowing them from the light, making his warm brown now an almost black. I saw the hairs attached to the muscles around his mouth flinch as he suppressed the snarl he wanted to spit at me. “Theclub.”

“The club?” I shook my head, my damp hair hitting the sides of my face. I could feel the lukewarm water dripping down my ice-cold skin. “What do you mean,theclub?”

“I mean the club, Anna,” Wolf growled, and despite my protest, he took a step toward me, rage in his eyes. “Do you have any idea whoheis?”

I frowned. “TheBlackJa—”

“Not the fucking Black Jacks, Anna!” Wolf roared, and it shocked me so hard, I slammed back into the bathroom door as I leaped out of his space. “The guy who owns her is the fucking Britishgovernment!”

His voice tore through me, the words cutting deep into my chest, as every memory from my past came flooding up into my mind. Every time Ash came to me with a blackeye for escaping her house, every time men appeared to take her home and nobody but me batted an eyelid to stop them, the pure control her family heldoverher.

“No,” I snapped. “He's not the whole government, Wolf! He’s justonema—”

“One man?” Wolf’s voice was almost mocking as he said, “He manipulates the entire government! You think he could do that on his own? That he doesn’t have other politicians on his payroll? That he’s just a goodpolitician?”

My hands pushed out in front of me before I even noticed them moving. I shoved Wolf hard enough that it caught him by surprise and he went stumbling backward, my bones vibrating at the sheer forceIused.

His sarcastic expression snapped straight off his face as I screamed at him, “What does it fuckingmatter?”

“What does it matter?” Wolf returned. “He can tear our club down in a second! Even Charon won’t be able to fucking do anythingtohim!”

“So, you’re just going to throw Ash at him?” I was vibrating, with devastation or anger, I couldn’t tell, as the back of my eyes burned with tears I knew would never come. “You’re going to hand her over to a man who wants to put a bullet in her fuckingbrain?”

“She’s not even a part of this club, Anna!” Wolfsnappedback.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “You’re actually going todoit.”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Wolfgrowled.

“You haven’t decided yet?” I repeated, my voice filled with disgust. “You shouldn’t be considering it in the first place. What does it matter if she’snotclub?”

“Because club comes first, Anna,” Wolf growled, taking back the ground he lost when I pushed him. “I thought youunderstoodthat!”

“I do! I understood that about you, and I was fine with coming second to the club!” I snapped. “But Ash is above club for me, Wolf. She’s everything! I’ve known her for years. I love her! I’m not handing her over to thatscumbag—”

“Even if shewantsit?”

I was stunned. The breath was knocked out of me by just looking at Wolf, at the square of his shoulders and the firm placement of his boots into the wood, the tightness of his lips. He believed thatwastrue.

“Shedoesn’t—”

“She does,” Wolf cut me off, and for a moment, I saw his face soften and his eyes fill with pity. “Shetoldme.”

“She—” I began to argue again, adamant Ash did not want to go back. And then I remembered Kay’s words. She had overheard his conversation with Ash. The conversation both of them refused to tell me about. And somehow, it led her to tell Wolf not to break myheart.

It was then thatIknew.

“No,” I whimpered, shaking myhead. “No.”

I shoved past him, my wet hair plastered against my skin as I burst through the door, the wood echoing like gunfire through the compound. I flew into the clubroom the same way, all faces spinning with attention on me. It took me two seconds to know Ash wasn’t in the clubroom, so I rushed toward thestairs.

I was vaguely aware of Wolf’s voice shouting my name, and a further string of Russian curses after it as more than one pair of boots came thundering inmywake.

I took the stairs two at a time, and it was only a few seconds before I lifted my red boots with a force that I was sure would have broken my leg on any other day, as I kicked thedooropen.

Ash leaped from her bed, eyes wild with surprise as she fought instinct until she took in my panting and no doubt furiouslyredface.

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