Page 26 of Song Bird Hearts

Knox doesn’t lower his gun. “Talk.”

Wolf slips a hand into his coat real slow, like he knows every eye in the room’s waitin’ to see if we’re gotta shoot him. Ain’t no one breathin’. And then, cool as you please, he pulls out this little black device. Soon as I see it, my stomach drops. I know exactly what that is, but Valerie? She’s starin’ at it like it’s a damn TV remote. She don’t know yet. Hell, I wish I didn’t.

“What is that?” she asks, frowning, her hands twisting together in her signature sign of worry.

“It’s a tracker, little star,” he says, nonplussed despite admitting he’s stalking her. “I dropped one like it in the pocket of your denim jacket at the party. I wanted to make sure I’d be able to find you again.”

Val’s breath catches. “You. . . youbuggedme?”

He meets her eyes again, steady, no shame. “I knew something might happen and it looks like I was right, even before the livestream. I needed to make sure someone could reach you when it started, that I could protect you. And if trouble never came, I was planning on finding you again regardless,” he admits before tilting his head, just slightly. “I never meant to scare you.” He holds up his hands in surrender. “I carry no weapons on me, in case you were wondering.”

Knox’s mouth is a tight line. “You put a tracker on her. That’s not protection. That’s a threat.”

“I would never threaten her,” Wolf answers calmly. “She ran and went dark. I waited to make sure she got away, pleased when she did. But I refuse to allow her to be alone when the wolves inevitably start closing in.”

I laugh once, hard. “Oh, I see. And what? You’re the good wolf now, huh? That it,le loup?”

Wolf smiles at me, just barely. “Didn’t say I was good. Just said I was hers.”

Silence hits like a thunderclap.

Knox lowers the gun, just enough to breathe, but not enough he can’t take out the fucker if needed. “You’ve got ten seconds to give me a damn good reason not to throw your ass off this mountain.”

“Because if you do,” Wolf says, his eyes on Val, “you’ll be throwing out the only person who knows the type of people that were in that room the night she ran. And which of them want her dead. And how best to protect her from that.”

The room stills. I take a step closer to him. “And what’s to stop you from killin’ us in our sleep?”

He moves fast. Too fast. Not even Knox or I can get there in time. Next thing I know, I’m pinned to the wall, Wolf’s hand wrapped tight ‘round my throat, and my gun’s caught between us, hot and useless. Sure, I could squeeze the trigger, but then we’d both be leakin’ like stuck pigs, and I ain’t exactly eager to end up as gator bait with a bullet in my gut.

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” Wolf says, his face in mine so that his breath fans over my face.

Knox’s wound up tighter than a rattler in a rain barrel, gun dead-set on Wolf like he’s just waitin’ for an excuse. And Val? She’s off to the side, eyes wide, takin’ this little shaky step like she don’t know whether to run or throw herself in the middle. My gut twists. This whole damn thing’s seconds from goin’ sideways.

“Don’t hurt him,” Val says, tryin’ to step in front of me like I’m the one needin’ savin’. How damn sweet is that? Her, protectin’ me. I’ll let her think it, sure. Let her wear that fire like armor. But I’ve handled worse than a pissed off Wolf in a suit.

“Why ain’t we dead then?” I manage, his hand still tight on my throat. Joke’s on him, I ain’t exactly mad about it. Hell, I flash him a grin, sharp and lazy. Let him wonder what else I’ll smile through.

Wolf tilts his head. “Because she clearly wants you two alive.” He leans closer. “But make no mistake, if she says she wants the two of you gone, I’ll gut you and leave you for the cougars to feast on.”

I laugh, real belly deep. It’s the first time in a while it ain’t bitter. “Looks like you have a Wolf on your team,mon rossignol.” His grip loosens, but he don’t back off. So, I do what I always do—tip the scales and stir the pot. “Welcome to the team,le loup.”

Then, just to really seal the deal, I lean in and kiss the bastard right on the nose like he’s a misbehavin’ hound dog.

He stumbles back a step in surprise, his golden eyes bright in the yellow lighting.

“Valerie,” Knox says, his voice hard. “He stay or go?”

She looks over at Wolf, the man standin’ there all cool and collected like he didn’t just admit to bein’ a full-blown stalker with a straight face. I mean, how long’s he been watchin’ her really? What all does he know? ‘Cause it sure as hell feels like more than he ought to.

This? This is either the dumbest damn idea we’ve ever let walk through the front door. . . or it’s the start of somethin’ real important.

God, I hope it ain’t the first one.

“He stays,” Val finally says, her eyes calculating.

And damn if it doesn’t hit me that I ain’t been givin’ her near enough credit. There’s a fire in her eyes, but it ain’t just about the man standin’ there. No, it’s about what he’s holding like a gift wrapped in danger.

Information, power, a weapon with teeth.

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