Coyote (Hawks MC Next Generation #1) - Lila Rose Page 0,13

room quieted; she swung her angry gaze to pierce me. I waited. We all did to see what she would say. See if she would continue to be stubborn.

She took a breath, glanced down to her dogs, and her hands fisted before she nodded. “Okay,” she said softly. Her gaze lifted, and she added, “But it doesn’t have to be close, like right up my… ah, in my face?” Heat hit her cheeks once more. I liked how easily she blushed.

“No, it doesn’t,” I said with a small smile. She wasn’t stupid; she wanted to be safe and would take the help we offered since it was all our fault in the damn first place. “From afar then, and only until we get this shit sorted.” And we would, because no one deserved their lives being screwed over because of some trouble we were having. Sucked big time she was caught up in this, but she saved Texas’s life. Even he said that. We’d make sure she stayed safe.

Her lips thinned. “All right.”

“Good,” Talon said. “Whoever takes over from Coyote and Ruin’s shift today will always wear a club vest and patch. Trust no one else.”

She nodded, suddenly seeming tired with her slouched shoulders, and yet frustrated, if her angry eyes were anything to go by.

The sooner we could get this shit sorted, the sooner she’d go back to her normal life. Without worry.

However, there was still something familiar about Channa, and I wanted to know why.

I’d find out, even if it took me some time, because I didn’t mind being around her at all.

Chapter Four

Channa

I could feel my brave face faltering. What I really wanted was to run from the house screaming and crying. But before I could, Coyote and Ruin stayed around to give me Texas’s number and help me lock up before I could make the walk to the shop. Nerves tickled my skin as sweat started to pool at the back of my neck and hands.

Cody Marcus, or as they called him, Coyote, had been in my house. He’d spoken to me. He’d petted my dogs. He’d tried to look at my feet. All right, that was a weird thing to think, but still. My brain was about to explode with an overload of Cody. Especially since, in the years I hadn’t seen him, time had been very good to him in the looks department. Yet I wouldn’t, couldn’t go there because I didn’t think he knew I was pee girl, which was the only plus side to this whole situation.

I didn’t regret helping Texas because he would have been hurt in more ways than he already had been. Dead even. However, I wished I’d left him outside, called for help, and then locked myself back in the house. Although, with all of them being intense, I had a feeling they still would have gotten in.

At least they were nice enough to want to make sure I stayed safe because of their stuff-up. It hadn’t even occurred to me the men would come back, and I wouldn’t risk anything when it came to Coco and Harley, so the help was appreciated. I’d also decided to lock my babies inside until I could pop home to let them out on breaks, not liking the thought of them in the yard alone. The Hawks guys had put enough fear inside me over the thought of those men coming back.

The only thing I wasn’t a fan of, besides the arseholes, was it meant Cody would stick around in my life longer.

I wanted to scream, as there was a possibility I was being stupid and overreacting about the whole situation back in high school. Yet the mortification had cut me so deep it felt like it was still a gaping wound inside me.

At the bakery, I glanced to the bikes pulling to a stop on the other side of the road. I received a two-finger wave from Ruin and a chin lift from Cody. I couldn’t bring myself to call him Coyote; it seemed weird.

My first stop would be the toilet. It sure felt like I needed to poop myself from the way my belly had been coiling. It could also be from the worry of leaving Coco and Harley at home, but I just had to reassure myself they were safe inside. I did consider asking Stanley if I could stay at his place with my babies since he didn’t live far from the bakery either. But there was