Page 76 of Lamb

The bastard didn’t even flinch as my foot contacted something hard. His eyes only burned brighter through the descending darkness as I struggled to break free.

I knew Wolf wouldn’t kill me. Knew this was just a ploy of his. Even so, I couldn’t fight the primal urge to escape, to fight death even in the ghost of a threat. It was powerful and overwhelming.

Let go.

Let go.

LET GO!

Wolf released.

My body hit the floor like a bag of rocks, limbs collapsing beneath me like a puppet. Air rushed into my chest, and mybody threw itself forward, coughing and spluttering as it hurried to take gulps of air. My bruised and battered windpipe pounded and protested.

I could still feel Wolf’s hand around my throat, but the euphoria of oxygen made me dizzy and lightheaded, dampening the burning festering beneath my skin.

“Did that feel under control to you?” Wolf’s voice was now above me. It no longer held the fury it once had. Instead, it was softer and calmer. Almost defeated, he looked down, regarding me with a pained frown.

I pressed my hand against my throat, meeting his gaze as his words hit home.

“I know I let a lot go,” Wolf continued, brows knitting back together. “Especially with you, Lamb. But in a moment of weakness, you took that girl’s power. You held her completely at your mercy, and for someone who has been through the things she has … you had no right.”

I opened my mouth, but Wolf wasn’t finished.

“I know the situation,” Wolf interrupted. “I know what she was trying to do. But you’re damn clever, Lamb. Do you really think you had to go as far as you did?”

I assumed the tar-like sludge sinking in my gut was shame. It trickled in as I looked at my brother and harkened back to the face he’d worn as he had awaited me downstairs. Now I realized the emotions he had worn were not cold, seething anger. It was something else entirely.

Disappointment and betrayal.

I had taken advantage of Wolf’s trust and acted in a manner I should never have.

“Now”—Wolf took a step away, both physically and proverbially—“you’ve got forty-eight hours.”

“For what?” I coughed out, dusting off the splinters and the aches. I stood, hand still tenderly rubbing against the darkening skin over my neck, my throat dry and sore.

“To bring her to the club.”

“What?” I choked, surprise slicing through my vocal cords.

“The second I got that call, this became club business.” Wolf’s voice was tight and clipped, leaving little room for objection. “I’ll be leaving a brother here with you at all times until you bring her in.”

“Bring her in? Bu—”

“You had a chance to sort this yourself, Lamb,” Wolf growled, pacing to the front door. He paused at the threshold, his hand tight around the doorknob. His head stared stiffly into the wooden panel. “You fucked up, and now you lost it.”

With those final words, Wolf swung open the door and marched out the doorway. The door hung wide open, vacant in the wake of his large, familiar form.

I stared at it for a long time, my brain calculating and rapidly adjusting my plans and tactics around the newly changed situation. I could have stood there all day, mentally figuring out my next move. There was one thing I did know, though, and I didn’t even have to think hard about it.

I was fucked.

Chapter Twenty-One

ASH

“We meet again.”

I had known this was coming.

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