Page 40 of Property of Mako (Kings of Anarchy MC: Louisiana #1)

Crypt Keeper

The clubhouse smelled like blood, smoke, and bleach. The kind of cocktail I’d gotten used to after too many battles, but it still made the wolf in me restless.

We’d survived the latest storm. Barely. But survival came with a cost. It always did.

I leaned against the wall near the bar, arms crossed, watching.

Mako was perched on the edge of the couch with Lyra tucked tight against his side.

I’d never seen the bastard look that soft before, and I’d known him for years.

Whatever they were—mate bond, fate, or some cosmic joke—it had him wrapped up tight.

And now she wore his brand.

Lily was on her knees on the couch as she studied her sister’s new tattoo Killswitch had finished no more than an hour ago. It was at the base of her neck, centered over her spine. I didn’t need to see it to know what it said.

Property of Mako .

Lily said something that made Lyra laugh. But it wasn’t them that snagged my attention.

It was Dexter.

The man hadn’t let Lily out of his sight since Zeus and Thing Three brought them back from that impossible trip to Fontainebleau. Wherever she went, he shadowed her. Always a step behind, hand hovering close like he was ready to snatch her out of danger the second it showed its teeth.

Not possessive. Not creepy. Just… protective. Too protective.

Calix noticed it too. His eyes tracked the way Dexter positioned himself between Lily and the door, how he intercepted anyone who tried to get too close. Eventually, his gaze cut across the room and locked with mine.

We didn’t need words. I read the question in his eyes clear as day. You seein ’ this shit too?

Yeah, I was. And it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Something was off with Dexter. He was supposed to be the club’s healer, the man who swore his gifts came from belief in old gods and whispered prayers.

But I’d watched him touch Lyra during her change, watched the air hum like lightning, and felt the wolf in me recoil.

That wasn’t just faith. That was power. Ancient power.

And now he was glued to a girl with fae blood running in her veins.

A low growl slipped from my chest before I caught it. I didn’t trust coincidences, and this reeked of one too many.

Calix’s jaw tightened. He pulled Lyra closer, like anchoring himself, and gave me the smallest nod. Not reassurance. A promise. We’d get answers.

But something told me I was the one who’d have to dig them up.

Because shadows were gathering. I could feel it in my bones, in the restless itch under my skin that never lied. Thane was dead, sure. But the shit he stirred up? The war he hinted at? That was just beginning.

I shoved off the wall and headed for the door, the wolf pacing hot in my chest. There would be no mates or soulmates for me. Other than my father and my younger brother, I’d been a lone wolf my entire life, and I liked it that way.

Little did I know, my story wasn’t finished. It was just starting.

A low growl stirred in the dark, meant only for me. My hair stood on end.

Out there, in the silence beyond the clubhouse, eyes burned with old hatred as an enemy I thought long dead watched and waited.