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I knew my friend. She didn’t talk about herself much, too busy keeping an eye on everyone else. It was a trait we shared.
“So,” she sucked in a breath between her teeth, thinking, then nodded. “Guess I decided to see this through. Wanted to make sure everyone was settled. Like properly settled, you know? And I wanted to make sure I had a chance to see moments like these. Watch those kids make idiots of themselves as they live a normal life. Seems to me the only way to banish the horrible memories is to make new ones. Better ones. Of us. Send a big ‘fuck you’ to those sons of bitches, you know? Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” I puffed out a breath. “Yeah, it kinda does.”
“That smells so good I’m gonna go get a cup,” she nodded at my coffee.
I looked down into my empty mug, mystified as to how I’d managed to drink it all.
“Want another one, little alpha?” Viola teased.
“Yup.” I grinned happily, handing it over and rubbing my arms as goosebumps rushed across my skin. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, too. I shot a glare over my shoulder but I couldn’t see anyone watching us from the clubhouse. “Is it just me or is it getting chilly?”
“It’s cooler than the desert, that’s for sure. But it's still summer and hot as balls, Sash.” Viola gave me a weird look. “Maybe you don’t need more coffee. You might be all hopped up for one day.”
“You wouldn’t!” My jaw dropped open as I gaped at my friend in mock horror.
“Be right back, babe,” Viola chuckled, slipping through the door leading to the club kitchen.
I rubbed at my arms again but Viola was right. It wasn’t cold. I looked up, my eyes immediately zeroing in on Addy. The girl was still running near the trees, playing chase. Or was that wolf chasing her?
Something was different. The intent. The speed. The tension in her body. The look on her face.
Horror crept over me as the truth sunk in.
It happened so fast. Addy had been chasing Mace, but now she wasn’t. The wolf rounded on her and leapt. That wasn’t Mace. Our wolf had a white blaze down the front of his snout, that one was pitch black.
Where was our guard?
A bloodcurdling scream filled the courtyard. Louise had dropped to the ground, hands over her face as she curled in on herself. Then, I saw it.
A few feet away from her lay Mace.
He was a sweet boy, maybe all of twenty-one, and newly sworn into the MC. The Soul Reapers didn’t like to pledge brothers too young, not like some MCs who swooped kids off the street all the time and basically muscled them into their ranks. The Soul Reapers preferred to give their youngest recruits time to consider their choices.
Mace had one of those kind, laughing faces. Always open and full of smiles.
He’d adopted us from the get-go, going out of his way to make us feel welcome. Even cuddled up with Addy the other night when she’d woken up screaming from night terrors. Talia had been sleeping in Benji’s room, and Viola and I were at a complete loss. We’d tried everything but we couldn’t get Addy to wake up.
The prospect had quietly entered the room, neck bared until I’d given him a helpless shrug. Then, he’d stripped off his cut and tucked the distraught girl up against his chest. Petting her head and crooning a lullabye until she’d fallen back into a more natural sleep.
Now he was laying on the pavement, unseeing eyes turned toward me. Blood—his lifeblood—pooled black on the pavement, slipping silently between the cracks.
Shouts of distress and angry snarls erupted like rapid fire against my ears.
People were screaming. My people.
Bitterness invaded my mouth.
I was running now. Running, running, running. Sneakered feet slapping the pavement. Reaching for the silver knife my mates had given me, pulling that familiar weight from its sheath. My vision became a tunnel of blackness—my destination, a certainty.
Nothing mattered but reaching Addy as she fought for survival.
My strike was true, evading the snarling, snapping fangs of an attacker to plunge the silver knife into his shoulder. I left it there and the wolf howled in pain. Where was my wildcat?
The crack of a gun exploded through the courtyard.
People suddenly appeared all around me. And I blinked.
