Page 32 of Heroes & Hitmen
“Yeah,” I agree, even though we both know it’s a lie.
Jordan wraps her arms around me without warning, squeezing tight. “I love you, you know.”
I bury my face in her shoulder, hugging her back just as hard. “Love you too, sis.”
We hold onto each other for a long moment, then she pulls back from the embrace, giving me a pointed look. “If you’re gonna do something reckless tonight, don’t do it alone.”
“I won’t,” I promise, voice low.
She holds my gaze, unblinking.
She knows I’m lying.
I’ve never been reckless, but something’s waking up inside me– hot, sharp, and impossible to ignore.
Maybe it’s courage.
Maybe it’s madness.
Either way, it’s demanding to be set free, like a wild thing that can no longer be caged.
CHAPTER 11
Ares
The solesof my boots squeak against the marble floor as I pace the lobby of the Tower, my skin itchy and my inner wolf clawing at the inside of my chest. I’m not sure if his agitation is riling me up right now or the other way around. Either way, my beast is dangerously close to the surface, ready to burst through the moment I cede control.
Not yet. Nothere.
The Chicago pack is so large that its members are dispersed between eight different forest preserves around the city for the full moon run, and I’ve received my orders on where to report– Des Plaines.
It’s the furthest away, which came as no surprise to Will when I told him where I’d been assigned. Because I’ve got Alpha blood, he said, which means I present an inherent challenge to Alpha Gage’s authority.
Alpha Gage will be leading the run for the prominent members of his pack at Forest Glen Woods, while his top enforcers will lead the runs at the other preserves. Attendance is optional, but my wolf is keening to be set free tonight. The full moon’s calling, and he’s answering on instinct.
The lobby of the Tower is busier than I’ve ever seen it as its residents depart for the run. At least all the activity covers up the fact that I’m loitering, practically wearing grooves into the floor as I pace back and forth. Patience isn’t my strong suit. Never has been.
I check the time again. Miley should’ve come down by now;should’ve passed through the lobby to get into one of the sleek black sedans idling at the curb out front. I’m not sure what my game plan is here or what I’ll even say when I see her, but I just have to take one last shot before she slips through my fingers.
The seconds tick by agonizingly slow as I continue to pace.
“She already left,” a female voice calls out, and I snap my head up to see Miley’s sister crossing the lobby in my direction.
Half-sister, technically.
After seeing them together a few times, I asked a pack enforcer who lives on my floor who she is, and he gave me a rundown of the roster of Alpha Gage’s daughters that reside in the Tower. It also came with a stern warning to steer clear of them, but…semantics.
Jordan Eckhardt is tall, lean, and athletically built, with long dark hair and honey brown skin. She’s undeniably attractive, but my tastes are very singular these days– which is why I stopped her in the lobby earlier for the sole purpose of asking about her sister. Jordan told me which preserve they’d be running at tonight and how they’d be getting there, hence me stalking the lobby and the row of dark sedans parked out front.
“She hasn’t gotten in a car yet,” I growl, throwing a thumb toward the windows. I’ve been here since they pulled up; there’s no way I could’ve missed her.
Jordan just shrugs, lifting her chin in a way that reminds me of Miley when she’s about to say something sharp. “She drove herself. If she wanted you to know, she would’ve told you,” she states, breezing past me to head for the glass front doors, earbuds already halfway in.
I stand there with my mouth hanging open for a half a second as her words sink in.
If Miley drove herself, she wouldn’t have passed through the lobby.
She would’ve ridden the elevator straight down to the underground parking garage.
