Page 62 of Locke

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and replied in a low voice, “I won’t run. Not anymore.”

Locke’s lips quirked up in a half-smile, and he nodded slowly. “We’ll see.”

He leaned back and put his forearms on his legs. “Grim is not the leader of the Iron Fang. I am,” he admitted.

My eyes widened. “You? Then, why did they say Grim was?”

“Because he was the leader while I was absent. I have not been present for a while. I’ve been indisposed.” Locke stood and walked away from the fire, but never took his eyes off it. “You see, I’m different. I’m not fully human.”

Great, he really is psycho. Not that there isn’t anything wrong with that. I like a little crazy in bed, but it’s good to know for future Emm to deal with.

I shifted in my seat. “Okay, so tell me. What are you exactly? Is this your alter ego we are talking about?”

Locke stared at me, plainly and maybe a bit miffed. “No, Emm. It isn’t an alter ego. I am—different. I am a shifter. A wolf. My bones break, my hair turns to fur and I walk on all fours. I am an animal. An alpha. I take care of the club, where most of the other shifters live and survive as a pack amongst humans. I’ve been more animal than human of late.”

I stared at him for a long moment, blinking. “Are you high?” I squinted my eyes and stood from the fire.

He gave a crooked smile. “No, Princess, I’m not high, and please watch your movements.”

I stared down at myself and moved my hand toward my gun.

“Why, are you going to attack me or something?” I stepped back, and Locke stepped forward.

Locke radiated a low growl from his throat, and I stiffened. I’d heard that growl before. From the club on the night that guy touched me.

“I would never, ever hurt you. But, my wolf will make sure of your safety, even if that means preventing you from hurting yourself, when I take the gun off your hip.”

“Then stay back.” I raised my jaw. “And I won’t have to use it.”

Locke cleared his throat and stayed in place. “Fine, just, don’t shoot me. Hurts like a bitch, and I’d prefer not to have the fae come running in here, and throwing you up against the tree.”

I snorted. “Fae? There are faes now?”

“In this forest, yes, there are. They have saved you three times from intruders, besides the one I killed and buried behind your RV.”

My heart stopped and the breath from my lungs was sucked out of me. I don’t think I had known genuine fear until he confessed he knew about the male buried behind my trailer.

“E-excuse me?”

Locke smiled—like he always does. “Yeah, remember the hand I brought to you? Your little gift? I was disappointed you didn’t at least pet me for a job well done, Emmie. You should have heard him cry out when I spilled his blood on the forest floor. I did it all—for you.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as Locke’s words sank in. The hand he had given me as a grisly token whisked on a whole new level of horror. My mind raced, trying to make sense of everything he was revealing to me.

No—he wasn’t — Couldn’t possibly.

Locke watched me intently, his gaze never wavering as if he were waiting for a specific reaction from me. The revelation ofhis true identity as a – wolf, the buried body behind my RV, fae in the forest – it was all too much to process at once. Almost.

I thought my grandmother was crazy. She pretended to be a witch for so long. Was she really a witch, then? Was Tajah really one, too?

Swallowing hard, I tried to maintain a façade of calm despite the turmoil churning inside me. “Why?” I choked out, my voice barely above a whisper. “Why are you telling me all of this, now?”

Locke’s expression softened slightly at my question, a glimmer of regret flickering in his eyes. “Because you deserve to know the truth, Emmie. It’s wrong of me to play this game I’ve been playing. Besides, I’m ready to claim you and show you the reality of the world that you are now a part of.”

What. The. Fuck.

I swallowed heavily. The man I had been drawn to, captivated by, was not just a dangerous biker but a shifter with primal instincts lurking beneath the surface. Fae, witches—

But then, my mind clicked. Gone was the fear of the unknown. It all made sense now. The magic of this forest that I felt, the town, the shroud over the town. Of course, it had to be magical; of course, it was filled with something other than normal.