Forty-Four
Hunter
There was a darkness in him.
The Savage keened, malcontent, the blood on their hands not providing enough respite for the hunger that lurked deep within.
Hunter could not let himself grow so detached. Skye’s touch aided him, helped to drive away that darkness. The Savage was kept at bay, but he didn’t know for how long.
When he made it back to the cabin, he slumped in his seat, weariness weighing him down. Leo was already out front, waiting. He stood before the truck, his hands on his hips, his face a picture of misery that probably mirrored Hunter’s.
Leo waited for him to get out, but Hunter just stared at him. Hunt felt all kinds of fucked up. What the fuck had just happened? How the fuck did it get so ugly so suddenly?
Worse than all of that, another feeling coursed through him. One that brought angry tears to his eyes as he stared hard at Leo, damning him—
Hunter damned himself, too.
He would not confront that feeling—that angry, parasitic thought that might destroy what little world he had left.
Not now—not yet.
Then he finally stepped out.
“Let’s figure this out,” Leo said, ever the fucking gentleman as he approached Hunter with those warm blue eyes. “We don’t know who to turn to—”
“I am not responsible for this,” Hunter cut in slowly. “I have wronged no one.”
Leo frowned, voice still calm when he replied, “We just don’t know for sure, Hunt.”
“But we do know, Leo. We know that in your world you’re stealing your old man’s seat at the table. This is fromyou.”
“We don’t meddle with the French,” Leo explained tiredly. “Regardless, we just don’t know, Hunt. We don’t.”
Hunt fumed. Because they did know. They did fucking know! “I want to take her—”
“What the fuck?” Leo snapped, his fury suddenly erupting. “No.”
“The Warlords can look out for her, give her more security—”
“NO!”
Hunter paused, staring deeply now at Leo. “Do you think she will sit pretty in your apartment, Leo, forever? Is that your plan going forward?”
Leo turned away from him and began pacing. He ran a hand over his face, looking more aggravated. “I think better she’s around familiarity than a bunch of biker criminals.”
“We’d give her the freedom—”
“WE DON’T KNOW WHO TO TRUST!” Leo shouted now, pointing a finger at Hunter as he vented, “I am not turning to anyone outside of us, Hunt. If it’s from my side, I’ll find that out, but I have the resources to make sure she’s not in harm’s way! I am NOT pitting her in a clubhouse filled with animals who might have orchestrated this—”
“For what purpose would the Warlords have wanted this?” Hunter interrupted, flaring his nostrils as his own rage simmered. The Savage prodded at the edges of his being, demanding out. “This is not from my side! This is you, Leo, all you. A rookie’s mistake, poking your fingers into places you had no right, or experience, to meddle in—”
Leo came at him suddenly, shoving at Hunter’s front, but Hunter barely swayed. He was bigger, stronger, and Leo never felt so enraged. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Hunt.”
“Don’t touch me,” Hunter warned dangerously, his voice dropping.
Leo stepped back, gritting his teeth as emotion flitted across his face. “I will be looking after Skye. She belongs with me—”
“She isnotyours.”