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He blinks up at me.
I shake him. “Are you fuckingdone?”
A desperate nod. I release my hold on this throat, leaving him to drag air into his lungs as I get to my feet. It comes as no surprise to learn the mysterious shifter has taken off while I had my hands full of Kade. But he’s not important. Not yet. “What the fuck was that?” I snarl.
I try not to look at the devastation of the bar—of the thing that keeps us fed, clothed, and gives us a roof over our heads. Without it, we’d have nothing.
Again.
Kade gets to his feet without a word.
“I warned you about this, Kade. This—” I jerk my head to take in the destruction he’s wrought “—Thisis exactly what I was hoping to avoid. Customers could have been hurt. Killed.”
Blood dribbles into my eyes. I swipe it away. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Silence.
“Who was the guy, Kade? Why did you lose your shit like that? Did he say something? Do something?”
Silence.
From the back of the bar, a small whimper makes me jerk my head that way.
Lily.
Amid the destruction, she stands, swaying, a cut on her brow, blood dripping down the side of her face. Her breathing is a series of ragged gasps. It’s a wonder she can stand at all with how little air she must be taking in.
Terror fills her eyes.
She doesn’t say a word, but she doesn’t have to. She looks at me and sees a monster.
And she’s not wrong.
Spinning on my heel, I stalk back toward my office. At the bottom of the staircase, I stop, my back to Kade. “Leave, Kade. I have a business to run—a business that provides for all of our futures. I can’t have you threatening that. Look for your fights elsewhere because I’m fucking sick of them.”
As I make my way up the stairs, I try not to think about all the work, but most importantly, all the money it’s going to cost to save the bar. Or if the customers will even come back.
27
SAIGE
Wolves.
All the hounds are shifters and I didn’t know. Is there even any point in running now that I have two more wolves who have my scent?
“Saige?”
The hand on my arm feels like it’s happening to someone else, even if I register the warm touch enough that I know it’s not.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
The arm attached to a familiar voice guides me forward, and I just… go.
I know who it is.
Aden.
Something wet drips onto my cheek. I should care what it is but I just… don’t care. About anything.
