Wolf's Hunger (Mafia Monsters #5) - Atlas Rose Page 0,37
didn’t fucking call me,” she snapped, then looked around and gave a sigh. “And because who the hell knows what kind of infection is in this place.”
I tightened my grip around my throbbing arm as Walker took a swig from the bottle, then gave a shrug and stared at the dusty label. “Not bad…not bad at all.”
“We wait until nightfall, then we’ll make a move.” Phantom strode into the cavern behind me. He glanced at my arm, then at Walker as she helped herself again.
Smack.
I flinched at the sound and to face the young Wolf.
Smack. He punched himself in the base of his throat.
“You’re alright.” Phantom strode toward the young male and reached for him.
But Wry flinched from the movement and took a step backwards, lips curled, teeth bared. His eyes were impossibly wide.
“Alright,” Phantom soothed him, lowering his hands. “You’re alright. You’re safe with me. You know that, right, Wry?”
The young male just stared at nothing.
“Wry!” Phantom commanded his attention.
Only then did the young Wolf meet Phantom’s gaze. There was something wrong about him, like he was coming apart at the seams. I sucked in a hard breath, catching movement as Walker took a hesitant step forward. “Maybe I…maybe I can help?”
The young male’s fangs grew longer as he whipped that savage stare to her. Panic tore through me as Walker froze. There was no warning growl from the male. No caution in the way she moved, no sound at all. Just chilling, savage, silence.
“Alright.” Phantom stepped between them. “She’s not going to touch you. No one’s going to touch you.”
“I’ll go make myself useful and keep watch with the others,” Mojin declared. I saw the look he gave Phantom and the small motion of his head.
“I’ll be just outside.” Phantom spoke to Wry, but I was sure the comfort was for us. The glance my way was at least, as the Alpha followed Mojin outside.
Footsteps crunched, fading as they left. Walker took one look at me, then drank from the bottle again. “You want to tell me what the hell happened now, or do I have to guess it all for myself?”
I turned and paced, the relentless throbbing in my arm demanding movement. “Well, I wasn’t abducted, that’s for sure.”
“That much I figured out on my own.”
I glanced at Wry. He’d settled into that faraway look once more, focusing on the ground.
“I don’t want to scare you,” I said softly.
“Chase,” she sighed. “I think we’re well past that. Spill, and leave nothing out.”
“There was a photo in my locker.” I slowed my steps, pivoted at the stone wall, and slowly walked back toward her. “That last day at work, there was a photo in my locker. It was Dad, tied to a damn chair. Lenny was in the photo, too. He’d been shot.”
“Jesus, Chase,” Walker gasped, her brow furrowing as she tried to make sense of it.
“It was proof Dad didn’t do it. Proof he was tied up, so how could he have shot Lenny and left him for dead? The photo had a note to meet someone at this farmhouse just outside the city if I wanted an explanation.”
She flinched at that, and the color in her face drained away. “No, Chase. Jesus…”
I swallowed hard. “I had to go, Walker. You would’ve too, if it’d been you. So I went, and drove out there to meet with whoever. It had to be an agent, or someone in the building. I mean, who else could get into the locker room, right?” I glanced at the bottle in her hand.
“Want some?” she offered, lifting it toward me.
I shook my head. I didn’t to be dulled, not anymore. The pain and terror I’d felt were all in the past. “It was Murphy waiting for me at the farmhouse. He attacked me, tried to…” my throat thickened. “He tried to…”
“Oh Jesus, Chase.” Walker strode forward and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me to her. “Motherfuckingfucker.”
A hard bark of laughter escaped from my lips. “You always had a way with words, Walker.”
“You’re here, and you’re safe, and I hope that piece of shit got what was coming to him. Good for the Wolves for killing him. I would’ve killed him, too.”
“But it wasn’t them,” I protested.
Walker stilled for a second, then pulled back. “What do you mean?”
“There was someone else.” I lowered my voice. “Another Wolf. The same one who attacked us earlier today. The same one who did…” I glanced down at my arm, “this.”