Page 21 of Heartless Wolf (Wolf Moon Rejected #1)

CHAPTER 21 - DASH

To call that a close one was the understatement of the fucking century. Ticks in Father’s jaw told me he didn’t believe a word from my mouth. He would be back. When was the question. Meaning I couldn’t keep Liv hidden forever.

Usually, I slept at the club one or two days a week. More if we had parties or milestone celebrations. Lead up to our drug shipment tomorrow demanded all our spare time training with our Bathurst brothers Zethan, Castor, and Alaric, who brought us up to speed with the business model, policies, and training us for the drug run. Tired after a long day, most of us crashed here nightly this past month, giving me an excuse to lodge with Liv.

Father knew we devoted more time to this business to get it up and running, he just didn’t know about the illegal side to it, and that was the way it would stay. He was not shutting down this operation.

Liv’s captivity demanded I stay with her. Every. Damn. Night. I wasn’t leaving her with any of my men, when she was mine to protect and I asked enough of them already. The pack rank and membership of four men depended on me, and one wrong move risked their expulsion as well as my own. As their leader and friend, I had to be fair to them all, while balancing the complications with my Lunar mate.

Pressure from all the lies, secrets, and tested relationships swelled at the base of my neck, shooting up into my shoulders. Dread that I’d have to hide Liv’s captivity from my Bathurst brothers as well as my father turned my shoulders to stone, and I rolled them, trying to shake away the stiffness. Trusting relations with my new brothers was critical for the club’s longevity. Already, I lied to Castor about the real reason for getting him to keep the Malices locked up. If he found out, I was fucked.

Tomorrow, I’d speak to Steele and figure out a way to deal with it. For now, I was exhausted and had boulders for eyelids. My body demanded sleep after the early start, the drama, and ending with my argument with Father.

I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt and collected my rucksack from the cupboard in my club bedroom. Snug under my arm, I added a pillow to the other arm, and went out to Ryda, who was watching TV in the kitchen/lounge room, where he remained on guard duty for the night. We each took turns to protect the club from thieves who might steal our bikes.

“I’ll be down with Liv.” I patted the pocket of my sweatpants. “I’ll take my cell with me. Let me know if there’s any trouble.”

Ryda’s lips curled into a smartassed smile. Asshole knew I was in for another argument like the one he witnessed earlier.

I had one more favor to ask. “Can you lock me in the cell with her?” Holding her within the iron bars burned my wolf and me, and it wasn’t fair for her to shoulder all the burden.

Ryda climbed to his feet to complete my request. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

The things I wanted to do… The way she teased me earlier, rubbing her ass along the cell bars, goaded me to break down that door and take her. After that little display, I had to rush upstairs and tug one out, imagining threading my arms through the bars, holding her by the throat, yanking down her pants and fucking her from behind. Teach her the lesson I promised, iron bars and pain be damned.

Camped inside the cell with her, floor or not, I wasn’t sure if I could keep my hands off those succulent lips, her perfect hourglass waist and hips, her rounded belly, thick, strong thighs… Fuck. Thinking about cupping her damn plentiful breasts nearly made me come in my pants like a horny teenager.

Liv did it for me like no other woman before or after her. She was the complete package. Fierce. Headstrong. Resilient. Caring. Resentment boiled at my core that she couldn’t be mine, that I had to restrain myself with my Lunar mate.

“I’ll be getting as much action as you, asshole.” I gave Ryda a jerking-off motion, his chuckle accompanying me to the cellar.

Fuck. The longer I kept Liv here, or with me, the harder it would be to release her. It risked wolf bonds forming, making it difficult to separate from her. Saying goodbye to her once was the hardest thing I ever had to do. The last four years without her were agony. I didn’t want to imagine another future without her.

I shoved that aside to dwell on my second reason for going to her. Father’s criticism of every decision wore me down. I was tired of the constant battles with him.

On top of that, I was fed up with hiding from the world. Tired of being the lone wolf. I needed my damn mate.

She shocked me earlier, showing mercy when she could have dug the knife in deeper and lashed me with that mouth of hers—a mouth I ached to punish with a bruising kiss.

I didn’t deserve sympathy when I physically caused her discomfort. I was a selfish fucking bastard and didn’t want her falling into the wrong hands, mine included.

Ryda and I descended into the cellar, where he gave me entry to the cell and locked me in with Liv. She knew better than to take on the two of us in her state, and she didn’t look like she had it in her anyway, reclined on the old, rusted bed. The drain of the iron cell hit me instantly and my wolf resisted.

When my friend left, I parked my rucksack next to her bed, close enough to protect her. “You didn’t eat?”

“You laced my food with something.” Despite her slightly depleted appearance, she looked beautiful with the sheets draped over her decadent curves.

Enticing enough for me to sink beside her and hold her as I wanted to do every night since I let her go. Our bodies pressed together, my arm around her waist, tucking her to my chest, my chin nestled in the crook of her neck and shoulder, my breath tickling her neck. Listening to her breathe as she fell asleep. The soft rise and fall of her chest and back. Warmth from her body sinking into mine. Her scent wrapped around me, and mine encircling hers. Soft, plump skin of her neck tempting me to take things further, consummate our lunar bond and mate bite her.

Fuck. No good came of thoughts like that. I flushed myself with a proverbial cold shower.

“You always were clever.” I was a bad guy with honorable intentions that hurt her no matter which way this fucking circus went.

Liv smiled, stiff and weak, and my heart clenched. “Roughing it with me, huh?” Her sleepy murmur stoked my desire to lie beside her, ignite her fiery side, get slashed by her words and claws. Punishment I earned for every day we spent apart.

“No worse than where I sleep every night.” I flicked the tail of the rucksack onto the concrete. “I’ve got to protect you.”

“So you keep saying.” She rolled onto her back, tired of the pretext I fed her.

The condemnation in her eyes said she didn’t trust me, and I didn’t trust she wouldn’t make a break for it again. We were trapped by circumstances beyond our control. I needed her on my side, cooperating and laying low until we figured out our next step to take the Malices down with minimal casualties. A plan that didn’t involve her working in the front line where the Umbras wanted her. A solution of what to do next eluded me, but not forever. Whatever happened, I hoped we were both still standing at the end.

At some point, the cops would release the Malices, and TJ would demand his contract be fulfilled, his property sent to him, and he would punish Liv for bearing my Lunar tattoo. Those Malice motherfuckers probably killed Whitney for us beating their asses last night. I couldn’t do with another death on my conscience.

For now, I owed Liv answers, wanting her to drop her guard.

The iron parched my throat and set off an ache. I started with where it all began, croaking, “Pack Lumbry is struggling to pay debts. One of our men was murdered and the cops pinned it on his son, Beau. Legal debts for his defense paved our way into hell.”

Sleepy steel-blue eyes blinked at me, and fuck, temptation like nothing I experienced before urged me to go to her and repair our broken bond and be one.

Fighting it, I bent down and tugged one buckle of the rucksack open and went on. “Fuck the Malices. We have enemies within our pack vying for power. They took down Beau, and implicated Ryda’s father. His fraud trial starts in a month.” I scrubbed my face, the hint of stubble starting to grow back. “We mortgaged our assets, the interest is crippling us, and we can barely meet repayments. I’ve worked three jobs to pay off the debt. This trial will sink us.”

Appreciation wriggled on our bond, a wolf rolling in the dirt. Confiding in her forged trust between us.

Liv rolled back to face me, propping her elbow on the bed and resting her head on her hand. “That must have been hard for you and the pack.”

I missed her counsel, the woman I regarded as my best friend and lover. Without her encouragement, I might never have set up the pro motorcycle club or reached out to the Jackals years after our meeting at Liv’s fundraised.

I raked a tired hand through my hair and got on with my story. “Things deteriorated at our bar when we employed Beau as our enforcer.” I pried open the third and last buckle. “Customers didn’t want a patricidal bastard at the bar, and we lost half our regular patrons.”

“Did Beau kill his father? He works for your club, right?”

Fuck. Tough question. One that snuffed my voice for a few moments. “He did two years in prison and got out on acquittal.”

Liv pulled her sheets higher, as if they protected her from the iron and the beasts seeking to own and control her. I had a real fight on my hands to keep my wolf at bay, to prevent him scooping her into our arms, and carrying her upstairs to our nest. The one a queen like her deserved.

“You don’t have to be scared of Beau. I trust him with my life. I don’t believe for a minute he murdered his father. The man was the Mayor of Lithgow, a skeevy one at that, who had plenty of enemies to knock him off.”

The Liv I remembered was fearless. Young and brave, throwing herself into everything. The older Liv feared losing freedom, individuality, rights, and goals for the future. I understood the pressure that went with being heir. Duty to the pack, sacrificing your own dreams for their persistence. Responsibility I never wanted but accepted for what I did to Chase. By the collar choking her bond, she feared losing her heart, and locked it away never to be fooled by hope again. I hated the idea of her feeling that way.

Liv worked her bottom lip between her teeth, and I lost all train of thought. I nestled under the sleeve of my rucksack, trying to wrestle that image from my mind. Too late. It was imprinted there forever. Right beside her bright, gorgeous smile.

Liv switched gears on me with another question. “I thought your club name was the Silver Wolves.” She dipped a toe into the past, and my heart lurched, sensing her seeking answers on why I turned my back on my only love.

A dull ache blossomed under my breastbone. “Not anymore. We signed a contract to set up a Lithgow chapter of the Jackals’ Wrath MC.”

“I always thought you’d turn professional. Ride in competitions in the US. Perform stunts at shows.”

I laughed and rested on my side, mimicking her position. Teenage dreams. Adulting was a lot different. “Nah. Not into that.”

“You love your home too much?” Liv was the only person besides Steele who understood me completely, and it felt comfortable to share this with her like we used to talk about our hopes and dreams. I fucking missed how easy she was to talk to.

My gaze sagged under the weight of guilt, an insidious weed strangling my conscience and heart. “I’d be an asshole to leave Lithgow to chase my fortune when Chase was stuck here.”

The weed slithered along our bond to rope around her and snuff the light in her eyes. She blamed herself too.

“You’re aligning with the Jackals to protect your pack from the Malices?” Liv thought like a true Umbra, and would make a fierce one someday. The thought of her leading her own pack without being by her side made my heart turn upside down.

“Everyone knows who the Jackals are.” I ran my fingertip along the edges of the buckle, enjoying the feel of the leather and metal. “No one fucks with them, and if they do, they end up dead.”

We were so goddamn lucky Slade Vincent saw something in us and took a chance on us when we were a recreational club and not professional like them. Without their help, our pack would have sunk into deeper debt, and I’d be working non-stop to pay it off.

Liv gave me a mirthless smile to show that she appreciated me opening up to her. Something, but not enough. Not the answers she craved for closure. Those I couldn’t bring myself to utter out of fear of closing the door to her heart for good.

Wanting to burn away the graveness of her expression, I opened up and gave her more. “We had some trouble with Pack Malice two years back, infiltrating our turf, pissing and marking their territory.” I scratched my nape. “Motherfuckers burned our sentinel cabin down, ambushed and injured our soldiers. Sliced Steele open down his middle and nearly killed him.”

Her beautiful face scrunched at the mention of his name. Forbidden topic. Avoid his name when it hurt her as much as it did her sister.

I prepared to deliver the most important piece of information, hoping it made her understand enough to drop the last of her resistance, and convince her I was on her side despite my shitty actions. “To prevent the Malices from crossing our borders, we invested in magical wards to keep them out. More debt to the pack. The moon weakens them and every full moon they need restoration, at extra cost to us.”

“Has it kept TJ and his pack out?” Liv’s head fell away from her propped hand, sinking into her pillow.

My wolf howled for us to snuggle close and relieve our mate. Not until she promised not to run again. A question for tomorrow. Tonight, was about trust and sharing.

“For now.” At great cost, both financially and physically. “TJ and his men are locked up. They won’t be a problem for a few days.”

Fear flickered behind her eyes. “What about when he gets out?”

“We’ll deal with it then. Right now, we have worse things to contend with.” Fuck. I’d said too much. Fallen into the natural ease we used to have and tripped up.

“Like what?” She wanted the truth. The less she knew, the better. Her lips curled into a sleepy, sexy smile that I wanted more of. “A scary gang you’re in debt to?”

I barked out a laugh and rubbed my forehead. “No. Nothing like that.”

But I was in debt to someone, every full moon, my life in jeopardy if I couldn’t find a way out of the spell holding me captive, a secret I held onto tightly. I went to great lengths to stay away from Liv and keep her off the radar of this person. Added two drops of protection spell to her meal, which, by the way, remained uneaten. Damn woman must have smelled the potion.

Despite what she thought, my fucking hypocrisy for locking her up after I warned her what happened to Whitney, I would surrender my life for Liv to survive. A fate that might come sooner than her intended wedding date, since TJ knew Liv and I were Lunar bonded.