Page 16 of Cold Foot Sentry (Wreck’s Mountains #6)

Tawk didn’t have much to move. It only took him two trips into the rental house and everything he had with him was sitting in a small pile on the living room floor.

He rested his hands on his hips and looked around this place with new eyes. He still couldn’t believe Wreck was letting him stay here. He couldn’t believe he’d called a meeting with him, and he definitely couldn’t believe Jess had been the driving force behind it.

He’d been afraid she would be the one to keep him booted out of Wreck’s Mountains. Not that he’d done her wrong or anything, but he would’ve understood if she had wanted to cut ties with all of Sister’s Edge, him included.

Tammy was working her early shift still, and though he’d been tempted to zoom right over to the bar and tell her he was moving in next door to her, he thought better of it and was giving himself some time to do some grocery shopping and move his stuff in and feel settled before she got off work.

That and he’d stopped by a specialty store in town to pick her up a little graduation present for tomorrow.

It was nothing special, but he thought she would like it. That errand had taken a while, so

He checked the clock on the microwave, but it was blinking zero. The power must’ve been out at some point while this place was waiting on a new tenant.

Garret had sent him over some paperwork to electronically sign and an invoice for the deposit and first month’s payment.

Wreck was allowing Tawk to be month-to-month until the Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew decided what to do with him—bring him closer, allow him to stay down here in town, or chase him out of the territory completely.

Tawk got the feeling Wreck was just waiting for him to fuck something up, but he kind of understood. If he was Wreck, he would be wary of anyone from Sister’s Edge too. That Crew had gone downhill lately, and Wreck was building a good thing here. He was right to be protective of his people.

Derek, Tawk’s last Alpha, probably could use some lessons from Wreck Itall.

Tawk walked to the hallway and placed his hands on either side of the open doorway of the bedroom, and leaned in, studying the bed and dresser. Everything was simple and clean and uncluttered.

It was strange being in a house without the constant noise and chaos of roommates. It almost felt too quiet in here. Would he be able to get used to this? God, his life was so up in the air right now.

Inside of him, the dragon prickled at his skin, pushing, swelling, asking for time.

“Not now,” he murmured, troubled, but for no reason he could decipher.

He pushed off the frame and sauntered to the living room to check the front window. He could see Tammy’s driveway from here. He was disappointed to find her driveway still empty. Geez. Maybe he was a freaking stalker. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, and he’d been trying.

There was a charcoal gray SUV parked across the street that hadn’t been here when he’d pulled in. Tawk narrowed his eyes at it. The lights were still on, but it was just parked in front of an empty lot.

If it was Aaron waiting for Tammy to come home, he was going to throttle him.

Tawk yanked open the door and looked up and down the street to make sure there weren’t witnesses.

He jogged across the street and knocked on the dark tinted window.

He checked up the street again as the window rolled down, but where he’d expected to see Aaron’s dumbass face, instead, there sat someone he’d never expected.

Connor Edge.

Fuck.

Tawk backed off a few steps, but he could taste the power of the witch-blooded already.

It was weaker than what he siphoned from Jess, which meant one thing.

Her brother, Samuel, was here with Connor.

Samuel’s mate Misty was present too, if his senses were right. There were three heartbeats in that SUV

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Connor shoved open the door and got out, leaned against the SUV. “Now is that how you greet an old friend?”

“You and I were never friends,” Tawk growled. “Answer my question.”

Connor chuckled darkly and lifted his arm, exposing his missing hand. “You know, sometimes I still feel my hand. They call it phantom pains. I have this ache like my hand is hurt, and I forget for a minute, and I look down and remember what that bitch did.”

“Jess isn’t the bitch,” Tawk said easily. “You are.” He looked through the open window at Samuel, who sat in the passenger’s seat. “And you should be sticking up for your sister, not hanging out with the man who hurt her. Why are you here? If it’s to hurt Jess, you’ll have to deal with the dragon.”

Samuel huffed a laugh. “I’m not scared of Wreck—”

“Wreck ain’t a dragon! I’m talking about me,” Tawk barked.

Samuels dark eyebrows raised in anger. “Watch how you talk to me, boy.”

Tawk ripped the door off the driver’s side and threw it behind him, and was inside in an instant, his hand around Samuel’s throat, dragging him out.

He threw him down into the middle of the street, ignoring the choking sounds and curses.

“Call me boy again,” he snapped. “Do it. Look me in the fucking face and call me boy.”

“Hey,” Misty said, coming around from the other side, her hands out. “We’re not here to cause trouble.”

“Speak for yourself,” Connor said.

“Shut up, Connor!” Misty said and then swung her attention back to Tawk. “We’re here for you.”

“For me,” he repeated. He looked from Connor, who stood glaring at the broken door that had settled in the middle of the street, to Samuel who was standing up slowly, rubbing his throat, and back to Misty, who was beseeching him with her eyes.

“We’re starting a new Crew.”

Tawk rolled his eyes closed and laughed, backed away a couple steps, and then shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re telling me this, or why you’re here, but you should go.”

“Look, Sister’s Edge isn’t a sanctuary anymore,” Misty said softly.

“Not for you. You got kicked out. Let me guess, Connor got himself kicked out too.”

Connor’s ice blue eyes pierced right into him, and it made Tawk want to rip his throat out.

A long, low rumble emanated from him. “You wanted revenge on Jess, didn’t you?

You’ve probably been preaching revenge to anyone who would listen at every Crew meeting.

Am I getting warmer? Sister’s Edge is limping though, and leadership is up in the air, and no one knows what the fuck they’re doing, but they know they aren’t following you. So, you got kicked out—”

“So did you!” Connor yelled.

“I am not the one to yell at,” Tawk roared. “I will feed you to my fucking dragon.” He rushed forward and slammed his hand onto the back window glass right beside Connor’s face. It shattered, and Tawk’s hand hurt, but he found deep satisfaction in the glass cutting the side of Connor’s face.

“Fuck, man!” Connor yelled as he ducked to the side and pressed his hand onto his cheek. Red streamed down onto the asphalt. “What’s your fucking problem?”

“You broke glass near Jess the day she left. You drew blood. You earned Kade coming after you. You were at fault. You destroyed that house, and then I watched you blame it on Jess to anyone who would listen. Glass for glass.” He stalked forward.

“You think I don’t know why you’re here?

I was there when she took your hand, and do you know what you have refused to accept?

That you fucking deserved it. You carved a claiming mark into her hand without her permission, and you forced her to carve one into yours, and the best thing I ever watched a woman do was take her fucking freedom back.

You aren’t feeling phantom pains from your missing hand, Connor.

You’re feeling phantom pains from your dignity. That’s why you’re here.”

“It’s not why I’m here!” Misty said loudly. “Or Samuel. We need a dragon.”

Tawk stopped advancing on Connor and glared at her.

“Why would you ever think my dragon would protect you from anything. I heard what you did. I was at that meeting. You got one of my friends killed,” he barked, jamming a finger at Misty.

“And you did the killing,” he said, pointing his finger at Samuel.

“And both of you lied and blamed it on Kade, and you had him sent to Cold Foot Prison, and you ruined his fucking life. And I believed he did it. I believed you. You lied that well. I didn’t show up for my friend at trial, and I have to live with that always.

If anyone deserves the protection of my dragon, it is Kade, and it is Jess, and it is the home they’re building. ”

“Your job is to protect witches!” Samuel barked out.

“Jess is the witch my dragon will protect.”

“Jess doesn’t even want you here,” Samuel ground out.

“How the hell would you even know that, Samuel? Huh? I bet you haven’t called her since she left. You were always a shitty brother.”

Samuel opened his mouth to say something more, but what could he say? Nothing. He lowered his gaze and inhaled deeply.

“You should go,” Tawk told Connor.

“Nah. I like it here. I think we’ll stay for a little while.”

“Tawk?”

The sound of Tammy’s voice startled him, and a hiss escaped him as he turned to find her standing under the streetlight. Her purse was clutched to her chest, her hair was hanging in waves down her shoulders, lifting slightly in the breeze.

Shhhit.

“Who’s this?” Connor asked, sauntering toward her.

“Enough,” Tawk said. “She’s just a neighbor.”

He hated the look on Tammy’s face as she heard him say that. The hurt in her eyes pierced his heart.

Connor lifted his chin higher and scented the breeze in Tammy’s direction. “If she’s just a neighbor, then why does she smell like you?”

Tawk clenched his fists. “Go inside,” he told Tammy, careful to keep the anger out of his voice. He hated the way Connor was sizing her up.

Connor grinned at Tawk and walked a wide circle around Tammy, who shrugged her shoulders up to her ears in discomfort, eyes on Connor.