Page 26 of Hunted

“I don’t believe you.”

“And I have to go.”

This isn’t over, West said into my head as I stalked towards my car. Be pissed at me all you want. But never forget that we’re your brothers. We will always stand by you. And that includes His Royal Hard Ass, who bugs me or August at least three times a week to ask how you are doing, by the way, even if he has a hell of a way of showing it.

Something sharp stung the corners of my eyes. I swiped it away. But I didn’t look back. I had to hunt Rossi.

“Riv,” August said from behind me as I reached my car.

Opening the door, I lowered my head. “I know you mean well. But I don’t have the headspace to get into our family shit right now.”

“This is about Rowan.”

I shut the door. My brother’s face had that pinched look it got whenever he said Rowan’s name nowadays. They had an intense connection. How intense, I wasn’t sure. August blocked me any time his thoughts started to stray to her. What I knew was this: They’d been dating the previous spring, then something had happened, causing August to break things off.

“If you’ve got a problem with her serving on Ellie’s protection detail, sorry, but that’s up to her.”

“Of course not. That isn’t up to me, and I wouldn’t object even if it was. Rowan is an asset to any team she joins.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“Cris and Zara.” His expression darkened. “I don’t care what anyone says. They can’t be trusted. And I need you to keep an eye on Rowan. Don’t let them get close to her.”

“They’re her family. That’s her call.”

August growled, and I caught him rubbing the inside of his wrist. Rowan had bitten him during a mission that had gone sideways, bonding his wolf to hers so she could dematerialize him to safety when he was unconscious. She’d assumed the claiming mark would fade within days since August had never consented to be claimed. Months and a painful breakup later, and her mark still seared on his skin.

“They have ways of controlling her even if they say all the right things in public.”

I nodded, having suspected as much. “You want to tell me what really happened between you two? I know you went to see Zara the night you wound up in the hospital with that bad attack last summer.”

August’s eyes turned cold. “Just keep her away from them, Riv.”

* * *

THE WORST PART ABOUT AVOIDING MY FAMILY was that they dialed up the nagging to an eleven out of ten.

For the next three days, in between reading Rossi’s men and gathering intelligence, I got texts every two hours from August, Dallas or West, telling me to respond to Brody’s mother-hen check-ins so he would stop blowing up their phones. Dallas threatened to cut me off from all barbecue in the state for a year, which seemed like an empty threat. All it would take was a picture of me at a food trailer up in Fort Worth and he would probably be shoving brisket sandwiches down my throat out of culinary jealousy. Still, I decided not to risk it.

I was preparing to leave the Austin field office, having just sent a proof of life text to Brody, when Phoenix Richards quietly rapped on the door of the office I’d been using all week.

Phoenix’s history with our family was complicated at best. He’d grown up in the North Austin pack and was still to this day one of London Blake’s ride or die besties. He and West had hooked up for a while in college, which hadn’t ended well for either of them, though for political reasons, they’d remained friends. Then things had gone south. There had been a leadership shakeup within the Austin wolf packs that Phoenix had gotten caught up in, and he'd made a bad alliance with Cris and Zara. Fallon had learned Rossi had been manipulating him as a drone, but only after Phoenix had hurt Topher and countless others.

I knew that West and Topher had extended an olive branch, despite what Phoenix had done. My brother and his mate were fucking awesome people like that. But as I stared at the dark-haired werewolf in the Star Wars t-shirt and ripped jeans standing in my doorway, I couldn’t be sure I could trust him not to screw up all over again when it counted. And that was the problem.

“Heard y’all met to discuss the security detail.” Phoenix got straight to the point.

“West called you?”

Phoenix ignored the question. “I’d like you to reconsider me.”

“No.”

He grunted. “Wow. Just like that.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “This isn’t personal. You’re too much of a risk. I looked over your files. You overused your neural manipulator powers while being controlled as a drone by Rossi. You should still be in recovery.”

“I’m not asking to serve as a neural manipulator,” Phoenix clarified. “Just to be part of the guard detail.” He looked down, voice quiet. “The neurologist in Dallas doesn’t know if I’ll ever be able to safely mind read again. If I try, I could cause myself permanent damage.”