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At Grimm’s snarled rebuke, the couple in question froze. The wolf bared his neck to his leader, accepting the reprimand with good grace. “Sure thing, alpha.”
Then, with a smirk, he slowly removed his glistening hand from under the girl’s tiny skirt and sucked it clean, gaining hearty chortles from those further away and a few pained groans from those nearby. Still, the sweetbutt didn’t look the least bit uncomfortable. In fact, if I was reading her right, she had a hand down his pants and was grinding her palm against his groin.
“Jubilee,” Grimm’s voice cracked like a whip, causing the girl to yelp and withdraw her hand. She ducked her head in feigned obedience, not the least bit chastised. “That goes for you, too.”
I wrinkled my nose and let my attention drift away.
When my group had gathered just inside the door of the clubhouse, I’d positioned my body so that I could keep an eye on our most vulnerable member while not making her feel watched. Looking like a puff of wind could knock her over at any moment, Winter was standing at the back and slightly off to the side. Intentionally alone. She hadn’t reacted to a thing the Prez had said, nor to the casual references to their animals’ oversexed and violent libidos.
With her arms wrapped around her middle, it was like she wasn’t even here.
The only time she reacted was if someone—anyone—edged into her personal space. Then Winter shrank in on herself, like one of those retracting flowers, trying to make herself as small a target as possible.
Once again, my rage built like a volcano with nowhere to go.
The blanket had half-fallen off her shoulders and the threadbare t-shirt she was now wearing—Carbon’s probably, given he was now shirtless under that Enforcer cut—was torn and blood-encrusted. Winter didn’t seem to mind. It fell almost to her knees, covering all the essentials. Yet I could still see the terrible portrait of her naked form, standing in front of that blazing clubhouse.
My friend’s numb misery was a tangible black hole, sucking all life into its dark void.
Even the nearby wolves were crowding each other in an effort to give her a wide berth. Of course, that might have been something to do with the Enforcer who was leaning against the wall, casually tossing a knife up into the air and catching it, over and over again.
It seemed as if the biker was ready to throw that deadly sucker into the major artery of any wolf who so much as looked at his self-proclaimed mate.
My hackles went up at the possessive gleam in Carbon’s eye and yet he hadn’t made a move. In fact, he’d maintained a respectful distance since that first emotional outpouring. I couldn’t wrap my head around their strange dynamic but I instinctively knew the Chaos was to blame.
“Silver, show our guests to their quarters. We will begin contacting their loved ones in the morning. After they have been fed and had a chance to bathe.”
“Wait,” one of the women—Nadia perhaps—blurted out in a hopeful squeak. “You’re—you’re letting us leave?”
At my side and slightly behind my shoulder, Viola snorted. Like me, she’d developed a healthy dose of what I liked to call survival pessimism.
My attention snapped back to the alpha as a terrible snarl tore from Grimm’s lips. “Of course we fucking are,” he snapped.
It was clear the Prez’s disgust wasn’t for the question but for the beasts he’d already slain. However, my people didn’t know that. It would take a long time before most could hear a man’s anger and not assume it would be directed upon them.
My charges whimpered, leaning into me in an urgent plea for protection. I widened my stance, fists bunched, and glared at the fucker for losing his head. Hadn’t they been through enough?
Before I could utter a word of rebuke, the omega laid a soothing hand on Grimm’s bicep and the vicious sound cut off. Silver gifted the cowering girl behind me with a gentle smile. “Better yet, we will see you safely to where you are going. Okay, sweetness?”
Grimm nodded—like that was exactly what he meant—and the tension riding my fellow captives lessened.
To my surprise, Addy stepped forward. Acting as if we were in some public forum, rather than having our lives dictated to by yet another group more powerful than our own. Her voice was clear and steady as she spoke, making me puff up in pride. “And what if we have nowhere to go, alpha?”
The Prez’s demeanour immediately softened.
“Then you can stay with us,” Grimm murmured. His authoritative voice carried easily across the space as his eyes flicked down to take in Addy’s sister. “For as long as you want to.”
Addy held Grimm’s steady gaze for a long beat—measuring the weight of his oath—then nodded in acceptance of his words.
Talia was pressed up against Benji’s side while Doc dressed his wounds. Whatever funk Talia had receded into during weeks of captivity, seeing Benji fight for their lives had snapped her right out of it. The usually meek woman looked fierce as she hovered protectively over her mate.
My heart clenched with the uncertainty of it all. The trio had bonded and I knew the sisters wouldn’t stay if Benji was kicked out. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing them.
But MCs were notoriously territorial. They didn’t suffer rivals encroaching on their domain. Yet there was something in the way Mongrel had carried that wounded prospect out of the burning clubhouse which suggested they shared a history. He hadn’t left him to die. In fact, he’d risked his neck to save our former guard and the girls.
Was it possible the Soul Reapers MC would really take this little family in, not as a commodity, but as people willing to earn their way?
I fucking hoped Grimm wasn’t talking out of his ass because those street kids deserved a win. The sisters were marked now. They wouldn’t be safe on the streets. If this pack proved trustworthy, then this MC would be as good a halfway house as any until they got their feet under them.
