Page 71 of Scarred Savages
Ethan flashes a wolfish grin. “It’s part of our charm.”
“I want to help. These shifters deserve justice and freedom from their abusers. I can’t just stand by. Not now that I’ve seen…”
“You keep proving me right,” he says. “I won’t lie. We’re up against powerful, dangerous people. But if you’re sure…”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life,” I say.
My heart swells as I look at the males around me; fierce, loyal, and unexpectedly compassionate beneath their gruff exteriors. They’ve opened their hearts and homes to the broken and abused. They’re not my buyers anymore.
Something shifts inside, and warmth blooms in my chest, threaded with admiration.
Respect.
My lips curve.
Oh, I’m going soft for these males, aren’t I?
20
Hudson
Istare at the monitors in my office. The surveillance feeds flicker with life from around the compound in twelve different angles, twelve different stories unfolding. But my eyes keep returning to one particular screen.
Luna.
She throws her head back and laughs at something Oli said.
My chest tightens. I’ve never seen her laugh like that before. The Luna who arrived here a little over a month ago was all hard edges and suspicion, her eyes constantly scanning for exits, for threats. Her body language screamed that she expected to be hurt at any moment.
That female is barely recognizable in the one I’m watching now.
I adjust the volume on feed six. The tenants’ common area.
“…and then she said, ‘If I wanted something that small, I’d have ordered a kid’s meal!’” Luna’s voice comes through, clear and bright.
The group around her erupts in laughter. Mrs. Hendricks, our oldest tenant at eighty-seven, clutches her side, wheezing through her amusement. The younger ones look at Luna with undisguised admiration.
I take a sip of my now-cold coffee.
She’s good with them.
They understand each other’s pain.
My gaze shifts to feed three, where Axel leans against a tree, watching Luna from afar. Even from here, I can see the softness in his usually hard expression. He hasn’t looked that way since Emely. He was a different male back then; we all were before everything turned to shit.
“Fuck,” I mutter, running a hand over my face.
Ethan appears on screen four, walking away from the group, but Luna waves at him enthusiastically as he leaves. His eyes warm as he waves back.
My men are falling for her, and not just physically. They’re courting her, each in their own way. Axel with his shooting classes and morning snuggles. Ethan with his small gestures, Oli with his videogames and friendship. Only Damien and I have stayed away.
I close my eyes for a moment, letting the weight of what I’ve done, what I’m still doing, settle on my shoulders.
When they find out the truth, they’ll want my head. They’ll fucking kill me. And they’d be right to do it.
I open my eyes and force myself to look at her again. Luna belongs here. Anyone can see that. She fits in with the pack, thetenants, and this life we’ve built. But she doesn’t belong to us. She never did.
Never will.
