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It was a news headline from 2011.
400 WOLVES TERRORIZE RUSSIAN TOWN
“What the fuck? They killed thirty horses in four days?” I kept reading, eyes widening when I got to the part about how completely remote Verkhoyansk was — and how cold. “Really?That’swhere you grew up? With superpacks of wolves running around in one of the coldest places on earth?”
He nodded, unperturbed by the terrifying description of his quaint little hometown.
“Ok, but what does that have to do with your nickname?” I asked, handing his phone back.
“Eduard.” He smirked and shook his head. “That asshole started calling me the Wolf as a joke after the news came out. Then when people saw what I did for the Belovs…” His black brows came together. “Well, it wasn’t a joke anymore. Humans weren’t meant to do that to one another. So the name sort of stuck.”
I reached for him, but he stepped away.
“Yuri,” I said, answering his earlier question and trying not to throw up. That name was like acid on my tongue, but at least I could say it out loud. Finally. “He gave me the bolt cutters.”
Sasha stopped dead in his tracks, the muscles in his back visibly tightening beneath his white t-shirt.
“I figured he did it just to fuck with you.” I folded my arms over my chest and leaned one hip against the kitchen counter. “I didn’t tell you because it didn’t seem important. Plus, it’s, like, theonlything I could hold over your head. You know everything else about me. I’m one big pathetic open book to you.”
“If he wasn’t dead, I’d fucking kill him, that backstabbing piece of shit.”
I didn’t have anything else to say on the matter. It was a good thing, since there was a knock at the door. Well, sort of. It was more like a fist pounding against the door so hard the chain on the inside rattled.
Any second, I expected to hear Frankie screaming on the other side of it. I didn’t think I’d missed any of her texts recently, but I pulled my phone out to double check. Nothing.
Sasha glanced at me briefly before going to open it.
I peered around the corner and my heart froze solid in my chest.
She didn’t! I was going to fucking kill her... If she could fly to Chicago to chew my ass out, I could certainly fly to New York and return the favor. There was absolutely no fucking reason for them to be here!
Two uniformed police stood on the other side of the door. “Aleksandr Vassiliev?”
Sasha’s shoulders straightened and I couldn’t help but notice he widened his stance, like he was getting ready to take them both on. Unfortunately for them, he probably could have. “What do you want?”
The cops noticed the change in his position too. The one doing the talking held a hand out, his hand gripping the taser still holstered on his vest. “You have a warrant,” he said while the second withdrew a pair of handcuffs from his duty belt. “No bond. You gotta go before a judge.”
Sasha cocked his head, but I was the one who blurted out, “For what?!”
The cops’ attention flicked to me for half a second, decided I wasn’t a threat, and immediately went back to Sasha. “Aggravated battery, for starters.”
“What do you mean ‘for starters’?”
“Listen, kid, come to bond call tomorrow and you’ll hear it all, ok?”
Meanwhile, the cop with the cuffs twirled his finger, indicating Sasha should turn around.
Jaw clenched, Sasha pivoted on his heel and crossed his arms at the wrists behind his back, settling into a position he seemed all too familiar with. Memories of his Russian mug shots flipped through my brain like a slideshow. And now he’d have one more for the collection.
“This is bullshit!” I couldn’t believe he wasn’t saying anything in his defense. Sasha fought everything and everyone and now? Nothing. Not that I wanted him to deck a cop, but considering what he was capable of, I couldn’t believe he was just going along with it!
“Solnyshko.” He growled the word, pulling my gaze to him like a magnet.
I bit my lip, dread slinking down my spine. He didn’t have to say anything else. His tone was reprimand enough and I knew I needed to shut my fucking mouth before I got arrested too.
“Where are you taking him?” I asked the cops, trying to rein in my spiraling emotions.
“Division 9, off of 31st.”
