Page 31 of Never Tamed (Bad Wolves #3)

Noble

H endrickson rolls another barrel by, and my heart lodges in the back of my throat. We need things to go boom in a big fucking way, and we need to do it in a hurry.

This is the best way. Ren’s plan is the best way and it doesn’t matter what logic says. Fear’s taken up permanent residence inside me. It’s a physical ache in my bones, down to the marrow, and doesn't leave no matter how many steps forward we take.

She’s using herself as bait, and I’m the only thing that’s going to keep her safe once Andras gives chase.

Fuck me.

“Grab more,” I order Hendrickson.

He straightens and nods before bolting off to grab another barrel. Our small team maneuvers them into a line, a blockade of aged oak and gut rot liquor.

The rest of our men are setting up a trap in the woods and along the sewer lines to make sure our prey runs exactly where we want them to.

Hendrickson is one of the only men I’ve got teamed with. Or maybe he’s the only one I recognize when my vision goes blurry.

The team I used to command, the one I used to head as the beta of the Steel Claws, is fractured.

“What do you need me to do?”

Ren’s voice scatters the rest of my sanity, and I drag my attention away from the group of random ass people from the pack helping us. Then blink to make sure the stink isn’t making my mind play tricks on me.

“Baby, you’re supposed to be waiting,” I tell her with a tense smile.

“Waiting where?” She moves to help one of the wolves roll a barrel into place. “You need me.”

She’s got a point there. “Somewhere safe,” I clarify. “Until the explosion. Then we run.”

Somewhere that isn’t right in the middle of the action when things go fiery.

Ren smiles ruefully at me and places her hand on my shoulder. Warmth spirals through me and helps thaw the ice I hadn’t realized encased my heart.

“I’m fine,” she whispers. “I’m here with you, right where I need to be. Nothing is going to happen to me. Not when we’re together.”

Through the bond, she’s aware of the thread of terror stringing my muscles together. It’s a nameless dread hounding me day and night, and if I push for a reason, I swear something awful is going to happen to her.

My mate. The gift I hadn’t realized I was missing in this life.

Nothing has turned out the way I thought it would.

Nothing has happened like the plan I’d carefully crafted as a child and was halfway through executing when Torin called me back into the fold.

I’d love to say things are better now than anything I could have dreamed, but we have to make it through this first.

My hands twitch as I survey the line of barrels that will serve as our red flag in front of the rabid bull.

Hendrickson and several other wolves from both packs roll more barrels into the blockade and bend at the knees to stack them.

“You think the fuse is going to work?” Ren asks, worrying her lower lip.

“We’re going to have to hope the leaky roof didn’t damage it.” There’s no way to test it, either, not without lighting everything early.

“Do we have anyone here who's good with firearms and explosives?” Ren lifts her voice to be overheard among the low murmur of chatter. “They’d probably know better than us.”

A couple of people from our team raise their hands and I snag on the thought, scoffing. Our team. At this point, there's no difference between us. We’re all working together, we’re all victims of Andras and his brutality. He’s been out for both packs since the beginning.

It was only foolishness and ego that made Torin think we were immune. And I’m no better.

Ren’s hands go to her hips. “Excellent. You three, over here. See if you can get what you need to wire the fuse and make sure it actually goes off instead of fizzles.”

“You really think it’s going to work? When we blow this place to smithereens?” I ask her.

Because I can’t stop touching her, I grab her close, bringing her against my chest. My lips press to hers in a stolen kiss. A soft moan crawls up her throat and I absorb it, swiping my tongue against hers. Desire wells immediately.

Noble, we don’t have time for this. People are watching us .

Then let them watch. Let them all see what I feel for you . I can’t stop myself. Because we might not make it out of this.

I catch the back of her neck and pin her against me, angling to kiss her deeper.

Stop . She interrupts before the thought fully forms. We’re going to make it. All five of us. Everyone. The plan will work, okay?

Five of us. If someone asked me a year ago if I’d be happy sharing my mate with two others, and one fucked up animal of a man, I’d have laughed in their face. Now, it’s natural to feel Torin and Mathis crowding us through the mate bond and double checking our progress.

Like some kind of fucked up symbiosis has been reached.

I finally pull away and nip the end of Ren’s nose. “Fine,” I say out loud with forced lightness.

The three volunteers have gone off down the tunnel to get whatever supplies they need. And with this area secured, I’ve got to trust that they’ll be able to fend for themselves.

“This whole fucking thing makes me itchy.” Dax steps out of the tunnel and shakes like a wet dog.

He drags his hands along his forearms, snarling.

“We just need to bring Andras somewhere else. He’s not gonna fall for these stupid fucking tactics. Red doesn’t even know where she’s gonna lead him. Do you, sweetcheeks?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “You’ve got a place in mind?”

He growls at me and the old antagonism fills me like a rush of acid. “Of course I do.”

Ren squeezes my shoulder to keep me from saying something, like shutting Dax down for being an absolutely stupid piece of shit. He always runs his mouth this way. He always thinks he knows better than any other person but he’s losing it.

He’s out of his fucking mind half the time and he’s only getting worse.

Maybe the others haven't seen him scratching his skin, or tearing out his hair and talking to himself, but I have. I notice everything.

“The stream.” His voice is low enough to miss. “The stream where Mat found me. That’s where we need to go. It’s full circle. Don’t you get it?”

“Why the fuck would we bring Andras to a stream? What are we going to do? Drown him?” I ask. “Splash him and hope he dies from hypothermia?”

Get real .

“I know the area well. I survived for years. There are good hiding spots,” Dax insists. “Ambush spots. It’s in the woods and away from everything so the kids won’t be hurt. You wanted to know where we’d lead him? There.”

“He makes a good point,” Mathis says as he and Torin move into the overcrowded space.

Torin stops to examine the blockade of liquor barrels but he’s listening in. He’s always listening.

I roll my eyes. “Fucking figures you’d side with him.”

“We know the explosion is going to draw his attention, but having a fight here where there are so many witnesses from the city is asking for trouble,” Mathis explains. “Ren is bait, we agreed. But having her lead him away makes more sense.”

“The forest is our best bet and I know the area near the stream. It’s… important. To me.” Dax’s growl is louder and a chill skitters over my skin, lifting the hair. “Okay?”

“Why?” I snap.

“I don’t know. I don't know!” he repeats himself, the words lifting in a yell. “I just know we have to go there. We have to move. He’ll follow us. He has no choice.”

He breaks off into a laugh.

“Of course he’ll follow us. He’s obsessed. He wants her. He’ll trail her.”

“You make everything about you.” I bite off the words.

“It’s not a bad idea, though. If there are good hiding spots, and Dax knows the area, then we might have an even greater advantage.” Ren’s voice soothes. “We need all the help we can get.”

Dax’s laughter takes on a self satisfied tone before he breaks off, shaking his head like he’s trying to dislodge something stubborn.

Out of the blue, a flash of concern spikes through me. For him. Ugh, shit. In what world would I feel bad for Dax? Certainly not this one.

Or maybe things have changed more than I thought they did.

Ren straightens. “I know what to do.” She pauses, her head to the side, staring at the line of barrels. “We blow this place the fuck up. When Andras scurries out like the rat he is, he’ll see me and Noble, and he’ll give chase. We’ll lead him to the stream where Torin and Mathis are waiting.”

“Me too.” Dax prowls close enough to Hendrickson to startle the other wolf.

“I still don’t like leaving you behind to face him alone.” Torin’s voice hardens, strained enough to break. “No offense, Noble.”

“Sure, fine.” Like I’m nothing but chopped goddamn liver.

Torin isn’t used to being the one who listens. He and Mathis are leaders down to the marrow of their bones. I’ve always been in a position to follow orders so it’s easier for me to fall in line with Ren no matter what protective instincts I push to the side.

But for the two alphas, for the men who are the ones in control, they’re fighting hard.

Mathis and Torin are opposite sides of the same coin. Light and dark, brutal and uncompromising, both terribly in love with this woman.

She’s been goddess-touched.

Invariably, they fall into line. They have no choice.

Mathis is the first to recover.

“Tell us where you want us, honey, and we’ll move mountains.”

Her smile is dazzling as her pleasure lights up the bond. Within the hour, my heart settles into a pounding rhythm.

I pump my arms, struggling to keep up with Ren, Hendrickson leading the small team to light the fire.

The air is tense and gray, thick in my lungs.

This is a half-hearted race to freedom at best and an epic failure waiting to happen at worst.

If the fireworks don’t go off, if Andras decides not to follow the path we’ve laid out for him…it’s basically a bright fucking arrow leading right into the bottleneck. He’d be stupid not to see it and stupider if he followed.

We’re banking an awful lot on his need for Ren. Putting her in danger ties my stomach in complicated knots.

I shove the thoughts aside and follow Ren’s bright hoodie, Dax nothing but a blur of gold hair ahead of us. Praying Andras will be right on our heels when the time comes.

I count the seconds in my head.

Hendrickson and the small team should be setting off the barrels any—

The explosion sends shockwaves through the trees. I stumble, glancing over my shoulder at the wall of flames behind us, the fireworks shooting high into the gloom and turning the clouds garish shades of red and green.

The barrels ignited with such force that it blows the roof off the damn place and sends the pieces crumbling to the snow drenched ground. Through it all are the circles and dives of those fireworks turning the entire explosion into a mockery of the fourth of July.

Then the screams start. Terrible, horrifying screams of people burning alive in the tunnels Not ours. They’re hopefully out of the way because our guys know what they’re doing. They’re not fucking reckless idiots.

But if any of Andras’s men were left behind, they’re slowly crisping now.

Keep going .

Ren’s voice is in my head and I have to right myself quickly before I lose sight of her. The snow falls much heavier here.

Our path is obvious. Exactly the way we need it to be. The people on fire aren’t our business but the stampede of wolves behind us is. This time, there’s no more hiding.

We’re going to kill them all.

No matter how Ren has been forced to bend, she hasn’t broken. She never will. And I borrow some of that strength through the bond to keep pushing my body toward the stream.

We make our stand together, today, weather and fate be damned.

The goddess chose my girl for this. Now I’ve got to make sure she sees tomorrow’s sunrise.