Page 65 of Savage Hunter

Ares looks at me unbothered that his empire crumbles around him.

“You okay with that,malyshka?” Gray eyes hold mine.

I’m not going to be petty and argue with either of them right now. I know they only mean well. And I don’t think either man can help their alpha tendencies on the best of days. Add in bullets, explosions and testosterone and it’s a bomb waiting to go off.

I dodge one question with another. “What do you need from us?”

“Get to Club Genesis. Fill the men of Genesis in on what’s going on. Once we have the women secured, we’ll meet up there. We’ll need all the help we can gather to go after my brothers.”

“Copy that.” Wolfe moves us down the stairs. I don’t know what has me looking back at Ares but when I do, those gun-metal grays are peeling back the layers of my secrets one at a time. How long before he uncovers my real identity?

I pull my attention back on Wolfe when he shuffles us under the compound through a secret door in the basement. We enter an enormous cavern where four cars idle. Riot is at the wheel of an SUV. Dragon another and Mace yet another. Ares joins us and he takes the wheel of one with Nova waiting for him inside. Gates at the opposite end of the cement box we are in open to reveal a single lane tunnel carved into the New York underground.

Wolfe opens the door of an SUV and puts me inside, securing the seatbelt before entering the driver’s side.

When we exit the mile long tunnel, large smoke plumes fill the rearview mirror and fire consumes the only place I felt at home.

Thirteen

Wolfe

Let me tell you a story of how villains are made.

You take two people burning with forbidden desire for one another, insert a sadistic megalomaniac between them and watch the bloodlust grow from the roots of evil sewn in fertile ground.

The result is me—a man with little humanity left. A man not simply looking to kill, but thirsting for blood so profound it is as if I am stuck in the middle of the desert and Primrose blood is the only thing to drink for hundreds of miles. I crave to hear the thud of bodies dropping at my feet and I will not rest until I see the fucking blue of Lorelai Primrose’s eyes gloss over with death. I don’t simply need her blood on my hands. I hunger for it more than I desire to live. If the cost is my death, then so be it. I’ll leave this place like I entered it—raising hell.

But Harmonia will be safe, and that is all that matters to me.

Nothing but the glow of the dashboard highlights the pain in her eyes. It’s been miles of nothing but silence. Hour after fucking hour.

I check the time. It won’t be long before the sun hits the horizon. Another handful of hours and we will be in Chicago and my uninterrupted time with Harmonia will end.

Seeing Harmonia scared rips my fucking heart out. I white-knuckle the wheel of our Porsche and give the accelerator more pressure. The faster we get to Chicago the faster I get this shit dealt with and Harmonia away from all the death.

She looks pale. It could be the lack of light of the blue from the dashboard, but that is not it. Back at the compound she was flush red and filled with life when she had something to fight for. Now she just looks…defeated. Her lips draw tight and her fingers wind around the edge of her shirt so tight she has to be cutting off the circulation.

“Talk to me.”

She says nothing, just concentrates on the blurred shadows of trees out the window like she can find whatever answers she’s looking for in the inky darkness. I reach for her hand but she moves away from me. I let her be. For now. I don’t do well with silence. If there’s a problem words need to happen. It’s the only way to resolve issues. Maybe she’s rethinking her place with the Savages. It might make it easier to convince her to come with me. I hate to think the fire back at the compound could bring about anything good, but I can hope.

Her blue eyes harden for the fraction of a second she gifts me with her gaze. The pulse in my neck jumps with the pressure exerted against my heart in that one look. She clears her throat like it’s a chore to force words out. “I’m tired, Wolfe. I don’t have anything else to say.”

I suddenly feel exhausted as I peer down at her. For thirty-two of my forty-two years I’ve fought for my place in this world. Blood, bullets and balls have kept me alive. The three Bs. But the defeat in her tone knocks the wind from my lungs. She might as well sink a blade into my heart.

I reach across the car and twine my fingers through hers, not letting her pull away. The second she rebuilds the wall around her heart, I’m out for good. No will get past her shields. I can’t let her pull away and hide herself from me. That can make me the biggest bastard she knows, but add the insult to the growing pile I already have. Keeping my eyes on the road, I raise her hand to my lips. Taking my time, I kiss the flawless skin. The tension in my body eases enough to where I don’t feel like my heart is going to implode any second. She tugs on her hand, but I don’t give an inch.

I inhale deeply and live in her scent. Under the smoke and ash, is the sweetness that is Harmonia. Brown sugar and vanilla. I don't know what the hell she uses, but it reminds me of a warm summer night on the Mediterranean with nothing between us but lust.

The moment I felt her virgin body give, and I took her maidenhead she became my world.

Mine. There were no words between us but my life became hers that night. My soul belonged to her and with it came my blood and loyalty.

Another truth can’t be ignored either.

When we reach Chicago, it will be nonstop. I don’t know when I’ll get another chance to have her alone. That will not work for me. Feeling like I’ve swallowed a thousand razors followed up with tequila chasers, I lift my foot off the accelerator. I take the next exit of I-90 and a left at the first red light. I hit up the second hotel, one with an underground parking and decent security.

She tenses in the seat across from me. “Where are we?” her eyes dart around like she is expecting armed enforces to jump out and grab her.

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