Page 2 of Cold Foot Sentry (Wreck’s Mountains #6)
Tawk frowned at the ‘for rent’ sign in the front yard.
The house was a small three bedroom from what he’d read online, and looked nice on the outside, especially for what Garret Hoffman was wanting to charge per month.
Nothing had been this cheap in Sister’s Edge. Between the expensive room rental in the house he shared with four of the other bachelor shifters in Sister’s Edge, and the monthly Crew fees he had to pay to the Alpha, Derek, there hadn’t been a lot left over to live on.
He hadn’t thought about that part much until now.
Derek had increased the Crew fees every month, depending on the needs of the Crew, but Tawk had never actually seen where the money was spent.
Why did he get the feeling like Crew fees were just paid to line the Alpha’s pockets?
A lot of things weren’t making sense about Sister’s Edge lately.
That was probably Jess’s fault.
She’d left, and taken his food source, and worst of all, she’d made him start growing an inconvenient heart.
He hated her for it.
Tawk pushed his door open and hopped out of his truck, then sauntered over to the house and cupped his hands to block the glare as he looked in through the front window next to the door.
It wasn’t bare inside like he’d expected.
There was a couch and a kitchen table, and the kitchen was one of those real nice ones with forest green cabinets and wood block counter tops, and all stainless-steel appliances.
Why was Garret Hoffman, a member of the Cold Foot Crew, charging only seven hundred dollars a month for this place?
Tawk stepped back and crossed his arms, studying the front porch.
It was just a small concrete pad in front of a steel blue door that still smelled like fresh paint.
The welcome mat was barely worn in. The house number, 1010, had been nailed crooked beside the door.
Maybe there were roommates and the seven hundred a month was the portion for each renter.
He scratched his neck and glanced back toward the road, where he could hear a loud truck entering the neighborhood. He’d been living in a motel for three weeks now and was tired of living out of a suitcase.
The truck rumbled up the road and came to a stop in front of the house. As soon as the window rolled down to reveal the driver, Tawk muttered a soft curse under his breath.
He hadn’t seen Wreck Itall, Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew, since the night Kade had died. In the passenger’s seat of the truck, there sat the ghost himself, mate of Jess, her original Promise…Kade.
“Well, this is bringing back some memories,” he said as he approached the truck. Not good ones. He’d eaten too much of a dead witch’s power the night he’d met Wreck Itall, and now his dragon still wasn’t right.
“Hey man,” Kade greeted him.
Tawk nodded a greeting and came to a stop a few feet shy of Wreck’s side of the truck.
“What are you doing here?”
“Sticking close to Jess.”
Wreck narrowed his fiery eyes. No really. They were fiery. They had literal flames in the gold color of his irises. Tawk wasn’t scared of much, but Wreck was the bigger monster between them, for sure. “What’s happening in Sister’s Edge?”
“None of your concern or mine. I left right after you fed me that little locket. It seems I didn’t fit in there much anymore.”
“Because your dinner went away?” Kade deadpanned.
Fair enough. He had been feeding off Jess’s subtle and untrained witch powers for years without her knowing.
If he was Kade, he would probably be feeling mighty protective too if another man was feeding off his mate.
Tawk puffed air out of his cheeks and looked around the neighborhood, his hands hooked on his hips.
“Look, I’m not asking to be in your Crew—”
“Good, because it’s a hell-no,” Wreck gritted out.
“I had a taste of that locket,” Tawk continued. “Even being down here in town, I can feel Jess growing. If I had to guess, someone is training her. Is she spellcasting now?”
“None of your fucking business,” Kade ground out.
Tawk held up his hands and backed off a few steps. “I’m truly not here for trouble.”
“Yeah, and how do we know you aren’t here spying for Sister’s Edge?”
“Because you know me better than that—”
“I knew you when we were kids,” Kade said. “And then you and every one of your Sister’s Edge Crew watched me go down for a murder I didn’t commit, and you didn’t do anything about me going to Cold Foot Prison—”
“And I carry a lot of guilt over that—”
“No, you don’t! I do know you. You’re a Sentry Dragon, Tawk. You don’t feel. You don’t have emotion. You have a job, and you do it.”
“And that job is to protect my meal ticket,” he gritted out, feeling exposed in front of Wreck. “You’re saying too much about me in front of mixed company—”
“In front of my Alpha, and it’s really up to him on whether you stay here in town or he burns you alive and doesn’t gift you with those little green flames that will bring you back.”
An old, silver 4Runner with a black hood and a rack on top of it pulled past Wreck’s truck and turned into the driveway of the house next door. It was a nice rig. Huge tires on a big lift, with a fishtail of mud all down the side. It looked like it had been driven through a bog. Nice.
The door opened and he was shocked at who slid out of there. That bartender, Tammy, slid out of the driver’s seat, her wary eyes on him.
“Are you listening to anything I’m saying?” Kade barked.
Tawk forced his gaze away from where Tammy was making her way up the sidewalk to the front door. She lived here? In that house?
“I zoned out at the insults. Look, I didn’t know how to ask permission to come into your territory,” he told Wreck. “I’ve been in town for a few weeks hoping I run into someone from your Crew.”
“You literally have my contact information,” Kade called him out.
“In my old phone that I left in my damn house the day I left Sister’s Edge.”
Kade frowned. “Why didn’t you get your stuff?”
Did Tawk admit to Kade that he had torched Derek for his poor leadership in front of the entire Crew before he left?
Did he admit he burned every bridge on his way out?
Did he tell him about how he’d only had time to grab the keys to his truck because he’d ignited a war in Sister’s Edge as he’d gone?
Should he tell Kade he’d defended him to that Crew?
Loudly? Did he tell him how he’d gone to bat for Jess?
Nah.
Tawk shrugged. “Wanted a fresh start.”
“Minute four and already lying,” Wreck observed.
Tawk gave him a remorseless smile. “Us Sentry Dragons find lying easy.”
“You’re from a problem Crew, with a grudge against us. You have a past with Kade and Jess. You smell sick. Why should I let you stay here?”
The sick part drew him up. “I’m not sick.”
“Aren’t you? You’re eyes were glowing yellow, and now they’re turning red. How is the dragon feeling?”
Tawk clenched his teeth to stop himself from lashing out. Steady now. “The dragon is feeling strong.”
Wreck cocked his head and studied Tawk.
“You can’t dictate who lives in town,” Tawk said.
“The fuck I can’t.”
Okay, so Wreck understood his power, as well as his place at the top of the food chain. Bluffing wouldn’t get Tawk far with him, that much was clear.
His sigh turned to a growl. “Look, if you let me exist near Jess, I’ll keep her safe.”
The back window rolled down, and there was Jess herself. What the hell? He hadn’t even felt her presence here. She’d been back there the entire time, listening? Why could he not feel her?
“I don’t need you to keep me safe,” she told him. “I have myself for that, and then I have Kade, and then I have my Crew.”
Tawk chewed the corner of his lip. Jess was different now. She was confident and seemed to be glowing with some aura he’d never seen on her before. She wasn’t averting her gaze any longer. Instead, she was looking straight into his eyes unblinking. Atta girl.
“By protecting you,” he said irritably, “I mean you and everything and everyone you love. It won’t hurt to have the fealty of a Sentry in town if you ever needed one. I won’t bother you or interfere with your life.”
“You’ll just eat my power.”
“Small amounts that you won’t even know about or feel.”
“Mmm. I feel you dragging on me now,” she said.
Whooo, Jess was sensitive to her powers now. Tawk bit back a smile and dropped his gaze to hide it.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
He cleared his throat and dared a look up at her. “I think you could take all of Sister’s Edge now.”
She frowned, and then slowly, her eyes softened, and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “I suppose I probably could.” Her shoulders shrugged up to her ears with her deep inhalation. “I want to think about it.”
“Think about me staying in Darby?” he asked, needing clarity.
“Yes. If it’s a no, you’ll have to leave and find another witch to feed the dragon. If it’s a yes, you’ll have to understand your dragon will be put to sleep as long as you are within Cold Foot territory lines.”
“Put to sleep by you?” he asked, again, wanting clarity as to what he was agreeing to.
“Yes.”
He nodded thoughtfully and glanced back to find Tammy leaning against the corner of her house.
She’d put her purse down and taken off her zip hoodie before she’d come back outside.
He could see the gooseflesh on her crossed arms from here.
“Why are you wearing that?” he asked in a harsher tone than he’d intended.
“I’ll wear whatever I want.”
“Hey,” Wreck snapped at him. “You’re losing points.”
“She’s cold,” Tawk gritted out. “Look, you can see she’s cold. Do you know her?” he asked Jess.
“Yes.”
“Well, make her dress warmer.”
Jess snorted. “The fact that you think anyone can make Tammy Ray do anything is hilarious. You know zero facts about women still I see.”
Tawk cast another glance back at Tammy Ray, but before he could say anything else, Wreck asked, “What hotel are you staying in?”
“The Rusty Otter.”