Page 4 of Hawk

And her name was Carrie.

“You get hurt?Your mouth’s bleeding.”Bohannon, bless his heart, was braving the waters.I’d wondered the same Goddamned thing, but there was no fucking way I was asking that shit.

“No.”She made a face then spit out more blood.Then she kind of gagged a little.“Gross.”She kept spitting until she was finally satisfied.“That’s not my blood.”

“What did you do?Drink their blood?How the fuck did you get that much blood in your mouth?”Bohannon looked morbidly curious and I knew he was just as freaked as the rest of us.He also looked like he regretted the question the second it left his mouth.I know I winced.Pretty sure more than one of the other brothers witnessed the spectacle.

“No.”She spat again.“But one of the guys grabbed me in a bear hug from the front and I couldn’t move.So I bit his ear off.Then the other guy?He got behind me and put his hand over my mouth when I screamed.So I bit a chunk out of his hand.I think it’s the ear I’m having trouble with.Cartilage.Or something.”She went pale, her breathing growing ever more rapid.“I’m so s-sorry!”she sobbed out.Carrie collapsed on the ground in a heap looking so broken and terrified it made my heart ache.I actually rubbed the middle of my chest trying to soothe the hurt.Then she looked up at me.Not anyone else.Me.“I-I’m so s-sorry.Please help me.”

“Well, fuck.”Christ, my life!

Chapter Two

Carrie

I was really surprised I managed to hold out this long before I completely lost my shit.It was the whole gristle in my teeth thing, knowing it was a person’s flesh that tipped me over, I think.All the men were looking at me like I was a complete lunatic, and I didn’t blame them.For some reason, though, out of all the men there, despite knowing I needed to fear every single one of them, the big man who'd first met me at the gate held my gaze, and I did the only thing I could think of.

“I-I’m so s-sorry.Please help me.”It was pathetic and miserable.“I did it.”I sobbed out.“I killed them.”

“I think I know where she’s talkin’ about, Bohannon.”

“Take a crew,” one of them ordered.“See what you find, then let me know what’s going on.”

“I found the incident, Torpedo.It happened just like she said.”Another guy, his gaze drifting to me once before shoving a tablet in front of Torpedo’s face.

The other man -- Torpedo, who seemed to be in charge -- viewed it and nodded his head crisply.“Back it up.Follow everyone’s movements.”Torpedo gave me a hard look.

“She needs looked over to make sure she’s not injured.”The big man stepped forward and knelt in front of me.“I’m Hawk, little lady.”

“Carrie,” she said.

“Yeah, honey.I got that.”He smiled.

“Are you going to turn me in to the cops?That’s what happens when you kill someone.Right?”

Hawk glanced up at the one called Torpedo, then at one of two other men who seemed to be part of the group but also standing apart.Torpedo turned to those two men and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you think, Knuckles?This is your outfit.”

“Take her in.Let her get cleaned up and get Pain to check her over.Knight, I want you to examine every second of footage you can find.If she’s on the up and up, we’ll take care of this… uh, how did she put it, Gunnar?”

Gunnar held up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart.“Little bit of a bind, I think.I wasn’t close enough to hear much.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”I sounded whiny even to myself.“OK, so I did do it on purpose, but only because they were gonna hurt me.And I didn’t kill them as a first resort.Only when the one guy brought out a knife, and I knew things were serious.”

Hawk’s brow furrowed as he studied me.I couldn’t tell if he was horrified or impressed, and honestly, at this point, I didn’t care.My hands were shaking so badly I had to sit on them.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, his voice surprisingly gentle for a man who looked like he could bench press a motorcycle.He reached out, hesitated.I swayed slightly, the adrenaline crash hitting me hard.“Your story checks out, everything will be fine.”

“And if it doesn’t?”It was embarrassing, but my voice shook.My dad would be so ashamed of me right now.He’d raised his only daughter to be as strong as her brothers.Not even one of my brothers would be on his ass in the gravel while men stood over them.They’d be on their feet ready to fight for their lives.Me?I just wanted to go home and hide for the rest of mine.

He raised an eyebrow.“Is it going to?”

I shrugged.“It’s a matter of perspective, I guess.”

“Relax, uh, Carrie.”He stumbled over my name, and I didn’t understand why.“We’re gonna look at all the footage we can find, but Knight seems pretty satisfied with the fight.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” I mumbled, then promptly vomited on the ground next to Hawk’s boots.Thankfully, I missed his actual footwear.

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