Page 51 of The Butcher

“Clayton,” I say firmly.Why the hell am I having to talk everyone down today?“You hear me? I need you to spend time with Indy for a little while so I can go handle that.”

Slowly, as if he’s coming out of a trance, my beta starts to nod, blinking a few times before I can tell he finally hears what I’m saying. “Ok, yeah, I can keep her here. I’ll keep her busy.”

I give him the are you sure look, still stroking his pulse until it’s as close to normal as he’s going to get right now.

“I’ll let her tattoo me.”

Without warning, I bark out a short laugh. “What?”

Clay shrugs his shoulders and grins. “She’ll be fascinated with the machine when I show her how it works, and after she takes it apart and puts it back together, I’ll let her tattoo me.” Then he wags his eyebrows. “It’s a good excuse for her to touch me, and we’re going to be needing more of those if what Nan says is true.”

Ignoring everything he’s implying, I dip my chin and kiss this jackass of a man because I really do love him, and he’s the only thing keeping me somewhat grounded while our pack is in turmoil. Sure, he’s also been driving me nuts, but Clayton’s mostly been a rock as of late.

He’s the only thing keeping Bramley out of a coma, too.

“This is going to pass,” he says against my lips. “It’s going to pass, and everything will be perfect.” I open my mouth but Clay sticks his tongue in it then laughs when I jerk my head back. “Everything will be perfect for us, the Harden’s will have another thing coming when a clear headed and refocused Pack Ambrose comes for them.”

I can only hope he’s right.

Ever since Indy has been here, The Butcher has been busy as fuck, but he’s starting to get messy.

Zeke and Tus have had to play cleanup crew more than once recently, and they’re starting to worry because in all his years doing this, Bram has never been messy.

Unhinged and messy? Yeah, that man could easily wipe out a town and just wait in the pools of blood for whatever happened next.

He isn’t sticking to his goal, isn’t chasing the end game anymore. If anything, Bramley is even more of a loose cannon than before, and if he blows it during one of his unplanned hunts, he’s going to single-handedly take down all of Obsidian Falls.

Killing him would make this a hell of a lot easier, but I happen to be in love with the dumb fuck, as is Clayton, and soon Indy will be as well. I can’t kill the bastard, but I’m gonna knock him around for a while until something fucking clicks inside that thick skull of his.

“I’ll be back.” I press a quick kiss to Clay’s lips then spin on my heel, pushing through the curtains and marching toward the door, but I stop.

Looking back over my shoulder, I debate on whether or not I should say goodbye to Indy.

“Just go, babe.” My beta shakes his head and smiles at me from the doorway. “I’ve got our girl, you go get our man.”

Here’s hoping I actually can.

Chapter Thirteen

SHARPEN YOUR TEETH

Bramley

The sensor over the door goes off, lighting up the alarm in front of me, the light flashing, chiming that stupid melody to let me know someone walked in. I look up from the mixer and wait, pausing the machine long enough to listen for the bell at the counter but when I don’t hear anything but the sound of heavy boots against the tile, I roll my eyes.

“I don’t have time for your bullshit right now.”

Nash marches through the doorway, pissed off and looking for a fight. “Make time.”

“Go to hell.”

“We’ve been living in the seventh circle, asshole.” He walks right up to me and yanks the bowl of seasoning from my hands, slamming it down on the table behind us in a cloud of herbs and spices. “And it isn’t just affecting you anymore.”

Shaking my head, I go for the minced garlic and celery so I don’t lose this fucking batch thanks to his tantrum. “According to Clay, I’m the only one who’s seemingly unfazed by everything going on.”

Which is so far from the truth it borders on delusional, but I’m not about to say that.

“Yeah, well, I can smell that bullshit from a mile away.”

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